into great disorders.12 These were allayed by Cassius, who became the friend of Herod, entrusted him with a fleet and army, gave him the supreme command, and even promised, at the termination of the war, to make him king of Judæa.13

IV.

The Roman monarchy, begun by Julius Caesar, had sustained a great shock, when he fell, covered with wounds, in the senate-house, at the feet of the statue of Pompey. The war which ensued had brought Cassius into Syria, to collect soldiers and money for the eventful struggle at Philippi; and when he and Brutus were conquered, Antony came into Asia, and became no less the friend of Herod than Cassius himself. Thus it is that, in the order of Divine Providence, the greatest events proceed from the most improbable causes.

But not to anticipate while Cassius was still in Syria, occurred the death of Antipater, the father of Herod, the steady friend of Hyrcanus, and a real benefactor to the Jewish nation. But their jealousy of him and his family, as foreigners, led to continual machinations against his life, which were finally successful. The cup-bearer of Hyrcanus, bribed by the Jewish general, Malichus, presented to him, at a banquet, a poisoned cup of wine. Herod and Phasael were obliged, for a time, to dissemble their resentment; but at length it fell upon the culprit with unerring and murderous aim.

Soon after the departure of Cassius, Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, made an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone his uncle Hyrcanus. He was defeated by Herod, and driven out of Judæa, when he had scarcely entered within its borders. This obtained for the victor a most triumphant reception at

12 Josephus (Ant. lib. xiv. c. xi., and de Bel. Jud. lib. i. c. x.) says that he was killed by Cæcilius Bassus; Appian, (de Bel. Civil. lib. iii. 77,) by his soldiers, who compelled Bassus to unite

with them; Dion Cassius, (lib. xlvii. 26,) by his soldiers, instigated by Bassus.

13 Jos. Ant. ut sup. c. xi. § 4.

Jerusalem; and Hyrcanus contracted to bestow upon him the hand of the beautiful Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander the son of Aristobulus, and granddaughter, on the mother's side, of Hyrcanus. They were now only betrothed; but this alliance with the sacerdotal family was contrary to the law, which forbade the priest's daughter to marry a stranger.' Even as a political

14

It was unhappy, and led to fatal results. measure, it seems entirely to have failed; for when Antony came into Bithynia, the principal men of Judæa appeared before him, to accuse Phasael and Herod as having usurped all the power, and left Hyrcanus only the shadow of a name. Herod ably defended himself, and secretly employed the more effectual argument of money. Antony would not listen to their complaints, but treated Herod with great distinction. So, when the accusations were afterwards boldly repeated at Daphne, in Syria, even in the presence of Hyrcanus, Antony asked the high priest by whom the nation was best governed. On his replying, "By Herod and his friends,' Antony, remembering the former kindness of Antipater, when he had served in Judæa under the orders of Gabinius, immediately created Phasael and Herod tetrarchs, and sent them back to Judæa, with full powers of administration. Jews being still refractory, and having sent a deputation to Antony, of a thousand persons, thereby to prove how general was the discontent, the Romans fell upon them at Tyre, killed and wounded many, and would have slain the whole, but for the interference of Herod and Hyrcanus.15

The

A. J. P. 4673. 41.

...

In the forty-first year before the common Christian Era, took place the irruption of the Parthians, for the purpose of dethroning Hyrcanus, and placing Antigonus in his stead. That this was done with the general approbation of the Jewish nation, appears from their not pressing the siege of Jerusalem until the feast of Pentecost,

14 Lev. xxii. 12.

15 Jos. Ant. lib. xiv. c. xii.-xiii. De Bel. Jud. lib. i. c. xii.

which fell that year on the 19th or 20th of May. At that feast, it was the duty of every male Jew to appear, and offer sacrifice in the temple. Crowds of bold and hardy men were now seen upon every road leading to the holy city. The Parthians opened their ranks, and suffered them to enter, well knowing that they were thus introducing their friends. No sooner was the feast ended, than the gates were thrown open, and the Parthians admitted. Herod saved himself by a timely flight; but Phasael was taken prisoner, and kept in close confinement, until his fate should be determined. To avoid the ignominious death which awaited him, he dashed out his brains against the walls of his dungeon. Hyrcanus, venerable for his years, kneeled as a suppliant at the feet of the young and triumphant Antigonus; but the nephew, with unexampled barbarity, stooping, as if to kiss his uncle, fixed his teeth in the lobes of his ears, and tore them both from his head. A maimed person was forbidden, by the law, to exercise the functions of the high-priesthood;16 and this mutilation forever settled their personal controversy. Hyrcanus was carried as a prisoner into Parthia, and Antigonus was acknowledged, by all parties in the nation, as the high priest and sovereign of Judæa. As for Herod, he made his way to Rome, in the manner which has been related in the Introduction to this History.17 All he then desired or expected was the appointment of Aristobulus, the brother of his beloved Mariamne, to be the high priest, and the protection of the Roman people, in the necessary contest to obtain for him that dignity. As the grandson of Hyrcanus on his mother's side, and the only son of Alexander, the elder brother of Antigonus, this Aristobulus was the only rightful heir, and therefore the only surviving competitor who could be set up against the claims of Antigonus. To make him the high priest and sovereign of Judæa would secure to Herod the

16 Levit. xxi. 16-24.

17 Chron. Introd. Reign of Herod the Great, P. ii. chap. i. p. 352.

saw.

A. J. P. 4673.

B. V. E. 41.

same administration of affairs which his father Antipater had enjoyed under Hyrcanus, and which Antony had conferred conjointly upon him and his brother Phasael. Such was then the utmost extent of Herod's ambition. But God, who alone can order the wills and affections of sinful men, saw not as he The Roman Senate, irritated that Antigonus should have applied to their enemies, the Parthians, and been placed by them on a throne which was tributary to themselves, considered him as having thereby become their enemy. They looked with indifference upon the rights or claims of the obscure Aristobulus, while they regarded Herod with complacency, under the combined influence of Antony and Octavianus Cæsar. On the nomination, therefore, of Antony, the conscript fathers, by acclamation, proclaimed Herod king of Judæa, and, in seven days after he had entered Italy, he was enabled to leave it, with a title which, in the wildest dreams of his ambition, he had never coveted. With the title, he received the whole power of Rome to support his new pretensions. Orders were sent to the Roman commanders, in Syria and the adjacent countries, to coöperate with him for the expulsion of the Parthians, and the subjugation of Antigonus; and Herod, on his arrival at Ptolemais, was enabled to collect a numerous army to begin his operations. For the detail of these proceedings, the reader must be referred to the narratives of Josephus. Suffice it to say, that the war, being considered by the Jews as the defence of their civil and religious rights, raged fiercely, with slow progress and doubtful issues, till about the beginning of June, three years after he was so proclaimed, when Jerusalem was taken, Antigonus slain, and Herod the va Idumæan firmly established on the throne. "The sceptre departed from Judah, and a lawgiver from between his feet," never to be restored till Christ shall sit upon the throne of his father David, ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel.

18

A. J. P. 4676. B V. 35.

18

Antiq. lib. xiv. c. xiv-xvi. De Bel. Jud. lib. i. c. xiii.-xviii.

CHAPTER V.

REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT.

FROM THE BEGINNING OF JUNE, A. J. P. 4676, B. V. E. 38, TO MARCH 21, A. J. P. 4710, B. V. Æ. 4. 33 YEARS, 9 MONTHS, 18 OR 20 DAYS.

I. Herod espoused the cause of Marc Antony. - Reconciliation with Octavianus Cæsar. State of his family and the nation at the beginning of his reign. Hyrcanus at Babylon. — Induced by Herod to return to Jerusalem. — Jealousy of Aristobulus. Appoints Ananelus high priest. — Affects to yield to the entreaties of Mariamne and her mother. - Deposes Ananelus and appoints Aristobulus. — Soon murders him. Cited before Antony, gives secret orders, if he should be condemned, to put Mariamne to death. -- Probable motives. His orders discovered to Mariamne. II. His cruelty towards the nation. - Puts Hyrcanus to death. — All the males of the Asmonæn dynasty extinct, save Herod's own progeny.. Reflections. Character of Hyrcanus. III. Return of Herod from his interview with Cæsar.- Reception by Mariamne. She is tried and put to death. - Herod's subsequent agonies. -- Alexandra slain, unpitied. — Salome quarrels with her husband, and divorces him, contrary to the law. He and several others put to death. IV. Herod introduces heathen pastimes, a theatre within, an amphitheatre without the city. Fortifies the citadel erected by Hyrcanus I., and calls it Antonia. — Rebuilds Samaria, and calls it Sebaste. - Enlarges Strato's tower, and calls the city Caesarea. Severe drought and famine.-- Herod, by his liberality, produces a change in public feeling.-Deprives Jesus, the successor of Ananelus, and raises Simon to the high-priesthood. - Marries his daughter, Mariamne. - Alters his policy. His rigid police. - Determines to rebuild the temple. - His design creates alarm.-Explains his intention to repair, not build anew. - How far he built anew considered. V. Banishes all house-breakers. - This illegal, and why. - Sails for Italy. - Marries his two sons by the murdered Mariamne. - The beginning of their misfortunes. His eldest son, Antipater, with his mother, Doris, now brought from their obscurity. Intrigues against the two young princes. Cæsarea finished and dedicated. - Quinquennial games in honour of Cæsar. Munificence of Herod great, but selfish. VI. Herod out of favour with Augustus. Horrid state of his family. -Arrival of Eurycles, the Lacedemonian. - He promotes the designs of Antipater. The sons of Mariamne loaded with chains and imprisoned. — Cæsar reconciled. — Pretended trial of the young princes. — They are strangled in prison. — The heirs of Herod's throne were now Antipater, an Idumæan, and Archelaus, the son of a Samaritan woman. VII. In that same year, the birth of John the Baptist announced. - Decree of the Senate for a census of the empire. Nature of a census. That, and the reformation of the calendar, designed to prepare for the Incarnation. Six months after the angel appeared to Zechariah, Augustus shut the temple of Janus, as a sign of universal peace. VIII. In the same month, the annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her

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