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The Jewish War By Flavius Josephus

We are turning the works of Flavius Josephus into what we call Modern American Voice (MAV) where his writings are easy to understand. We are working diligently to complete this project, so check back often to read more. You can use the Table of Contents drop down to go where you left off reading.

PREFACE

The war between the Jews and the Romans was the greatest conflict of its time, and in many ways one of the greatest wars ever recorded. This is true whether we compare wars between cities or wars between nations. Yet some writers who knew nothing about the events gathered rumors and wrote down stories that were false and contradictory. Others had witnessed the war but still gave dishonest accounts, either because they wanted to flatter the Romans or because they hated the Jews. Their writings contain accusations in some places and praise in others, but nowhere do they give a clear and accurate account of what happened.

For the sake of those who live under Roman rule, I have decided to translate these books into Greek. I first wrote them in the language of my own people and sent them to the peoples beyond the Roman Empire. I am Joseph, the son of Matthias, a Hebrew by birth and a priest. At the beginning of the war, I fought against the Romans myself, and later I was forced to witness what happened. I am the author of this work.

When this great upheaval began, Rome itself was in serious disorder. The Jews who wanted rebellion also rose up during this troubled time. They had grown strong in wealth and military power, and the whole East was thrown into confusion. Some people saw the trouble as a chance to gain something, while others feared what they might lose.

The Jews hoped that their people living beyond the Euphrates would rise with them. The Gauls near Rome were also in revolt, and the Germans were not quiet. After Nero’s death, everything was unsettled. The opportunity led many men to seek royal power, while the soldiers supported change because they hoped to receive money.

I thought it was absurd to watch the truth being distorted in matters of such great importance and say nothing. Greeks and Romans who had not taken part in the war were left ignorant of what had happened, forced to read either flattering accounts or outright inventions. Meanwhile, the Parthians, Babylonians, Arabs living in the most distant regions, Jews beyond the Euphrates, and the people of Adiabene learned the truth through me. They learned where the war began, what suffering it brought upon us, and how it finally ended.

These writers have the nerve to call their accounts histories, yet they fail even in the purpose they claim to serve. They want to show the greatness of the Romans, so they reduce the achievements of the Jews. They don’t understand that conquerors cannot appear truly great when the people they defeated are made to seem weak.

They aren’t ashamed to ignore how long the war lasted, how many Roman soldiers suffered in it, or how powerful the Roman commanders were. The great efforts required to capture Jerusalem will appear worthless if everything the Romans accomplished is treated as a small matter.

Still, I won’t go to the opposite extreme simply because other writers praise the Romans. I also won’t exaggerate the deeds of my own people. I will describe the actions of both sides as accurately as I can.

At the same time, I ask to speak with the feelings that naturally come over me when I describe these events. I must be allowed to mourn the suffering of my own country. Our city was destroyed by our own spirit of rebellion. The tyrants among the Jews brought Roman power against us, even though the Romans had not wanted to attack us and had been forced into the war. They were also responsible for the burning of our holy temple.

Titus Caesar, who destroyed the temple, is himself a witness to this. Throughout the war, he felt pity for the people who were held under the control of the rebels. He often delayed capturing the city by choice, giving the leaders of the revolt time to repent and surrender.

If anyone accuses me of being unfair because I speak so strongly against the tyrants and bandits, or because I mourn the suffering of my country, let him excuse these feelings. They may go against the usual rules of history, but Jerusalem had once reached a level of prosperity greater than any other city under Roman rule. In the end, it fell into the worst disaster imaginable.

When the suffering of all people since the beginning of the world is compared with the suffering of the Jews, I believe no other calamity was greater. The people responsible for this disaster weren’t foreigners. They came from among us. For that reason, I can’t hold back my sorrow. If anyone still judges me harshly, let him treat the facts as history and the mourning as the personal feeling of the writer.

I can also justly criticize the educated Greeks. Great events have taken place in their own time, events that make the old wars seem small by comparison, yet these men sit as judges over the past and harshly criticize the work of the best ancient historians.

Modern writers may be better than the ancient writers at using polished language, but they are not better at carrying out the work they set out to do. They write new histories about the Assyrians and Medes, as if the earlier historians had failed to describe those matters properly. In ability, these modern writers are far below the authors they criticize, and their opinions are just as different from those of the ancient writers.

In earlier times, people wrote about the events of their own age. Their direct knowledge of those events gave their promises weight. It would also have been shameful for them to write lies when their readers could recognize those lies.

To preserve the memory of events that have never been recorded, and to explain one’s own time to those who will live afterward, is worthy of praise. A person deserves credit not for changing the arrangement of someone else’s work, but for recording what has never been written down and creating a complete history of his own.

I have spent a great deal of money and worked very hard on this history, even though I am a foreigner. I dedicate it to both the Greeks and the peoples they call barbarians, so the great events of this war will be remembered.

Some of the leading men among my own people are quick to speak when money or lawsuits are involved, but their mouths are closed when they must write history, a task that requires them to tell the truth and gather facts with great effort. They leave this work to people who are less capable and who know little about the actions of kings and rulers.

Still, I will give priority to the truth of history, no matter how little the Greek historians care about it.

I don’t think this is the right time to write about the ancient history of the Jews, including who our ancestors were, how they left Egypt, what lands they crossed, what countries they later conquered, and how they were eventually driven from those places. Such an account would also be unnecessary because many Jews before me have written accurate histories of our ancestors. Some Greek writers have done the same, translating our histories into their own language without seriously distorting the truth.

I will begin where those writers and our prophets ended. I will give a full account of the war that took place during my own lifetime, with as much care as I can. I will cover the events before my time only briefly.

I will explain how Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, captured Jerusalem by force and held it for three years and three months before the sons of the Hasmoneans drove him from the country.

I will then describe how their descendants fought among themselves over the government and brought the Romans and Pompey into their affairs. I will explain how Herod, the son of Antipater, ended their rule and brought Sosius against them.

I will also describe the rebellion that broke out among our people after Herod’s death, while Augustus was emperor of Rome and Quintilius Varus governed the region. I will explain how the war began in the twelfth year of Nero’s reign, what happened to Cestius, and which places the Jews attacked during the first stages of the conflict.

I will describe how the Jews built walls around the nearby cities. I will explain how Nero became afraid of what the war might bring after Cestius was defeated, and how he appointed Vespasian to command the Roman forces.

I will describe how Vespasian entered Judea with his older son, the size of the Roman army he used, and how many of his supporting troops were killed throughout Galilee. I will explain which cities he captured by force and which ones surrendered through treaties and agreed terms.

At that point, I will describe the Romans’ order in battle and the discipline of their legions. I will discuss the size and character of both Galilees, as well as the boundaries of Judea. I will also give a detailed account of the country’s features, including its lakes and springs, and the suffering that came upon each city as it was captured.

I will describe these events accurately because I saw what happened and personally experienced much of the suffering. I won’t hide any of the disasters I endured, since I will be reporting them to people who know whether my account is true.

I will then explain how the situation of the Jews became desperate, how Nero died, and how Vespasian was called back while preparing to attack Jerusalem so that he could take control of the empire.

I will describe the signs that appeared to him concerning his rise to power, the changes that took place in Rome, and how his soldiers forced him to become emperor even though he didn’t want the position.

When Vespasian left for Egypt to take control of the empire, the Jewish cause became even more confused. The tyrants rose against the people, then turned against one another and fell into internal disputes. I will describe these events as well.

10.

I will explain how Titus marched from Egypt into Judea for the second time, where he gathered his army, how many soldiers he brought together, and the condition in which he found Jerusalem. The rebels had thrown the city into disorder before his arrival.

I will describe the attacks Titus made, the earthworks he raised, and the three walls surrounding the city. I will give their measurements and explain the city’s strength. I will also describe the design of the temple and the inner sanctuary, including the measurements of those buildings, the altar, and everything else with as much accuracy as possible.

I will discuss some of the Jewish festivals, the seven purification rites, and the sacred duties performed by the priests. I will describe the clothing of the priests and the high priest, as well as the nature of the temple’s most holy place. I won’t hide anything that is known, and I won’t add anything that isn’t true.

11.

After that, I will describe the cruelty of the tyrants toward their own people and the Romans’ willingness to spare foreigners. I will explain how often Titus tried to save the city and the temple by inviting the rebels to make peace.

I will separate the suffering caused by the rebellion from the suffering caused by the famine, and I will explain how the people were finally captured. I won’t leave out the disasters that struck those who fled or the punishments given to the prisoners.

I will describe how the temple was burned against Caesar’s wishes, how many sacred objects stored inside it were pulled from the flames, and how the entire city was destroyed. I will record the signs and wonders that came before the destruction, the capture of the tyrants, and the great number of people who were taken as slaves and sent into different kinds of suffering.

I will also explain what the Romans did with the remaining walls, how they destroyed the fortresses throughout the country, and how Titus traveled through the land and put its affairs in order. Finally, I will describe his return to Italy and his triumph.

12.

I have included all these events in seven books. Those who know the war have no reason to accuse me of leaving out anything important. I wrote this history for people who love the truth, not for those who enjoy made-up stories.

I will begin my account with what I call the First Chapter.

BOOK I

Covering 167 Years, Beginning with Antiochus Epiphanes’ Capture of Jerusalem and Ending with the Death of Herod the Great

CHAPTER 1

How Jerusalem Was Captured and the Temple Plundered by Antiochus Epiphanes; The Deeds of Matthias and Judas Maccabeus; And the Deaths of Judas and John

At the time when Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, was disputing with Ptolemy VI over his claim to all of Syria, a serious conflict broke out among the leading men of Judea. They were fighting over control of the government, since none of these powerful men could stand being ruled by someone of equal rank.

Onias, one of the high priests, gained the advantage and drove the sons of Tobias out of Jerusalem. They fled to Antiochus and asked him to take them as guides and lead an army into Judea. The king was already willing to do this, so he agreed. He invaded Judea with a large army, seized Jerusalem by force, and killed many of the people who supported Ptolemy. He then allowed his soldiers to plunder the city without mercy.

Antiochus also robbed the temple and stopped the daily sacrifices of atonement. They remained suspended for three years and six months. Onias, the high priest, escaped to Ptolemy, who gave him a place in the district of Heliopolis. There Onias built a city modeled after Jerusalem and a temple patterned after the one in Jerusalem. We will discuss this matter more fully in its proper place.

2. Antiochus wasn’t satisfied with capturing Jerusalem, plundering it, and killing so many of its people. His anger grew because of the trouble he had faced during the siege. He ordered the Jews to abandon the laws of their ancestors, leave their infant sons uncircumcised, and offer pork on the altar.

The Jews resisted these commands, and the most respected among them were put to death. Bacchides had also been sent to guard the fortresses. He received these cruel orders and added his own natural brutality to them. He committed every kind of wickedness, torturing the best people in the city one at a time. Every day he threatened to destroy Jerusalem openly.

At last, his cruelty drove the suffering people to defend themselves.

3. Matthias, the son of Asamoneus, was one of the priests who lived in a village called Modin. He armed himself and his five sons, then attacked and killed Bacchides with daggers. Fearing the many enemy garrisons, Matthias fled into the mountains.

Large numbers of people joined him there. Their support gave him courage to come down from the mountains and fight the generals of Antiochus. Matthias defeated them and drove them out of Judea. Because of these victories, he gained control of the government and became ruler of his people with their full consent.

When Matthias died, he left the government to Judas, his oldest son.

4. Judas expected Antiochus to launch another attack, so he gathered an army from among his own people. He was also the first of the Jews to make a treaty of friendship with the Romans. When Epiphanes invaded Judea again, Judas defeated him and drove his forces from the country.

After this victory, Judas attacked the garrison that still remained in Jerusalem. He drove the soldiers out of the upper city and forced them into the lower city, which was called the Citadel. He then took control of the temple and purified the entire area. He rebuilt the walls around it and made new vessels for the sacred services because the old ones had been defiled.

Judas built a new altar and began offering sacrifices again. Jerusalem had now recovered its sacred worship when Antiochus died. His son, Antiochus, took his place as king and inherited his hatred of the Jews.

5. This Antiochus gathered an army of 50,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 80 elephants. He marched through Judea toward the hill country. He captured Bethsura, a small city, and then moved toward a narrow passage at a place called Bethzacharias.

Judas met him there with his army. Before the battle began, Judas’ brother Eleazar saw the largest elephant. It carried a high tower and was covered with golden armor. Eleazar assumed that the king himself was riding it.

He ran far ahead of the Jewish army, cut his way through the enemy soldiers, and reached the elephant. He couldn’t reach the man in the tower because it was so high, but he drove his weapon into the animal’s belly. The elephant fell on Eleazar and crushed him to death.

Eleazar accomplished nothing beyond making a brave attempt, since the man on the elephant wasn’t Antiochus. Still, his action showed that he would rather die while seeking glory than remain alive without it. His mistake also became a sign to his brother Judas of how the battle would end.

The Jews fought bravely for a long time, but the king’s army was larger, and fortune favored it. Antiochus’ forces won the battle. Many Jewish soldiers were killed, and Judas took the survivors with him as he fled to the district of Gophna.

Antiochus went to Jerusalem and stayed there only a few days because he needed supplies. He then left the city. He kept a garrison behind to hold it, while the rest of his army returned to Syria for the winter.

6. Judas didn’t remain inactive after the king’s departure. More of his countrymen joined him, along with those who had escaped from the battle. He gathered them into an army and fought Antiochus’ generals again at a village called Adasa.

Judas defeated the enemy and killed many of their soldiers, but he was eventually killed in the battle himself. Only a few days later, his brother John was also attacked and killed in a plot arranged by Antiochus’ supporters.

CHAPTER 2

Concerning the Successors of Judas, Jonathan and Simon, and John Hyrcanus

When Jonathan, the brother of Judas, succeeded him, he acted with great care in all matters concerning his people. He strengthened his authority by keeping his friendship with the Romans. He also made an alliance with Antiochus, the son of the king. Yet none of this was enough to keep him safe.

Trypho, who was the guardian of Antiochus’s son, formed a plot against Jonathan. He also tried to destroy Jonathan’s friends. When Jonathan traveled to Ptolemais to meet Antiochus, taking only a few men with him, Trypho captured him by trickery and placed him in chains. He then marched against the Jews. But Simon, Jonathan’s brother, drove him away. Enraged by this defeat, Trypho later had Jonathan put to death.

Simon took charge of public affairs with courage. He captured Gazara, Joppa, and Jamnia, cities that were near his territory. He also defeated the garrison and destroyed the citadel.

Later, Simon helped Antiochus fight against Trypho, whom Antiochus had surrounded at Dora. Antiochus then left to campaign against the Medes. But Simon’s help did nothing to restrain the king’s ambition. Even though Simon had assisted him in defeating Trypho, Antiochus soon sent his general, Cendebeus, with an army to ravage Judea and bring Simon under his control.

Simon was now advanced in years, but he led the war as if he were a much younger man. He sent his sons with a force of strong soldiers to face Cendebeus, while he took another part of the army and attacked from a different direction. He also placed many men in ambush throughout the mountains. His attacks succeeded, and he defeated the enemy wherever they met.

After this great victory, Simon was made high priest. He also freed the Jews from Macedonian rule, after that empire had governed them for one hundred seventy years, beginning with the reign of Seleucus.

A plot was also made against Simon. His son-in-law, Ptolemy, murdered him during a feast. Ptolemy then imprisoned Simon’s wife and two of his sons. He also sent men to kill John, who was called Hyrcanus.

John learned about their arrival ahead of time, so he hurried to Jerusalem. He trusted the people there because they remembered his father’s great deeds and hated the injustice Ptolemy had committed. Ptolemy tried to enter the city through another gate, but the people had already welcomed Hyrcanus and drove him away.

Ptolemy withdrew to one of the fortresses near Jericho, called Dagon. After John received the high priesthood, which his father had held before him, he offered sacrifices to God. He then quickly marched against Ptolemy, hoping to rescue his mother and brothers.

John surrounded the fortress and gained the advantage over Ptolemy in every part of the siege. Yet Ptolemy defeated him through the love John had for his family.

When Ptolemy found himself in danger, he brought John’s mother and brothers onto the wall. In full view of everyone, he beat them with rods. He also threatened to throw them over the wall unless John immediately ended the siege.

When John saw this, his pity and concern for his family overcame his anger. His mother, however, wasn’t frightened by the blows or by the threat of death. She stretched out her hands and urged her son not to give in to the injuries she was suffering. She told him not to spare the wicked man, because she would rather die at Ptolemy’s hands than live for many years if Ptolemy escaped punishment for what he had done to their family.

John was torn between his mother’s courage and her request. When he saw her beaten and wounded, his strength failed him, and his love for her overcame his will to continue the attack.

The siege was delayed in this way until the sabbatical year arrived. Every seventh year, the Jews rested their land, just as they rested on every seventh day. Because of this year of rest, Ptolemy was released from the siege. He then killed John’s brothers and their mother before fleeing to Zeno, also called Cotylas, the ruler of Philadelphia.

Antiochus was furious over everything he had suffered from Simon. He marched into Judea, camped outside Jerusalem, and besieged Hyrcanus.

Hyrcanus opened the tomb of David, who had been the richest of all the kings, and took about three thousand talents of silver from it. He promised Antiochus three thousand talents if he would lift the siege, and the king accepted.

Hyrcanus was the first of the Jews to possess enough money to hire foreign soldiers. From that time on, he also began to employ foreign auxiliaries.

Later, Antiochus went to war against the Medes. This gave Hyrcanus the chance to take revenge. He immediately attacked the cities of Syria, expecting to find them without strong defenses, as they were.

He captured Medaba and Samea, along with the towns around them. He also took Shechem and Mount Gerizzim. After that, he conquered the Cutheans who lived near the temple they had built in imitation of the temple in Jerusalem.

Hyrcanus captured many other cities in Idumea as well, including Adoreon and Marissa.

Hyrcanus then marched as far as Samaria, where the city of Sebaste now stands. Herod the king later built that city. Hyrcanus surrounded it with a wall and placed his sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus, in charge of the siege.

The two brothers pressed the attack so hard that famine spread through the city. The people were forced to eat food they had never considered fit to eat.

The people of Samaria asked Antiochus, who was called Cyzicenus, to help them. He gathered an army and answered their request, but Aristobulus and Antigonus defeated him. They chased him as far as Scythopolis, where he escaped from them.

The brothers returned to Samaria and again trapped the people inside the walls. After capturing the city, they tore it down and sold its inhabitants into slavery.

Their success continued, but they didn’t allow themselves to slow down. They marched with an army to Scythopolis, attacked it, and laid waste to all the country within Mount Carmel.

The success of John and his sons made them objects of envy and caused a rebellion in the country. Many people gathered together and refused to remain quiet until open war broke out. They were defeated in that war.

John lived the rest of his life in great happiness. He governed in an extraordinary way for thirty-three full years and then died, leaving five sons behind him. He was certainly a fortunate man, and he gave Fortune no reason to complain on his behalf.

John alone possessed three of the greatest honors in the world: he ruled his nation, served as high priest, and had the gift of prophecy. God spoke with him, and he knew what was going to happen. He even foresaw and foretold that his two oldest sons wouldn’t remain in power.

Their downfall deserves to be described, along with how much less fortunate they were than their father.

CHAPTER 3

How Aristobulus Was the First to Put a Diadem on His Head; How He Put His Mother and Brother to Death, and Then Died Himself After Reigning Only One Year

After their father died, Aristobulus, the oldest of the brothers, changed the government into a kingdom. He was the first to place a diadem on his head, four hundred seventy-one years and three months after our people had returned to this country when they were freed from slavery in Babylon.

Of all his brothers, Aristobulus seemed to love Antigonus, who was next to him in age. He made Antigonus his equal in honor, but he bound the rest of his brothers and kept them in prison. He also had his mother placed in chains because she disputed his right to rule. John had left her in charge of public affairs. Aristobulus went so far in his cruelty that he allowed her to waste away and die in prison.

2. Yet punishment soon came upon him because of his brother Antigonus, the man he loved and had made his partner in the kingdom. Aristobulus killed him because of the false accusations spread by wicked men around the palace.

At first, Aristobulus refused to believe what they said. His love for his brother held him back, and he thought much of the reports came from the envy of those who repeated them. But it happened that Antigonus returned from the army in great splendor during the festival when, according to our ancient custom, we build tabernacles for God.

At that time Aristobulus was sick. When the feast was nearly over, Antigonus came to visit him with armed men around him. He was dressed in the finest way possible, since he intended to pray to God for the recovery of his brother.

The wicked men went to the king at that very moment. They told him how proudly Antigonus had arrived with armed soldiers and how boldly he marched. They said such behavior was too great for a private man. They claimed that Antigonus had come with a large force to kill him because he couldn’t bear to enjoy royal honors as a mere subject when he had the power to take the kingdom for himself.

3. Little by little, and against his will, Aristobulus began to believe these accusations. He took care not to show his suspicion openly, but he made plans to protect himself if anything should happen.

He placed his bodyguards in a dark underground passage. Aristobulus was lying sick in a place once called the Citadel, though it was later renamed Antonia. He ordered the guards to leave Antigonus alone if he came without weapons, but to kill him if he came wearing armor.

He also sent messengers to tell Antigonus that he should come unarmed. But the queen, who was part of the plot against him, cleverly changed the message. She persuaded the messengers to hide the king’s command and tell Antigonus instead that Aristobulus had heard he owned a beautiful suit of armor, decorated in the finest military style, which had been made for him in Galilee.

They were to say that Aristobulus was sorry his illness had kept him from seeing such splendid armor. Since Antigonus might soon leave him, the king wished to see him wearing it before he went away.

4. When Antigonus heard this, he never suspected that his brother meant him any harm. He trusted Aristobulus’ good nature and came wearing the armor so he could show it to him.

As he passed through the dark underground passage called Strato’s Tower, the bodyguards attacked and killed him. His death showed how easily slander can destroy love between brothers and how even natural affection may not always withstand envy.

5. Many people would be amazed by what happened to Judas at this time. He belonged to the sect of the Essenes, and his predictions had never before failed or deceived anyone.

Judas saw Antigonus passing near the temple and cried out to his followers, who were many and studied under him:

“O strange thing! It would be better for me to die now, since truth has died before me and one of my predictions has proved false. Antigonus is alive today, though he was supposed to die today. The place where he was destined to be killed is Strato’s Tower, which is six hundred furlongs from here. Yet four hours of this day have already passed, and the time left is too short for the prediction to come true.”

After the old man said this, he became discouraged and remained troubled in spirit. But before long, news came that Antigonus had been killed in an underground place also called Strato’s Tower. It had the same name as the city of Caesarea by the sea. This confusion over the name was what caused the prophet’s distress.

6. When Aristobulus heard what had happened, he regretted the terrible crime he had committed. His illness grew worse, and his mind remained troubled by the memory of his deed. At last, the grief became so unbearable that his bowels were torn apart, and he vomited a great amount of blood.

One of the servants carried the blood away, but by what seemed to be divine judgment, he slipped and fell in the very place where Antigonus had been killed. Some of the blood from the murderer was spilled over the spots where the blood of the murdered man could still be seen.

The people who witnessed it cried out in sorrow, as if the servant had poured out the blood on purpose. When the king heard their cries, he asked what had happened. No one dared to tell him, but he kept pressing them until he threatened them and forced them to speak.

When they finally told him, Aristobulus began to weep and groan.

“So I see that I can’t escape the all-seeing eye of God because of the great crimes I have committed. The blood of my own brother is quickly calling for vengeance against me.

“O shameless body, how long will you keep holding a soul that deserves to die for the murder of a mother and a brother? How long must I continue to pour out my blood one drop at a time? Let it all leave me at once, and let the spirits of those I killed no longer be denied the full offering of my flesh and blood.”

As soon as he had spoken these words, he died. He had ruled for no more than one year.

CHAPTER 4

The Actions of Alexander Jannaeus, Who Reigned for Twenty-Seven Years

The king’s wife released the king’s brothers and made Alexander king. He was older than the others and calmer by nature. Once he took power, he killed one of his brothers because that brother wanted to rule for himself. He treated the other brother with great respect because he preferred a quiet life and stayed away from public affairs.
A battle soon took place between Alexander and Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus. Ptolemy had taken the city of Asochis. He killed many of his enemies, but the battle went mostly in Ptolemy’s favor. Later, Ptolemy was pursued by his mother, Cleopatra, and withdrew into Egypt. Alexander then besieged and captured Gadara. He also took Amathus, the strongest fortress near the Jordan River. It held the most valuable possessions of Theodorus, the son of Zeno.

Theodorus marched against Alexander and recovered his own property, along with the king’s baggage. He also killed ten thousand Jews. Alexander eventually recovered from this defeat and turned toward the coastal regions. He captured Raphia and Gaza, as well as Anthedon, which King Herod later renamed Agrippias.

Alexander enslaved the citizens of all these cities. During a festival, the Jewish people rebelled against him, since such celebrations often became the starting point for uprisings. It seemed that Alexander would not escape the plot against him, but his foreign soldiers came to his aid. These troops were Pisidians and Cilicians. He never accepted Syrians into his mercenary army because of their natural hatred for the Jewish people.

After killing more than six thousand of the rebels, Alexander invaded Arabia. He conquered the country, along with Gilead and Moab, and ordered the people there to pay him tribute. He then returned to Areathus. Theodorus was shocked by Alexander’s success, so Alexander captured his fortress and tore it down.

Alexander later fought Obodas, king of the Arabs, who had prepared an ambush for him near Golan. Alexander’s entire army was crowded into a narrow valley, where the Arabians attacked and destroyed them with the help of their many camels. Alexander escaped and returned to Jerusalem.

The people already hated him, and the disaster caused them to rebel against him. He was still too strong for them, however. During the battles that followed, he killed at least fifty thousand Jews over a period of six years. Yet these victories gave him no reason to celebrate, because he was destroying his own kingdom.

At last, Alexander stopped fighting and tried to make peace by speaking with his subjects. His sudden change of behavior only made them hate him more. He asked why they hated him and what he could do to calm them. They told him to kill himself. They said that only after his death could they possibly make peace with a man who had caused them such terrible suffering.

At the same time, they invited Demetrius, who was called Eucerus, to help them. Demetrius gladly accepted, hoping to gain great advantages. He arrived with his army, and the Jews joined his forces near Shechem.

Alexander met the two armies with one thousand cavalry and eight thousand mercenary infantry. He also had ten thousand Jews who supported him. The opposing army had three thousand cavalry and fourteen thousand infantry.

Before the battle began, the two kings sent out proclamations, each trying to persuade the other’s soldiers to change sides. Demetrius hoped to win over Alexander’s mercenaries, while Alexander tried to persuade the Jews serving with Demetrius to abandon him. But the Jews did not give up their anger, and the Greek mercenaries remained loyal. The armies therefore met in a close battle with their weapons.

Demetrius won the battle, although Alexander’s mercenaries fought with great courage and strength. The result, however, turned out differently than either king expected. The Jews who had invited Demetrius did not remain loyal to him, even after his victory. When Alexander fled into the mountains, six thousand Jews took pity on him and joined his side.

Demetrius could not accept this change. He feared that Alexander had become strong enough to challenge him again and that the whole nation would eventually return to Alexander. Because of this, Demetrius left the country.

Even after the foreign soldiers were gone, the rest of the Jewish people did not stop fighting Alexander. War continued until he had killed most of them and driven the survivors into the city of Berneselis. After destroying the city, he took the captives to Jerusalem.

Alexander’s anger became so extreme that his cruelty turned into an attack against every law of decency. He ordered eight hundred of his enemies to be crucified in the center of Jerusalem. While they were still alive, he had their wives and children killed in front of them. Alexander watched these executions while he drank and reclined with his concubines.

The people were horrified. The very next night, eight thousand of his opponents fled from Judea. They did not stop fleeing until Alexander died. Through these brutal actions, and only after great difficulty and a long delay, Alexander finally brought peace to his kingdom. After that, he stopped fighting.

Trouble soon began again because of Antiochus, who was also called Dionysius. He was the brother of Demetrius and the last of the Seleucid line.

Alexander feared Antiochus when Antiochus marched against the Arabs. To stop him from making a sudden attack, Alexander dug a deep trench between Antipatris, near the mountains, and the coast at Joppa. He built a high wall in front of the trench and placed wooden towers along it.

These defenses did not stop Antiochus. He burned the towers, filled in the trenches, and continued forward with his army. Antiochus considered taking revenge on Alexander a minor matter and marched directly against the Arabs instead.

The Arab king withdrew to a place where he could fight most effectively. Then, without warning, he turned his ten thousand horsemen around and attacked Antiochus’s army while it was in disorder. A fierce battle followed.

As long as Antiochus was alive, his soldiers continued to fight, even though the Arabs killed many of them. Antiochus was at the front of the army, placing himself in great danger as he tried to rally his troops. When he fell, his soldiers began to retreat. Most of the army was destroyed during the battle or the flight.

The survivors escaped to the village of Cana, but they lacked the supplies they needed. Nearly all of them died there, with only a few exceptions.

Around this time, the people of Damascus, who hated Ptolemy, the son of Mennaeus, invited Aretas to rule over them and made him king of Coele-Syria. Aretas also invaded Judea and defeated Alexander in battle. Later, the two sides reached an agreement, and Aretas withdrew.

Afterward, Alexander captured Pella. Driven by his desire for Theodorus’s possessions, he marched again to Gerasa. He surrounded the garrison with three walls and then took it by force. He also destroyed Golan and Seleucia, along with the place called the Valley of Antiochus. In addition, he captured the strong fortress of Gamala.

Alexander stripped Demetrius, the governor of Gamala, of his property because of the many crimes charged against him. Alexander then returned to Judea after spending three full years on the expedition. The people welcomed him because the campaign had ended successfully.

Once he was free from war, Alexander became sick. He suffered from a quartan fever, a fever that returned every fourth day. He thought that military exercise would cure him, so he began another campaign. But he chose the wrong time and forced his body to endure hardships it could no longer bear.

Alexander died while his kingdom was still troubled. He had ruled for twenty-seven years.

CHAPTER 5

Alexandra Rules for Nine Years, While the Pharisees Hold the Real Power

Alexander left the kingdom to his wife, Alexandra, believing the Jews would willingly submit to her rule. She had always opposed the cruelty he had shown them and resisted his violations of their laws. Because of this, she had earned the people’s support. His expectations proved correct. Alexandra held power because the people respected her devotion to God. She followed the ancient customs of her nation and removed from office those who acted against its sacred laws.

Alexandra had two sons by Alexander. She appointed the older son, Hyrcanus, as high priest because of his age and his quiet nature. He had no desire to disturb the government. She kept the younger son, Aristobulus, with her as a private citizen because of his strong and passionate character.

2. The Pharisees joined Alexandra and offered to help her govern. They were a Jewish sect that appeared more religious than the others and claimed to explain the laws more accurately. Alexandra listened to them closely because she herself was deeply devoted to God. The Pharisees slowly won her confidence, and before long they became the real administrators of the kingdom.

They banished some people and restored others whenever they wished. They imprisoned men or released them according to their own decisions. In short, they held the king’s authority, while Alexandra carried the cost and trouble of ruling. She was a capable woman who handled major affairs well. She also worked constantly to gather soldiers. In this way, she doubled the size of her army and hired many foreign troops. Her nation became powerful at home and feared by foreign rulers. Alexandra governed the people, but the Pharisees governed Alexandra.

3. The Pharisees killed Diogenes, a prominent man who had been a friend of Alexander. They accused him of advising the king to crucify the eight hundred men mentioned earlier. They also persuaded Alexandra to execute the other men who had angered Alexander against them. Alexandra was so devoted to the Pharisees that she gave in to their demands, allowing them to kill anyone they chose.

Many of the leading men who were in danger fled to Aristobulus. He urged his mother to spare them because of their rank, but he told her to drive them out of the city unless she believed they were innocent. As a result, they escaped punishment and scattered throughout the country.

Later, Alexandra sent her army against Damascus, claiming that Ptolemy was constantly mistreating the city. Her forces captured Damascus, and the city offered little resistance. She also persuaded Tigranes, king of Armenia, to leave the area around Ptolemais, where he was besieging Cleopatra. She won him over with agreements and gifts. Tigranes soon ended the siege because of the unrest caused by Lucullus’s invasion of Armenia.

4. During this time, Alexandra became ill. Aristobulus, her younger son, used the opportunity to act. He had many young supporters who were loyal to him, and together they seized all the fortresses. Aristobulus took the money stored there and used it to hire mercenary soldiers. With this force, he made himself king.

When Hyrcanus complained to his mother, Alexandra took pity on him. She placed Aristobulus’s wife and sons under guard in Antonia, the fortress next to the northern side of the temple. As I mentioned earlier, this fortress had once been called the Citadel. It was later named Antonia when Antony ruled the East. Other cities were also renamed in that period, including Sebaste and Agrippias, which received their names from Sebastus and Agrippa.

Alexandra died before she could punish Aristobulus for taking the kingdom away from his brother. She had ruled for nine years.

CHAPTER 6

Hyrcanus Gives Up His Claim to the Crown, and Aristobulus Becomes King. Antipater Brings Hyrcanus Back with the Help of Aretas. Pompey Is Finally Called to Settle the Dispute Between the Brothers

Hyrcanus was the rightful heir to the kingdom. Before she died, his mother had placed the government in his hands. Aristobulus, however, had greater power and a bolder spirit. When the brothers fought near Jericho to settle their dispute, most of Hyrcanus’s supporters deserted him and joined Aristobulus.

Hyrcanus fled with the men who remained loyal to him and took refuge in Antonia. There, he gained control of the hostages who could protect him, including Aristobulus’s wife and children. Before the conflict went any further, the brothers reached an agreement. Aristobulus would become king, while Hyrcanus would give up the throne but keep all his other honors as the king’s brother.

They were reconciled in the temple. They embraced each other warmly while the people stood around them. They also exchanged houses. Aristobulus went to the royal palace, and Hyrcanus moved into Aristobulus’s house.

The people who had opposed Aristobulus were frightened when he unexpectedly gained control of the kingdom. This especially troubled Antipater, whom Aristobulus had hated for a long time. Antipater was an Idumean and one of the leading men of his nation because of his ancestry, wealth, and influence.

Antipater persuaded Hyrcanus to flee to Aretas, the king of Arabia, and claim the kingdom for himself. He also persuaded Aretas to receive Hyrcanus and restore him to the throne. Antipater spoke harshly against Aristobulus’s character, while praising Hyrcanus. He urged Aretas to help him, saying that it was fitting for a king who ruled such a great nation to defend those who had been wronged.

Antipater claimed that Hyrcanus had been treated unjustly because he had been deprived of the kingdom that belonged to him by birthright. After preparing both Hyrcanus and Aretas to follow his plan, Antipater secretly took Hyrcanus out of the city by night. They traveled quickly and escaped to Petra, the royal city of the king of Arabia.

There Antipater placed Hyrcanus in Aretas’s hands. By speaking with him at length and giving him many gifts, Antipater persuaded Aretas to provide an army that could restore Hyrcanus to the kingdom. The army numbered fifty thousand foot soldiers and cavalry.

Aristobulus couldn’t resist such a force. His men deserted him at the first attack, and he was driven back to Jerusalem. He would have been captured at once if Scaurus, the Roman general, hadn’t arrived at the right moment and lifted the siege.

Scaurus had been sent into Syria from Armenia by Pompey the Great, while Pompey was fighting against Tigranes. Scaurus came to Damascus, which Metellus and Lollius had recently captured, and forced them to leave the city. When he learned what was happening in Judea, he hurried there, hoping to gain something from the dispute.

As soon as Scaurus entered the country, ambassadors came from both brothers, and each asked for his help. Aristobulus, however, offered him three hundred talents, and that payment mattered more to Scaurus than the justice of the case.

After receiving the money, Scaurus sent a herald to Hyrcanus and the Arabians. He threatened them with the anger of Rome and Pompey unless they lifted the siege. Aretas became afraid and withdrew from Judea to Philadelphia. Scaurus also returned to Damascus.

Aristobulus wasn’t satisfied simply to have escaped his brother. He gathered all his forces, pursued the enemy, and fought them at a place called Papyron. He killed about six thousand of them, including Phalion, the brother of Antipater.

After Hyrcanus and Antipater lost the support of the Arabians, they placed their hopes in Pompey. Pompey had passed through Syria and reached Damascus, so they went to him for help.

They offered him no bribe. Instead, they repeated the same fair arguments they had used with Aretas. They asked Pompey to condemn Aristobulus’s violent conduct and give the kingdom to Hyrcanus, since he had the better character and was older.

Aristobulus also came before Pompey. He trusted that Scaurus’s payment would protect him, and he dressed himself in the most royal manner he could. But he soon decided that it was beneath him to appear before Pompey like a servant. He couldn’t bear to pursue his own interests in a way so humiliating and unfamiliar to him, so he left Diospolis.

Pompey was angered by this behavior. Hyrcanus and his friends also made strong appeals to him. Pompey gathered his Roman soldiers and many Syrian allies and marched against Aristobulus.

After passing through Pella and Scythopolis, Pompey reached Corea, where travelers enter Judea from the Mediterranean side. There he learned that Aristobulus had fled to Alexandrium, a magnificent fortress built on top of a high mountain.

Pompey sent word that Aristobulus must come down. Aristobulus wanted to fight, since Pompey had summoned him in such a commanding way. But he saw that his men were terrified, and his friends urged him to consider the power of Rome, which no one could resist.

Aristobulus followed their advice and went down to Pompey. After giving a long defense of himself and explaining why he believed he had been right to take the kingdom, he returned to the fortress.

When his brother invited him to present his case again, Aristobulus came down once more. He spoke about the justice of his claim and then left without Pompey stopping him. He was caught between hope and fear. When he went down from the fortress, he hoped Pompey would allow him to rule the entire kingdom. When he returned to the citadel, he wanted to avoid appearing too weak or submissive.

Pompey ordered him to surrender all his fortified places. He also forced Aristobulus to write to every governor and command them to give up the fortresses. The governors had been instructed to obey no letter unless it was written in Aristobulus’s own hand.

Aristobulus did what he was ordered to do, but he remained angry about it. He went to Jerusalem and prepared to fight Pompey.

Pompey didn’t give Aristobulus time to prepare for a siege. He followed close behind him. He was also driven to move quickly because he received news of Mithridates’s death near Jericho.

Jericho is the most fertile part of Judea. It has many palm trees, along with the balsam tree. The people cut the young branches of the balsam with sharp stones, and the juice flows from the cuts like tears.

Pompey camped there for one night. The next morning, he hurried toward Jerusalem. Aristobulus was so frightened by his approach that he went out to meet Pompey as a suppliant. He promised him money and offered to surrender both himself and the city to Pompey’s authority. This promise eased Pompey’s anger.

Aristobulus didn’t keep the terms he had agreed to. His supporters wouldn’t even allow Gabinius, whom Pompey had sent to receive the promised money, to enter the city.

CHAPTER 7

How Pompey Took Jerusalem and Seized the Temple by Force; How He Entered the Holy of Holies, Along with His Other Deeds in Judea

Pompey was furious at this treatment and took Aristobulus into custody. When he reached Jerusalem, he studied the city to find the best place for an attack. The walls were so strong that taking them would be difficult. A deep valley stood before them, and the temple within that valley was surrounded by another powerful wall. Even if the Romans captured the city, the temple would give the enemy a second place to retreat and defend themselves.
While Pompey was still considering what to do, a revolt broke out inside the city. Aristobulus’s supporters wanted to fight and free their king, while Hyrcanus’s supporters wanted to open the gates to Pompey. Fear of the well-disciplined Roman army made Hyrcanus’s faction much larger. Aristobulus’s followers were defeated and withdrew into the temple. They tore down the bridge connecting the temple to the city and prepared to resist as long as they could.

The other faction admitted the Romans into the city and handed the palace over to Pompey. He sent Piso, one of his senior officers, into the palace with an army. Piso placed a garrison throughout the city because he couldn’t persuade those who had fled to the temple to negotiate. He also arranged the surrounding positions to support an attack, since Hyrcanus’s followers were ready to give the Romans advice and assistance.

3. Pompey filled in the ditch on the north side of the temple, along with the entire valley. The soldiers themselves had to carry the earth and other materials. Filling the valley was difficult because it was extremely deep, and the Jews used every possible method to drive the Romans back from their higher position.

The Romans might not have succeeded if Pompey hadn’t noticed that the Jews treated every seventh day as a holy day on which they did no work. He ordered his soldiers to build their earthworks on those days, but he didn’t allow them to fight. The Jews defended themselves on the Sabbath, but they didn’t launch attacks.

After Pompey had filled in the valley, he built tall towers on the earthworks. He also brought the siege engines the Romans had taken from Tyre close to the wall and used them to batter it. The Roman slingers drove away the defenders who stood above the wall, striking them with stones. The towers on the city side held out for a long time and were impressive in both size and strength.

4. During all the hardships the Romans suffered, Pompey couldn’t help admiring the courage of the Jews. He was especially amazed that they continued their religious services without interruption, even while surrounded by weapons and missiles. They carried out their daily sacrifices, purifications, and every other part of their worship as carefully as they would have done during peacetime.

Even after the temple had been taken and Jews were being killed around the altar, the priests continued the worship required by their law. It was not until the third month of the siege, and only after great difficulty, that the Romans brought down one of the towers and entered the temple.

Faustus Cornelius, the son of Sylla, was the first Roman to climb over the wall. Two centurions, Furius and Fabius, followed him. Each man was accompanied by a cohort of soldiers. They surrounded the Jews and killed them, striking down some as they ran toward the temple for shelter and others as they fought to defend themselves.

5. Many of the priests saw their enemies coming at them with drawn swords, yet they continued their worship without panic. They were killed while pouring out their offerings and burning incense because they chose their service to God over their own safety.

Most of these priests were killed by Jews from the opposing faction. A countless number threw themselves from the cliffs. Others, driven to despair by the troubles they faced, set fire to the buildings near the wall and burned themselves with them.

About twelve thousand Jews were killed. Only a small number of Romans died, though many were wounded.

6. Nothing affected the Jewish people more than seeing their holy place, which no one had been allowed to enter, opened to foreigners. Pompey and those with him entered the temple itself, a place forbidden to everyone except the high priest. There they saw what had been kept inside, including the lampstand and its lamps, the table, the vessels used for pouring, and the censers. All of these were made of gold. They also saw a large supply of spices and two thousand talents of sacred money.

Pompey didn’t touch the money or anything else stored there. On the day after he captured the temple, he ordered its attendants to cleanse it and carry out the usual sacrifices.

He also appointed Hyrcanus as high priest. Hyrcanus had shown great energy on Pompey’s side during the siege, and he had stopped the people throughout the country from fighting for Aristobulus, even though many of them were ready to do so. By this action, he had shown himself to be a capable leader. Pompey won the people’s favor through kindness rather than fear.

Among the captives was Aristobulus’s father-in-law, who was also his uncle. Pompey put the most guilty men to death by beheading. He rewarded Faustus and the soldiers who had fought with him so bravely with valuable gifts. He also imposed a tribute on the country and on Jerusalem itself.

7. Pompey took away all the cities the Jews had previously conquered that belonged to Coele-Syria. He placed them under the authority of the Roman governor appointed over that region and reduced Judea to its former borders.

He rebuilt Gadara, which the Jews had destroyed, to please Demetrius, a man from Gadara who had once been his freedman. He also freed several other cities from Jewish rule. These included Hippos, Scythopolis, Pella, Samaria, Marissa, Ashdod, Jamnia, and Arethusa. He did the same with the coastal cities of Gaza, Joppa, Dora, and the city once called Strato’s Tower. King Herod later rebuilt that city with magnificent buildings and renamed it Caesarea.

Pompey restored all these cities to their own citizens and placed them under the province of Syria. He appointed Scaurus as governor over Syria, Judea, and the lands reaching as far as Egypt and the Euphrates. He gave him two legions to support him.

Pompey then hurried through Cilicia on his way to Rome, taking Aristobulus and his children as captives. Aristobulus had two daughters and two sons. One of the sons, Alexander, escaped during the journey. The younger son, Antigonus, was taken to Rome with his sisters.

CHAPTER 8

Alexander, the Son of Aristobulus, Rebels Against Hyrcanus; Gabinius Defeats Him and Takes His Fortresses. Aristobulus Escapes from Rome and Raises an Army, but the Romans Defeat and Capture Him. Events Involving Gabinius, Crassus, and Cassius

During this time, Scaurus marched into Arabia, but the difficult terrain around Petra stopped him. He still ravaged the country near Pella, though his army suffered greatly there because it had run short of food. Hyrcanus helped relieve the shortage by sending provisions through Antipater.

Scaurus also sent Antipater to Aretas, since Antipater knew him well. He was to persuade Aretas to pay money in exchange for peace. The king of Arabia agreed and gave Scaurus three hundred talents. After receiving the payment, Scaurus withdrew his army from Arabia.

Alexander, the son of Aristobulus who had escaped from Pompey, soon gathered a large group of supporters. He attacked Hyrcanus, overran Judea, and seemed ready to overthrow him. Alexander even came to Jerusalem and would have rebuilt its wall, which Pompey had destroyed, if Gabinius had not arrived.

Gabinius had been sent to Syria as Scaurus’s successor. He showed his courage in many matters, including the campaign against Alexander. Fearing that Gabinius would attack him, Alexander gathered a large army of ten thousand infantry and fifteen hundred cavalry. He also built walls around several strong positions, including Alexandrium, Hyrcanium, and Macherus, which stood in the mountains near Arabia.

Gabinius sent Marcus Antonius ahead and followed with his entire army. A select group of soldiers under Antipater joined Antonius, as did another force of Jews commanded by Malichus and Pitholaus. Together, they met Alexander’s army.

Gabinius soon arrived with the main force. Alexander couldn’t withstand the combined attack, so he withdrew. When he reached the area near Jerusalem, however, he was forced to fight. He lost six thousand men in the battle. Three thousand were killed, and three thousand were captured. Alexander fled with the rest of his army to Alexandrium.

When Gabinius reached Alexandrium, he found a large number of men camped there. Before beginning the attack, he offered them pardon for their earlier offenses and urged them to surrender. They refused every offer of peace, so Gabinius killed many of them and shut the rest inside the citadel.

Marcus Antonius, their commander, distinguished himself in the battle. He had always shown great courage, but never more than he did on this occasion. Gabinius left troops behind to continue the siege, then went through the country to reorganize the cities that had survived and rebuild those that had been destroyed.

At his command, these cities were restored: Scythopolis, Samaria, Anthedon, Apollonia, Jamnia, Raphia, Mariassa, Adoreus, Gamala, and Ashdod, along with many others. Large numbers of people quickly moved into each city and settled there.

After putting these cities in order, Gabinius returned to Alexandrium and renewed the siege. Alexander had now lost hope of regaining the government, so he sent ambassadors to Gabinius. They asked him to forgive Alexander for his offenses. Alexander also surrendered his remaining fortresses, Hyrcanium and Macherus, and later handed over Alexandrium as well.

Gabinius destroyed all three fortresses. Alexander’s mother had urged him to do this so the strongholds couldn’t become bases for another war. She had come to plead with Gabinius because her husband and her other children were being held captive in Rome.

Afterward, Gabinius brought Hyrcanus back to Jerusalem and placed him in charge of the temple. He gave the rest of the government to an aristocracy. Gabinius also divided the whole nation into five districts. Jerusalem governed one district, Gadara another, Amathus a third, Jericho a fourth, and Sepphoris, a city in Galilee, the fifth.

The people were pleased to be free of a king’s rule. From that time on, the nation was governed by an aristocracy.

Aristobulus soon caused new trouble. He escaped from Rome and gathered many Jews who wanted a change in government, especially those who had supported him in the past. He first seized Alexandrium and began rebuilding its walls.

Gabinius sent an army against him under Siscuria, Antonius, and Servilius. When Aristobulus learned that they were coming, he withdrew to Macherus. He dismissed the unarmed crowd and continued with only those who carried weapons. His force numbered about eight thousand men.

Pitholaus, who had once been commander at Jerusalem, joined Aristobulus with one thousand of his own men. The Romans followed them, and when the two sides met in battle, Aristobulus’s supporters fought bravely for a long time. In the end, the Romans defeated them. Five thousand of Aristobulus’s men were killed. About two thousand escaped to a nearby hill.

The remaining one thousand men broke through the Roman lines with Aristobulus and marched together to Macherus. Aristobulus spent the first night among its ruins, hoping that if the fighting stopped for a while, he could raise another army. He fortified the place as well as he could, though the defenses were poor.

The Romans attacked him there. Aristobulus resisted for two days, even after his strength was nearly gone. At last, they captured him and brought him to Gabinius, along with his son Antigonus, who had escaped from Rome with him. Gabinius then sent Aristobulus back to Rome.

The Roman Senate ordered Aristobulus to be imprisoned, but it returned his children to Judea. Gabinius had written to the Senate that he had promised Aristobulus’s mother he would release them if she surrendered the fortresses.

Gabinius later marched toward war with the Parthians, but Ptolemy delayed him. When Gabinius returned from the Euphrates, he brought Ptolemy back into Egypt. He used Hyrcanus and Antipater to gather everything needed for the expedition.

Antipater supplied money, weapons, grain, and additional troops. He also persuaded the Jews stationed at Pelusium to guard the roads there to let Gabinius and his army pass.

While Gabinius was away, the rest of Syria rose up. Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, once again led the Jews in revolt. He gathered a very large army and began killing the Romans throughout the country.

Gabinius had already returned from Egypt, but the uprising forced him to turn back quickly. He was afraid of the growing revolt, so he sent Antipater ahead. Antipater persuaded some of the rebels to lay down their arms.

Still, thirty thousand men remained with Alexander, who was eager to fight. Gabinius went out against them, and the two armies met near Mount Tabor. Ten thousand Jews were killed, while the rest scattered and fled.

Gabinius then went to Jerusalem and arranged the government according to Antipater’s wishes. Afterward, he marched against the Nabateans and defeated them. Mithridates and Orsanes had fled from Parthia, so Gabinius secretly allowed them to leave. Among the soldiers, however, he claimed that they had escaped on their own.

Crassus came to Syria as Gabinius’s successor. To finance his campaign against the Parthians, he took all the remaining gold from the temple in Jerusalem. He also seized the two thousand talents that Pompey had left untouched.

After Crassus crossed the Euphrates, he and his entire army were destroyed. The details of that event can be discussed at another time.

After Crassus’s death, Cassius stopped the Parthians as they prepared to enter Syria. Cassius had fled into that province, and once he took control there, he hurried into Judea.

After capturing Taricheae, he sold thirty thousand Jews into slavery. He also killed Pitholaus, who had supported Aristobulus’s rebellious followers. Antipater advised Cassius to do this.

Antipater had married Cypros, a woman from an important Arabian family. They had four sons, Phasaelus, Herod, who later became king, Joseph, and Pheroras. They also had a daughter named Salome.

Antipater made friends with powerful men everywhere through the favors he granted them and the hospitality he showed them. He became especially close to the king of Arabia after marrying one of the king’s relatives. When Antipater later went to war against Aristobulus, he sent his children to this king for protection.

Cassius eventually forced Alexander to make peace and stop his revolt. He then returned to the Euphrates to prevent the Parthians from crossing back over it. We will discuss those events elsewhere.

CHAPTER 9

Aristobulus Is Killed by Pompey’s Supporters, and His Son Alexander by Scipio. After Pompey’s Death, Antipater Becomes Caesar’s Friend and Performs Great Deeds in the War, Including His Aid to Mithridates

After Pompey and the Roman senate fled across the Ionian Sea, Caesar gained control of Rome and the empire. He released Aristobulus from his chains, gave him command of two legions, and quickly sent him to Syria. Caesar hoped Aristobulus would easily bring Syria and the regions near Judea under his control.

But the jealousy of Pompey’s supporters defeated both Aristobulus’s efforts and Caesar’s hopes. They poisoned Aristobulus and killed him. For a long time, he wasn’t even given a burial in his own country. His body lay above ground, preserved in honey, until Antony sent it to the Jews so they could bury him in the royal tombs.

His son Alexander was also beheaded by Scipio at Antioch. Pompey had ordered his death after Alexander was accused before Scipio’s tribunal of harming the Romans.

At that time, Ptolemy, the son of Menneus and ruler of Chalcis beneath Mount Lebanon, took Alexander’s brothers and sisters into his care. He sent his own son Philippio to Ascalon to bring them back. Philippio brought Antigonus and his sisters away from Aristobulus’s wife and delivered them to his father.

Philippio fell in love with the younger daughter and married her. His father later killed him because of this marriage. After killing his son, Ptolemy married the young woman himself. Her name was Alexandra. Because of this marriage, he took even greater care of her brother and sister.

After Pompey was killed, Antipater changed sides and formed a friendship with Caesar. At that time, Mithridates of Pergamus was leading an army against Egypt. The Egyptians blocked the roads around Pelusium, forcing him to remain at Ascalon.

Mithridates persuaded the Arabians, among whom he had once lived, to support him. Antipater also joined him with three thousand armed men. He urged the leading men of Syria to come to Mithridates’ aid, along with the people of Mount Lebanon, Ptolemy, Jamblicus, and another man named Ptolemy.

Because of this support, the cities in that region readily joined the war. Relying on the added strength Antipater had brought him, Mithridates marched toward Pelusium. When the people refused to let him pass, he laid siege to the city.

Antipater distinguished himself in the attack. He broke down the section of the wall facing his position, then became the first man to leap into the city, followed by the soldiers around him.

In this way, Pelusium was captured. As the army continued its march, however, the Egyptian Jews living in the region called the Land of Onias tried to stop them. Antipater persuaded them not only to allow the army to pass, but also to provide food for the soldiers.

Because of this, even the people around Memphis refused to fight against Mithridates. They joined him willingly instead.

Mithridates then traveled through the Delta and fought the rest of the Egyptians at a place called the Jews’ Camp. During the battle, his entire right wing was in danger. Antipater had already defeated the forces facing him on the left wing, so he turned around and marched along the riverbank to help Mithridates.

After defeating the enemy who had opposed him, Antipater attacked the soldiers pursuing Mithridates. He killed many of them and chased the rest until he captured their camp. Antipater lost only eighty men, while Mithridates lost about eight hundred during the pursuit.

Mithridates himself escaped unexpectedly. Because he had witnessed Antipater’s great deeds, he later gave Caesar a truthful account of his courage.

Caesar then encouraged Antipater to take on other dangerous missions. He praised him greatly and promised him rewards. Antipater willingly faced danger in every task Caesar gave him and became a brave and successful warrior. He received many wounds across his body, and those scars showed how boldly he had fought.

After Caesar settled the affairs of Egypt and returned to Syria, he granted Antipater Roman citizenship and freedom from taxes. He also honored him and showed him great friendship, making him an object of admiration.

Because of Antipater’s influence, Caesar also confirmed Hyrcanus in the office of high priest.

CHAPTER 10

Caesar Makes Antipater Procurator of Judea; Antipater Appoints Phasaelus Governor of Jerusalem and Herod Governor of Galilee; Herod Is Later Called to Answer Before the Sanhedrin and Is Acquitted. Sextus Caesar Is Betrayed and Killed by Bassus, and Marcus Succeeds Him.

Around this time, Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came before Caesar. In a surprising turn of events, his attempt to improve his own position led to Antipater’s further advancement. Antigonus should have mourned the fact that his father seemed to have been poisoned because of his quarrels with Pompey. He should also have complained about Scipio’s cruel treatment of his brother. Instead, while asking Caesar for mercy, he brought accusations against Hyrcanus and Antipater.

He claimed that they had driven him and his brothers completely out of their homeland. He said they had treated their own people unjustly and had acted with great excess in many matters. As for the help they had sent him in Egypt, he argued that it hadn’t come from goodwill. They had only acted because they feared the old quarrels between them and wanted Caesar to forgive them for having supported his enemy, Pompey.

Antipater then tore off his clothing and showed the crowd the many wounds on his body. He said he had no need to speak about his loyalty to Caesar, because his body spoke loudly enough for him. He said he was amazed at Antigonus’s boldness. Antigonus was the son of a man who had been an enemy of Rome, a fugitive who had passed down to his son a love of rebellion and unrest.

Yet Antigonus had come before a Roman governor to accuse other men and seek advantages for himself. He should have been satisfied that he was still allowed to live. Antipater said Antigonus didn’t want control of public affairs because he needed it. He wanted power so that he could stir up another rebellion among the Jews. Then he could use whatever authority the Romans gave him against the very people who had granted it.

After hearing this, Caesar declared that Hyrcanus was the man most worthy of the high priesthood. He also allowed Antipater to choose whatever authority he wanted. Caesar left the exact rank of that authority to the man who had appointed him, and Antipater was made procurator over all Judea. He was also given permission to rebuild the walls of his country that had been torn down.

Caesar ordered these honors to be recorded on tablets and placed in the Capitol. They were to remain there as proof of Caesar’s justice and of Antipater’s virtue.

After Antipater had escorted Caesar out of Syria, he returned to Judea. His first act was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which Pompey had destroyed. He then traveled throughout the country to calm the unrest there.

He warned some people and advised others. He told them that if they submitted to Hyrcanus, they would live safely and peacefully. They would keep their possessions and enjoy peace throughout the country. But if they listened to men who held out foolish hopes of gaining wealth by creating new troubles, they would discover that Antipater was their lord instead of their procurator.

Hyrcanus would become a tyrant instead of a king, and the Romans and Caesar would become their enemies instead of their rulers. Rome would not allow the man it had appointed as governor to be removed from power.

While Antipater spoke this way to the people, he also took control of the country’s affairs himself. He saw that Hyrcanus was inactive and unable to manage the kingdom. So he appointed his oldest son, Phasaelus, governor of Jerusalem and the surrounding region. He sent his younger son, Herod, who was still very young, to Galilee with equal authority.

Herod was an energetic man, and he soon found work suited to his nature. He learned that Hezekias, the leader of a band of robbers, was raiding the nearby parts of Syria with a large group of men. Herod captured him and put him to death, along with many of the other robbers.

The Syrians were very pleased with what he had done. In the villages and cities, people sang hymns praising Herod. They said he had restored peace to their land and protected their property. Through this success, Herod became acquainted with Sextus Caesar, a relative of the great Caesar and the governor of Syria.

Phasaelus was also inspired by his brother’s success and tried to follow his example. He won the goodwill of the people of Jerusalem by managing the city’s affairs well. He didn’t misuse his power or treat the people harshly. Because of this, the nation began to show Antipater the respect normally given only to a king. The honors they gave him were equal to those owed to an absolute ruler. Even so, Antipater remained loyal to Hyrcanus and continued to honor him.

Still, Antipater couldn’t avoid envy because of his success. Even Hyrcanus had begun to resent the fame of the two young men, though he kept his feelings to himself. What troubled him most was Herod’s growing reputation. Messenger after messenger came to tell him about the great things Herod had accomplished.

Several people inside the royal palace also stirred up Hyrcanus’s jealousy. These men had been blocked in their plans by the good judgment of the young governors or by Antipater himself. They told Hyrcanus that by giving the country’s affairs to Antipater and his sons, he had reduced himself to nothing more than a king in name. He had kept the title but lost all real authority.

They asked him how long he intended to act against his own interests by raising up men who would become kings in his place. Antipater and his sons no longer hid their control of the government. They were plainly the real rulers of the nation and had pushed Hyrcanus aside.

They pointed to Herod’s killing of so many men without receiving any order from Hyrcanus, either by word or by letter. They said Herod had acted against Jewish law. Even if Hyrcanus was no longer a king and was only a private citizen, Herod still had to stand trial before him and answer to the laws of the country. Jewish law didn’t allow anyone to be put to death before being condemned by a court.

Little by little, these speeches stirred Hyrcanus’s anger. At last, he could bear them no longer, and he summoned Herod to stand trial.

As soon as the affairs of Galilee allowed him to leave, Herod came to Jerusalem. Before going, he placed soldiers in garrisons throughout Galilee. He brought a sizable force with him, large enough to protect him from those who hated him, but not so large that it would look as if he had brought an army capable of overthrowing Hyrcanus.

Sextus Caesar feared that Herod’s enemies might seize him and have him punished. He sent messengers to Hyrcanus with a direct order to dismiss the capital charge against Herod. Hyrcanus obeyed and acquitted him. He was already inclined to do so because he still cared for Herod.

Herod believed he had escaped punishment without receiving the king’s consent. So he withdrew to Damascus, where he stayed with Sextus. He began preparing himself so that he wouldn’t have to obey Hyrcanus if the king summoned him again.

The men who wanted to harm Herod took advantage of this. They told Hyrcanus that Herod had left in anger and was preparing to make war against him. Hyrcanus believed them, but he didn’t know what to do. He understood that Herod was stronger than he was.

Sextus Caesar had now appointed Herod general of Coelesyria and Samaria. Herod was powerful because of the people’s goodwill toward him, but he also had an army and territories under his command. Hyrcanus became terrified and expected Herod to march against him at any moment.

Hyrcanus’s fears were correct. Angry that the king had threatened to put him on trial, Herod gathered his army and led it toward Jerusalem. He intended to remove Hyrcanus from the throne. He would have done it soon, but his father and brother went out to meet him and stopped the force of his anger.

They urged him to take revenge no further than making Hyrcanus afraid. He should spare the king who had raised him to such a high position. Herod shouldn’t be so angry about being placed on trial that he forgot to be grateful for having been acquitted.

They told him not to dwell so long on the unpleasant part of what had happened that he became ungrateful for his release. If God decides the outcome of war, then an unjust cause is a greater disadvantage than an army is an advantage. Herod shouldn’t assume he would win a fight against his king, his supporter, and a man who had often helped him.

Hyrcanus had never treated him harshly on his own. He had only been influenced by bad advisers, and even then, he had done no more than give Herod the appearance of having been treated unjustly.

Herod was persuaded by these arguments. He decided that what he had already done was enough to protect his future. He had shown the nation how much power he possessed, and he didn’t need to go any further.

10.

At the same time, the Romans were fighting among themselves near Apamia. A civil war had begun after Cecilius Bassus treacherously killed Sextus Caesar. Bassus carried out the murder because of his loyalty to Pompey, and then took command of Sextus’s forces.

The rest of Caesar’s commanders attacked Bassus with their entire army to punish him for the murder. Antipater sent his sons to help them. They acted both for the sake of the murdered Sextus and for the sake of Caesar, who was still alive. Both men were their friends.

The war continued for a long time. Then Marcus came from Italy to succeed Sextus Caesar.

CHAPTER 11

Herod Is Appointed Procurator of All Syria; Malichus Fears Him and Poisons Antipater, After Which Herod Persuades the Tribunes to Kill Malichus

At this time, a major war broke out among the Romans after Cassius and Brutus suddenly and treacherously murdered Caesar, who had ruled for three years and seven months. His death caused great disorder. The leading men quarreled with one another, and each joined the side that seemed most likely to advance his own interests.

Cassius then came into Syria to take command of the forces at Apamia. He made peace between Bassus and Marcus, along with the legions that had been fighting against Bassus. After lifting the siege of Apamia, Cassius took control of the army. He began collecting tribute from the cities and demanded so much money that they could hardly bear the burden.

Cassius ordered the Jews to provide seven hundred talents. Antipater feared his threats, so he divided the task among his sons, his friends, and others he knew, ordering them to collect the money at once. He also required Malichus, who was his enemy, to contribute his share. Malichus was forced to do so.

Herod was the first to calm Cassius’s anger. He collected one hundred talents from Galilee and delivered them to Cassius. Because of this, Cassius favored him greatly. When Cassius saw that the others were slow to pay, he became angry with the cities themselves. He enslaved the people of Gophna and Emmaus, along with two smaller cities. He even seemed ready to kill Malichus because Malichus had not collected his tribute quickly enough.

Antipater saved Malichus and the other cities from destruction. He also regained Cassius’s favor by delivering one hundred talents immediately.

After Cassius left, Malichus forgot the favor Antipater had shown him. He repeatedly plotted against the man who had saved his life because Antipater stood in the way of his wicked plans. Antipater feared Malichus’s power and cleverness, so he crossed the Jordan River and began gathering an army to protect himself.

When Malichus’s plot was discovered, he used bold lies to deceive Antipater’s sons. He completely misled Phasaelus, who governed Jerusalem, and Herod, who had charge of the weapons. Through many excuses and oaths, he persuaded them to restore his friendship with their father.

Antipater saved Malichus once again. He also persuaded Marcus, who was then governor of Syria, not to kill Malichus for trying to stir up rebellion.

A war began between Cassius and Brutus on one side, and the younger Caesar, later called Augustus, and Antony on the other. Cassius and Marcus gathered an army from Syria. Since Herod was expected to play a major role in supplying the army, they appointed him procurator of all Syria and gave him command of both infantry and cavalry.

Cassius also promised Herod that he would make him king of Judea after the war ended.

But Herod’s growing power and his promising future brought about his father’s death. Malichus feared what Herod might become, so he bribed one of the king’s cupbearers to give Antipater poisoned wine. Antipater drank it at a feast and died, becoming a victim of Malichus’s wickedness.

Antipater had been an active and capable leader. He had restored the government to Hyrcanus and protected Hyrcanus’s rule.

People suspected Malichus of poisoning Antipater, and the crowd became angry with him. Malichus denied the charge and persuaded the people that he was innocent. He also began gathering soldiers, hoping to increase his power.

Malichus didn’t believe Herod would remain quiet. Herod soon came against him with an army to avenge his father’s death. But Phasaelus advised Herod not to punish Malichus openly, fearing that the people would revolt. Herod followed his brother’s advice. He accepted Malichus’s excuses and claimed that he no longer believed Malichus was guilty.

Herod then held an impressive funeral for his father.

Herod went to Samaria, which was in turmoil, and restored peace to the city. Afterward, he returned to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost with his armed men.

Malichus feared that Herod would accuse him, so he asked Hyrcanus to forbid Herod’s foreign soldiers from entering the city and mixing with the local people while the Jews were preparing themselves for the festival. Herod ignored both the excuse and the order. He entered Jerusalem by night.

Malichus came to Herod and mourned Antipater. Herod pretended to accept his grief as sincere, though he had great difficulty controlling his anger. Herod also wrote to Cassius and told him that Malichus had murdered his father. Cassius already hated Malichus for other reasons.

Cassius replied that Herod should avenge his father’s death. He also secretly ordered the tribunes under his command to help Herod carry out what he called a just act.

After Cassius captured Laodicea, powerful men came from every direction with gifts and crowns for him. Herod chose this moment to punish Malichus.

Malichus suspected what was coming. He was in Tyre, where his son was being held as a hostage. He planned to take his son away secretly from the Tyrians and then escape to Judea.

Since he saw little hope of escaping, Malichus began planning something even greater. He hoped to lead the Jewish nation in a revolt against Rome while Cassius was busy fighting Antony. He also believed he could easily remove Hyrcanus and take the crown for himself.

But Malichus’s hopes came to nothing. Herod understood what he was planning and invited both Hyrcanus and Malichus to dinner.

Herod then called one of his chief servants aside and sent him out as if he were going to prepare the meal. In reality, he sent the man to inform the tribunes about the plot against Malichus. The tribunes remembered Cassius’s orders. They left the city with their swords and went to the seashore, where they surrounded Malichus and killed him with several wounds.

Hyrcanus was so frightened that he fainted and fell down. When he recovered, he asked who had killed Malichus. One of the tribunes replied that Cassius had ordered it.

“Then Cassius has saved me and my country,” Hyrcanus said, “by removing the man who was plotting against us both.”

We can’t know whether Hyrcanus truly believed what he said or whether fear forced him to praise the killing. Either way, Herod had punished Malichus for murdering his father.

CHAPTER 12

Felix Is Unable to Defeat Phasaelus, and Herod Also Defeats Antigonus in Battle; the Jews Accuse Herod and Phasaelus, but Antony Acquits Them and Makes Them Tetrarchs

After Cassius left Syria, another revolt broke out in Jerusalem. Felix attacked Phasaelus with an army, hoping to avenge Malichus’s death upon Herod by attacking his brother. At that time, Herod was with Fabius, the governor of Damascus. As he was going to help his brother, sickness delayed him. Phasaelus was therefore left to face Felix alone, but he proved too strong for him. He also rebuked Hyrcanus for his ingratitude, both because Hyrcanus had helped Malichus and because he had ignored Malichus’s brother when the man seized the fortresses. Malichus’s brother had already taken many of them, including the strongest of all, Masada.
Still, Felix couldn’t stand against Herod’s power. As soon as Herod recovered, he retook the other fortresses and drove Felix out of Masada, forcing him to come before him as a suppliant. Herod also drove Marion, the tyrant of the Tyrians, out of Galilee. Marion had already seized three fortified places there. Herod spared all the Tyrians he captured. He even gave gifts to some of them and sent them away. By doing this, he won the goodwill of the city and turned its hatred against Marion.

Cassius had given Marion his tyrannical authority when he appointed tyrants throughout Syria. Marion hated Herod, so he helped Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus. He also acted because of Fabius, whom Antigonus had made his partner by paying him money. Fabius therefore joined Antigonus when he invaded the country. Ptolemy, Antigonus’s relative, supplied everything else they needed.

Herod fought them at the entrances to Judea, defeated them in battle, and drove Antigonus away. He then returned to Jerusalem, where everyone loved him because of this great victory. Those who had not supported him before now joined his side because of his marriage into Hyrcanus’s family. Herod had first married Doris, a woman from his own country who came from a respectable family. She bore him a son named Antipater. He now married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, and the granddaughter of Hyrcanus. Through this marriage, Herod became related to the king.
After Caesar and Antony killed Cassius near Philippi, Caesar went to Italy and Antony went to Asia. Among the cities that sent ambassadors to Antony at Bithynia were the Jews. Their leading men accused Phasaelus and Herod of holding the government by force. They said Hyrcanus had nothing more than an honorable title.

Herod was ready to answer the accusation. He had already won Antony’s friendship by giving him large sums of money, and he brought Antony to such a favorable position that he wouldn’t even listen to the men who spoke against him. The two sides therefore parted for the time being.

Afterward, one hundred of the most important Jews came to Daphne, near Antioch, where Antony was staying. By then, Antony had become so devoted to Cleopatra that he was almost completely under her control. The Jews placed their most powerful and eloquent men at the front, and they accused the two brothers.

Messala opposed them and defended Herod and Phasaelus. Hyrcanus stood with him because of his relationship to the brothers. After hearing both sides, Antony asked Hyrcanus which party was best suited to rule. Hyrcanus answered that Herod and his supporters were the right choice.

Antony was pleased with this answer. When he had previously marched into Judea with Gabinius, Herod’s father, Antipater, had treated him with great kindness and hospitality. Antony therefore made the brothers tetrarchs and placed the government of Judea in their hands.

The ambassadors were angry at this decision. Antony seized fifteen of them and placed them under guard. He was also about to put them to death. The rest he drove away in disgrace.

This caused an even greater disturbance in Jerusalem. The Jews then sent another thousand ambassadors to Tyre, where Antony was staying as he prepared to march toward Jerusalem. When these men began shouting against his decision, Antony sent out the governor of Tyre. He ordered him to punish every one of them whom he could capture and to place the men Antony had appointed as tetrarchs in charge of the government.

Before this happened, Herod and Hyrcanus went out to the seashore and earnestly pleaded with the ambassadors not to bring ruin upon themselves or war upon their homeland through their reckless dispute. When the ambassadors became even more violent, Antony sent armed soldiers against them. The soldiers killed many and wounded even more.

Hyrcanus buried those who were killed and arranged for physicians to care for the wounded. Still, those who escaped refused to stop. They threw the affairs of the city into such confusion and angered Antony so greatly that he also put to death the men he had kept under guard.

CHAPTER 13

The Parthians Bring Antigonus Back Into Judea, Imprison Hyrcanus and Phasaelus, and Force Herod to Flee

Two years later, Barzapharnes, one of the Parthian governors, and Pacorus, the king’s son, had taken control of Syria. At the same time, Lysanias had succeeded his father, Ptolemy son of Mennaeus, as ruler of Chalcis. Antigonus persuaded the governor to restore him to his kingdom and remove Hyrcanus, promising him one thousand talents and five hundred women.

Pacorus agreed to the plan. He traveled along the coast, while he ordered Barzapharnes to attack the Jews as he moved through the Mediterranean part of the country. The people of Ptolemais and Sidon welcomed Pacorus, but the Tyrians refused to receive him. Because of this, he gave a troop of cavalry to a royal cupbearer who was also named Pacorus. He ordered him to enter Judea, learn what was happening among their enemies, and help Antigonus whenever he needed support.

As the Parthians were plundering Carmel, many Jews gathered around Antigonus and offered to invade the country with him. Antigonus sent them ahead to a place called Drymus, which means “the woodland,” and told them to seize it.

A battle followed. Antigonus’s men drove the enemy away and chased them all the way to Jerusalem. As their numbers grew, they advanced to the king’s palace. Hyrcanus and Phasaelus met them there with a large force, and a battle broke out in the marketplace. Herod’s party defeated the attackers, drove them into the temple, and placed sixty men in the nearby houses to guard them.

The people who were angry with the brothers then came against those guards and burned them alive. Herod was furious over their deaths. He attacked the people and killed many of them. After that, both sides carried out raids against the other, using ambushes and killing men day after day.

When the festival called Pentecost was near, the area around the temple and the whole city filled with people who had come in from the countryside. Most of them were armed. Phasaelus guarded the wall, while Herod and a small group defended the royal palace.

When Herod attacked his enemies in the northern part of the city, he found them outside their ranks. He killed a great number of them and sent the rest running. Some fled into the city, while others took shelter behind the outer wall.

At that time, Antigonus asked that Pacorus be allowed to act as a mediator between the two sides. Phasaelus agreed to let the Parthian enter the city with five hundred horsemen and welcomed him as a guest. Pacorus claimed that he had come to end the unrest, but his real purpose was to help Antigonus.

He soon began plotting against Phasaelus. He persuaded him to go as an ambassador to Barzapharnes and try to bring the war to an end. Herod strongly warned his brother not to go. He urged Phasaelus to kill the plotter instead of placing himself in the hands of men who had prepared a trap, since barbarians were naturally treacherous.

Pacorus left the city with Hyrcanus, taking him along so that no one would suspect his real plan. He also left some of his horsemen, called the Freemen, with Herod, while he led Phasaelus away with the rest.

When they reached Galilee, they found that the people there had rebelled and taken up arms. The Parthians approached their leader with great skill and asked him to hide his treacherous purpose behind friendly behavior.

At first, he gave them gifts. After they left, he placed men in ambush against them. When they reached a coastal city called Ecdippon, they learned that a plot had been prepared against them. They were told about the promise of one thousand talents and that Antigonus had handed over most of the five hundred women who were with them to the Parthians.

They also discovered that the barbarians were setting ambushes for them every night. The Parthians would have seized them already, except that they had first waited to capture Herod in Jerusalem. If Herod learned of their treachery, he would protect himself and escape.

This wasn’t simply a rumor. They could already see the guards nearby.

Ophellius strongly urged Phasaelus to abandon Hyrcanus and escape, since he had learned the whole plot from Saramalla, the richest man among the Syrians. But Phasaelus refused to leave Hyrcanus behind.

Instead, he went to the Parthian governor and accused him openly of preparing a treacherous trap against them. He blamed him especially for doing it for money. Phasaelus even promised to pay him more for their safety than Antigonus had promised to pay for the kingdom.

The clever Parthian tried to remove their suspicions with excuses and oaths. He then went to the other Pacorus. Soon afterward, the Parthians who had been left behind to guard them seized Phasaelus and Hyrcanus. The two prisoners could do nothing except condemn their captors for their treachery and broken oaths.

Meanwhile, the cupbearer returned and began looking for a way to seize Herod. He was ordered to deceive Herod and draw him outside the city.

Herod had distrusted the barbarians from the beginning. By this time, he had also learned that the messenger carrying letters about the planned betrayal had fallen into enemy hands. Because of this, Herod refused to leave the city.

Pacorus insisted that Herod should go out and meet the messengers who were carrying the letters. He claimed that the enemy hadn’t captured them and that the letters contained no warning about a plot. According to him, they only reported what Phasaelus had done.

But Herod had already heard from other people that his brother had been seized. Alexandra, Hyrcanus’s daughter and one of the cleverest women alive, begged Herod not to leave the city or trust himself to the barbarians. She understood that they had come to attack him openly.

Pacorus and his companions were trying to find a secret way to carry out their plot. They knew they couldn’t deceive a man as cautious as Herod by attacking him openly.

Herod acted before they could put their plan into action. During the night, he left the city with his closest relatives without letting the enemy know. As soon as the Parthians discovered what had happened, they pursued him.

Herod ordered his mother, his sister, the young woman to whom he was engaged, her mother, and his youngest brother to hurry away as fast as they could. He stayed behind with his servants and did everything possible to hold off the barbarians.

In every attack, he killed many of them. At last, he reached the stronghold of Masada.

Herod soon learned that the Jews were attacking him more fiercely than the Parthians. They caused him trouble again and again, beginning only sixty furlongs from Jerusalem. Some of their attacks grew into full battles.

At the place where Herod defeated them and killed many of their men, he later built a fortress to remember his victory. He covered it with costly palaces, gave it strong defenses, and named it Herodium after himself.

As he continued his flight, more people joined him each day. When he reached a place in Idumea called Thressa, his brother Joseph met him. Joseph advised him to reduce the number of people traveling with him, because Masada couldn’t hold such a large crowd. More than nine thousand people were with Herod.

Herod followed this advice. He sent away the people who were least useful in a siege and gave them supplies for their journey. He then reached the fortress safely with his closest relatives and kept only his strongest followers with him.

He left eight hundred men at Masada to guard the women and enough food to withstand a siege. Herod himself hurried on toward Petra in Arabia.

The Parthians who had entered Jerusalem began plundering the city. They attacked the houses of those who had fled and looted the royal palace. The only money they spared was Hyrcanus’s fortune, which amounted to no more than three hundred talents.

They found money belonging to other people as well, but not as much as they had expected. Herod had long suspected that the barbarians would betray him, so he had already sent his most valuable treasures into Idumea. Everyone who belonged to his household had done the same.

The Parthians continued their wrongdoing without even declaring war. They filled the country with violence, destroyed the city of Marissa, set Antigonus up as king, and handed Phasaelus and Hyrcanus over to him in chains so that he could torment them.

Antigonus himself bit off Hyrcanus’s ears when Hyrcanus fell before him on his knees. He did this so Hyrcanus could never become high priest again, no matter how circumstances changed. A high priest had to be physically complete and free from any defect.

10.

Antigonus didn’t get the chance to abuse Phasaelus. Though Phasaelus had no sword and couldn’t use his hands, he prevented any further mistreatment by smashing his head against a stone.

In this way, he showed himself to be the true brother of Herod, while Hyrcanus proved to be a disgrace to his family. Phasaelus died bravely, and the end of his life matched the courage he had shown throughout it.

Another account gives a different story about his death. It says that Phasaelus survived the blow, but that Antigonus sent a surgeon to treat him. The surgeon filled the wound with poisonous substances and killed him.

Whatever the true manner of his death, Phasaelus’s end began with courage. It is also said that, before he died, a poor woman told him that Herod had escaped from the Parthians. When he heard this, he said, “I can die with comfort now, because I leave behind someone who will avenge me against my enemies.”

11.

This was how Phasaelus died. The Parthians had failed to obtain the women they wanted most, but they still placed Jerusalem under Antigonus’s rule. They took Hyrcanus away in chains and carried him to Parthia.

CHAPTER 14

Herod Is Rejected in Arabia and Hurries to Rome, Where Antony and Caesar Join Their Efforts to Make Him King

Herod pressed on toward Arabia, hoping to obtain money from the king while his brother was still alive. He believed that money was the only thing that could move the greedy barbarians to spare Phasaelus. He reasoned that if the Arabian king had forgotten his father’s friendship and was too greedy to give the money freely, he could still lend enough to ransom his brother. Herod would leave his own nephew, the son of the man being ransomed, as security.

The boy was seven years old, and Herod brought him along on the journey. He was prepared to pay three hundred talents for his brother and planned to ask the Tyrians to help persuade the king to accept the offer. But fate moved faster than he did. Phasaelus was already dead, so Herod’s effort to save his brother came too late.

Herod also found no lasting friendship among the Arabians. Their king, Malichus, immediately sent word ordering him to leave the country. He used the Parthians as an excuse, claiming that their ambassadors had instructed him to drive Herod out of Arabia. In truth, Malichus wanted to keep the money Antipater had placed in his hands. He didn’t want to repay the gifts Antipater had given him or return anything to his sons.

Malichus also followed the shameless advice of men who wanted to rob Herod of the property Antipater had entrusted to them. These advisers were among the most powerful men in the kingdom, and they were just as willing as the king to keep what didn’t belong to them.

When Herod realized that the Arabians were his enemies for the very reasons he had expected them to be his friends, he answered them as his anger directed him. Then he turned back and traveled toward Egypt. That evening, he stayed at one of the country’s temples while waiting for the people he had left behind to join him.

The next day, as he was traveling toward Rhinocurura, messengers told him that his brother was dead and explained how he had died. Herod mourned him as much as his difficult circumstances allowed, but he soon put aside his grief and continued on his way.

After some time, the king of Arabia regretted what he had done and quickly sent messengers to call Herod back. But Herod had already reached Pelusium. He couldn’t get passage from the fleet stationed there, so he asked the captains to let him travel with them. Out of respect for his reputation and rank, they carried him to Alexandria.

Cleopatra received him in the city with great honor. She hoped to persuade him to command her army in the campaign she was preparing. Herod refused the queen’s request. He wasn’t frightened by the violent storm then raging or by the unrest in Italy, so he sailed on to Rome.

Near Pamphylia, Herod’s ship was placed in danger, and he had to throw most of its cargo into the sea. After great difficulty, he reached Rhodes, a city that had suffered badly during the war with Cassius. There, his friends Ptolemy and Sappinius welcomed him.

Herod was short of money, but he had a large three-decked ship built. He and his friends sailed in it to Brundusium, and from there they hurried to Rome. His first visit was to Antony, because of the friendship Antony had shared with his father. Herod told him about the disasters that had overtaken him and his family. He explained that his closest relatives were trapped in a fortress under siege and that he had sailed through a storm to ask Antony for help.

Antony felt pity when he heard how greatly Herod’s situation had changed. He remembered the generous hospitality Antipater had shown him, but Herod’s own character moved him even more. Antony then decided to have Herod made king of the Jews, even though he had previously appointed him tetrarch.

Antony also opposed Antigonus, and this gave him another reason to support Herod. He viewed Antigonus as a rebellious man and an enemy of Rome. Caesar was even more ready than Antony to help Herod. He remembered the wars he had fought alongside Antipater, the kindness Antipater had shown him, and the goodwill Antipater had always displayed. He also saw Herod’s own energy and ability.

Caesar called the Senate together. Messalas, followed by Atratinus, brought Herod before the senators. They spoke at length about Antipater’s services and his friendship with Rome. They also showed that Antigonus was Rome’s enemy, not only because he had quickly quarreled with the Romans, but because he had ignored them and taken power with the help of the Parthians.

These arguments persuaded the Senate. At that moment, Antony entered and told them that making Herod king would benefit Rome in its war against the Parthians. The senators all voted in favor of Herod.

When the Senate meeting ended, Antony and Caesar left with Herod walking between them. The consul and the other officials went ahead to offer sacrifices and place the decree in the Capitol. Antony also held a feast for Herod on the first day of his reign.

CHAPTER 15

Antigonus Besieges Masada, Herod Frees His Family, and Then Marches on Jerusalem, Where Silo Is Revealed to Have Taken Bribes

During this time, Antigonus laid siege to the people stationed at Masada. They had enough of every other necessity, but they were running short of water. Because of this, Joseph, Herod’s brother, planned to escape to the Arabians with two hundred of his friends. He had heard that Malichus regretted the wrongs he had done to Herod.

Joseph would already have left the fortress that night if a great amount of rain had not fallen. The reservoirs were filled with water, so there was no longer any need for him to flee. Afterward, the people at Masada attacked Antigonus’s forces. They killed many of them, some in open battle and others through ambushes. Their attacks weren’t always successful, though. At times, they were defeated and forced to run away.

Around this same time, Ventidius, the Roman general, was sent out of Syria to stop the Parthians from making further attacks. After he had accomplished this, he entered Judea. He claimed that he had come to help Joseph and his followers, but his real purpose was to get money from Antigonus.

Ventidius set up his camp near Jerusalem. As soon as he had received enough money, he left with most of his army. Still, he left Silo behind with part of the forces, since taking everyone away would have made his acceptance of bribes too obvious.

Antigonus expected the Parthians to return and help him, so he kept on friendly terms with Silo for the time being. He didn’t want anything to interfere with that hope.

By then, Herod had sailed from Italy and reached Ptolemais. After gathering a large army made up of foreigners and men from his own country, he marched through Galilee against Antigonus. Ventidius and Silo helped him, after Dellius, a man sent by Antony, persuaded them to bring Herod into his kingdom.

At this time, Ventidius was moving among the cities and settling the troubles caused by the Parthians. Silo, meanwhile, had been corrupted by the money Antigonus gave him. Herod himself was not without strength. His army grew larger every day as he marched, and nearly all of Galilee joined him.

Herod decided that his first necessary task was to rescue his relatives from Masada. Joppa stood in his way, however, and prevented him from going there. He had to capture that city first, since it was in the hands of his enemies. Otherwise, when he marched on Jerusalem, an enemy fortress would remain behind him.

Silo willingly joined Herod, since he now had a reasonable excuse for withdrawing his troops from Jerusalem. When the Jews pursued Silo and pressed hard against him during his retreat, Herod attacked them with a small group of soldiers. He quickly put them to flight and rescued Silo from danger.

After this, Herod captured Joppa and hurried to Masada to free his relatives. As he marched, many people joined him. Some came because they had been friends of his father. Others were drawn by the reputation Herod had already gained, while still others wanted to repay the favors they had received from Herod and his father.

The greatest number joined him because they hoped to benefit once he had secured his kingdom. In this way, Herod had already gathered an army that was difficult to defeat.

Antigonus set an ambush for Herod as he marched, but it did little or no harm to his forces. Herod soon rescued his relatives from Masada and took the fortress of Ressa as well. He then marched toward Jerusalem. The soldiers who had been with Silo joined Herod’s army, and many people from the city joined him too, fearing his growing power.

Herod set up his camp on the west side of Jerusalem. The guards on the walls shot arrows and threw spears at his men. Others came out in groups and attacked the soldiers at the front of his army.

Herod ordered his men to announce from the wall that he had come for the good of the people and the safety of the city. He said he had no wish to take revenge on his enemies. Even those who had opposed him most stubbornly would be forgiven.

The soldiers who supported Antigonus shouted back against this announcement. They wouldn’t let anyone listen to Herod or change sides. Antigonus then ordered his troops to drive Herod’s soldiers away from the walls. The defenders quickly threw spears from the towers and forced them to retreat.

This was when Silo showed that he had taken bribes. He ordered many of his soldiers to complain that they lacked supplies. They demanded their pay so they could buy food, and they also insisted that Silo lead them to a place where they could spend the winter.

The land around Jerusalem had been stripped of supplies by Antigonus’s army, which had taken away everything it could find. Silo used this as an excuse to move the army and try to end the siege.

Herod went to Silo’s officers and to many of the soldiers. He begged them not to abandon him, since he had been sent there by Caesar, Antony, and the Senate. He promised to provide everything they needed that very day.

After making this appeal, Herod quickly went into the countryside. He returned with such a large supply of provisions that he removed every excuse Silo had offered. To make sure the army would continue to receive supplies, he sent word to the people around Samaria, a city that had joined him, and ordered them to bring grain, wine, oil, and cattle to Jericho.

When Antigonus heard about this, he sent some of his men to stop the people collecting the supplies. They were ordered to ambush them, and they obeyed. A large number of armed men gathered near Jericho and hid in the mountains, watching for those who were bringing the provisions.

Herod didn’t remain idle. He took ten cohorts, five Roman and five Jewish, along with some mercenary soldiers and a small group of cavalry, and marched to Jericho.

When he arrived, he found that the city had been abandoned. Five hundred men, along with their wives and children, had taken refuge on the mountain tops. Herod captured them and then let them go. The Romans attacked the rest of the city and plundered it, finding the houses filled with all kinds of valuable goods.

Herod left a garrison at Jericho and returned. He sent the Roman army into the cities that had joined him so the soldiers could spend the winter there. These cities included Judea, or Idumea, Galilee, and Samaria.

Antigonus also bribed Silo to allow part of his army to stay at Lydda, claiming that this was a favor done for Antonius.

CHAPTER 16

Herod Captures Sepphoris, Defeats the Robbers Hiding in the Caves, Takes Revenge on Macheras, and Joins Antony at the Siege of Samosata

The Romans now had an abundant supply of everything they needed and were able to rest from war. Herod, however, did not remain idle. He took control of Idumea and stationed there 2,000 infantrymen and 400 cavalrymen. He sent his brother Joseph to command them so Antigonus couldn’t make any sudden move against the region.

Herod also moved his mother and all his relatives from Masada to Samaria. After he had placed them in safety, he marched to take the rest of Galilee and remove the garrisons that Antigonus had stationed there.

When Herod reached Sepphoris, a heavy snow had fallen. He captured the city without trouble because its guards fled before he attacked. The city had plenty of supplies, so Herod’s soldiers, who had suffered from a lack of provisions, were able to rest and recover.

Afterward, Herod hurried against the robbers who were hiding in the caves. They had overrun much of the country and caused the people as much harm as an army could have caused. Herod sent three cohorts of infantry and one troop of cavalry ahead to the village of Arbela. He followed forty days later (24) with the rest of his army.

The robbers weren’t frightened when Herod attacked. They came out to fight him. They knew how to fight like soldiers, but they had the courage and habits of robbers. When the battle began, their right wing defeated Herod’s left wing and drove it back. Herod suddenly turned from his own right wing and went to help his soldiers. He rallied the men who were fleeing, turned them around, and attacked the robbers who were chasing them. Their courage failed, and they couldn’t withstand the attack, so they turned and ran.

Herod pursued them and killed many as they fled. He destroyed a large part of their force, while the survivors scattered beyond the Jordan River. Galilee was now free from the fear these robbers had caused, except for those who remained hidden in the caves. Defeating them would take more time.

First, Herod gave his soldiers the rewards gained from the robbers’ former raids. He gave each soldier 150 silver drachmae and gave much more to their commanders. Then he sent them into winter quarters.

Herod also ordered his youngest brother, Pheroas, to find a good market where the soldiers could buy supplies. He told him to build a wall around Alexandrium as well. Pheroas carried out both orders.

At this time, Antony was staying in Athens. Ventidius called for Silo and Herod to join the war against the Parthians, but he told them to settle the affairs of Judea first. Herod willingly sent Silo to Ventidius, while he led an expedition against the men hiding in the caves.

The caves were located on the steep sides of rough mountains. They couldn’t be reached from any direction except by a few narrow, winding paths. In front of the caves was a cliff with valleys beneath it that were extremely deep and almost straight up and down. Herod wasn’t sure what to do for a long time because the place seemed impossible to attack.

At last, he chose a plan that was extremely dangerous. He placed his bravest soldiers in large chests and lowered them down to the entrances of the caves. The soldiers killed the robbers and their families. When anyone resisted, they threw fire into the caves and burned them.

Herod wanted to save some of the people, so he ordered a proclamation to be made. He offered to spare those who came out and surrendered. None of them came willingly. Many of those who were forced out chose death rather than captivity.

Among them was an old man who had seven children. His children and their mother wanted to leave the cave after Herod offered them safety and protection. The old man told each child to go out one at a time. He stood at the entrance and killed every child as soon as the child stepped outside.

Herod was close enough to see what happened. He felt pity for the children and reached out his right hand to the old man, begging him to spare them. The old man refused. He insulted Herod because of his low family background, killed his wife and children, and threw their bodies over the cliff. Then he threw himself after them.

In this way, Herod conquered the caves and the robbers who lived inside them. He left part of his army behind to prevent another uprising and appointed Ptolemy as its commander. Then he returned to Samaria with 3,000 armed infantrymen and 600 cavalrymen to fight Antigonus.

As soon as Herod left, the men who had often stirred up trouble in Galilee took advantage of his absence. They attacked Ptolemy, the commander Herod had left behind, and killed him. They also devastated the countryside before retreating into swamps and other places that were difficult to find.

When Herod heard about the revolt, he immediately returned to help the people. He killed many of the rebels and lifted the sieges around all the fortresses they had attacked. He also demanded 100 talents from his enemies as a penalty for the disorder they had caused throughout the country.

By this time, the Parthians had been driven out of the region and Pacorus had been killed. On Antony’s orders, Ventidius sent Herod 1,000 cavalrymen and two legions to fight Antigonus.

Antigonus wrote to Macheras, the Roman commander, asking him to come to his aid. In the letter, he complained bitterly about Herod’s violence and the damage he had done to the kingdom. He also promised to pay Macheras for his help.

Macheras refused to betray the trust Antony had placed in him. He didn’t want to dishonor the man who had sent him, especially since Herod offered him more money than Antigonus had promised. Macheras pretended to be Antigonus’s friend, but he really came as a spy to learn about his affairs. Herod had warned him not to do this.

Antigonus already understood what Macheras intended. He kept him outside the city and defended himself against him as if he were an enemy, attacking him from the walls. Macheras became ashamed of what he had done and withdrew to Emmaus, where Herod was staying.

Angry because his plan had failed, Macheras killed every Jew he met. He spared neither those who supported Herod nor those who supported Antigonus. He treated them all as if they belonged to Antigonus.

Herod was furious with Macheras and prepared to fight him as an enemy. Still, he controlled his anger and went to Antony to accuse Macheras of abusing his authority.

Macheras realized that he had done wrong. He followed Herod at once, sincerely apologized, and begged him to forgive him. Herod agreed to be reconciled with him, but he didn’t give up his plan to visit Antony.

Herod heard that Antony was besieging Samosata with a large army. Samosata was a strong city near the Euphrates. Herod hurried there because he saw a chance to prove his courage and win Antony’s favor.

When Herod arrived, he quickly helped bring the siege to an end. He killed many of the barbarians and captured a large amount of plunder. Antony had already admired Herod’s courage, but after seeing what he did at Samosata, he admired him even more.

Antony gave Herod still greater honors and strengthened his hope of recovering his kingdom. Soon afterward, King Antiochus was forced to surrender Samosata.

CHAPTER 17

Joseph, Herod’s Brother, Is Killed, as Herod Had Learned in a Dream. Herod Escapes Danger Twice in a Remarkable Way, Beheads Pappus, the Man Who Killed His Brother, and Sends His Head to Pheroras. Soon Afterward, Herod Besieges Jerusalem and Marries Mariamne

At that time, Herod’s affairs in Judea were in a troubled state. He had left his brother Joseph in charge of everything, but he had ordered him not to attack Antigonus until Herod returned. Herod knew that Macheras could not be relied on as an ally, because of what he had already done.

But when Joseph heard that Herod was far away, he ignored his brother’s command. He marched toward Jericho with five cohorts sent by Macheras. His purpose was to seize the grain, since it was now the middle of summer.

When Joseph’s enemies attacked him in the mountains and in places that were difficult to cross, he fought bravely but was killed. The entire Roman force was also destroyed. These soldiers were newly recruited men gathered from Syria. There were no veteran soldiers among them to support those who had little experience in war.

This victory did not satisfy Antigonus. He became so furious that he treated Joseph’s dead body with great cruelty. After gaining possession of the bodies of those who had been killed, he ordered Joseph’s head to be cut off. Herod’s brother Pheroras had offered fifty talents to redeem the body, but Antigonus refused.

After this victory, the affairs of Galilee fell into great disorder. Men from Antigonus’s side seized the leading supporters of Herod, brought them to the lake, and drowned them.

Idumea was also thrown into confusion. Macheras was building a wall around one of the fortresses called Gittha. Herod still hadn’t heard about these disasters.

After Antony captured Samosata, he placed Sosius in charge of Syria and ordered him to help Herod against Antigonus. Antony then went to Egypt. Sosius sent two legions ahead into Judea to assist Herod, and soon followed them with the rest of his army.

While Herod was at Daphne, near Antioch, he had several dreams that clearly warned him of his brother’s death. He suddenly leaped out of bed in great distress. At that very moment, messengers arrived and told him what had happened.

Herod mourned his brother for a while, but then he set much of his grief aside and quickly marched against his enemies. He pushed himself beyond his strength and traveled as far as Lebanon. There he gathered eight hundred men from the nearby region and joined them to one Roman legion.

Before daylight, he invaded Galilee with this force. He met his enemies, drove them back to the place they had left, and immediately began attacking their fortress without stopping. A terrible storm forced him to camp in the nearby villages before he could capture it.

A few days later, the second legion sent by Antony arrived and joined him. The enemy was frightened by the size of Herod’s army, so they abandoned their defenses during the night.

Herod then marched through Jericho as quickly as he could, eager to take revenge on the men who had killed his brother. There he experienced a strange sign of what lay ahead.

That evening, many important men had come to dine with him. When the meal was over and all the guests had left, the house suddenly collapsed. Herod escaped without warning and without injury.

He took this as a sign of the dangers he would face in the war, as well as the way he would escape them. The next morning, he marched out with his army.

About six thousand of his enemies came down from the mountains and attacked the soldiers in Herod’s front line. They didn’t dare fight the Romans at close range. Instead, they threw stones and darts from a distance, wounding many men. Herod himself was struck and wounded by a dart.

Antigonus wanted to show that he was greater than Herod, not only in courage but also in the number of his soldiers. So he sent Pappus, one of his commanders, with an army against Samaria, where Macheras was stationed.

Herod, meanwhile, invaded the enemy’s country. He destroyed five small cities, killed two thousand men who were inside them, and burned their houses. After that, he returned to his camp, which was located at a village called Cana.

A large number of Jews came to Herod every day from Jericho and from other parts of the country. Some were driven by hatred of Antigonus. Others came because of the great deeds Herod had performed. Still others simply wanted a change in rulers.

Herod immediately attacked the enemy. Pappus and his men weren’t frightened by the size of the crowd or by their strong desire to fight. They marched out eagerly, and the battle soon became a close fight.

Some parts of the enemy army resisted for a while. But Herod was consumed by anger over his brother’s murder, and he took great risks to avenge Joseph. He quickly defeated the men who stood against him. Then he turned his forces against those who were still fighting and pursued them all.

Many were killed. Some were driven back into the village from which they had come. Herod pressed hard against those in the rear and killed a great number of them.

He entered the village along with the fleeing enemy. Every house was filled with armed men, and the upper rooms were crowded with soldiers who were trying to defend them. After defeating the men outside, Herod ordered the houses to be torn apart so the soldiers inside could be dragged out.

In many places, the roofs were pulled down on top of them, and large numbers died beneath the ruins. Those who escaped the wreckage were met by soldiers with drawn swords. So many dead bodies lay in piles that the victorious army could hardly move along the roads.

The enemy couldn’t endure such a defeat. When the larger force saw that the men in the village had been killed, they scattered and fled.

Herod would have marched straight to Jerusalem after this victory, but winter was approaching. The deep winter weather stopped his advance. This was the only thing that kept Herod from finishing his victory and defeating Antigonus, who was already preparing to abandon the city.

That evening, Herod dismissed his friends so they could rest after the day’s labor. He was still wearing his armor and went to bathe like an ordinary soldier. Only one servant accompanied him.

Before Herod entered the bath, one enemy soldier suddenly came toward him with a sword in his hand. Then a second appeared, followed by a third and several more.

These men had fled from the battle while still wearing their armor. They had hidden in the bathhouse for some time, terrified and trying not to be found. When they saw the king, they were even more afraid. They ran past him and tried to reach the public road, even though Herod was naked.

By chance, no one else was nearby to capture them. Herod was simply grateful that he had escaped unharmed, and all of the men got away safely.

The next day, Herod ordered Pappus’s head to be cut off. Pappus had been Antigonus’s commander and had been killed in the battle. Herod sent the head to his brother Pheroras as punishment for Joseph’s murder, since Pappus was the man who had killed him.

As winter began to end, Herod marched to Jerusalem and brought his army to the city’s walls. This was the third year since the Romans had made him king.

He set up his camp near the temple, on the same side from which Pompey had once besieged and captured the city. Herod divided the work among his army. He ordered the suburbs to be destroyed and three siege banks to be built. He also commanded that towers be raised on top of them and left his closest and most hardworking men in charge of the construction.

Herod himself went to Samaria, where he married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, son of Aristobulus. He had already been promised to her, as I have explained earlier. He completed the marriage during the siege because he already held his enemies in contempt.

After marrying Mariamne, Herod returned to Jerusalem with an even larger army. Sosius also arrived with a great force of cavalry and infantry. He sent the cavalry and infantry ahead through the central parts of the country, while he himself marched along the Phoenician coast.

When the entire army had gathered, it included eleven regiments of infantry and six thousand cavalry, along with Syrian auxiliary troops, who made up a considerable part of the force. They set up their camp near the northern wall of Jerusalem.

Herod trusted in the decree of the Roman Senate, which had made him king. Sosius trusted in Antony, who had sent the army under his command to help Herod.

CHAPTER 18

How Herod and Sosius Captured Jerusalem by Force, What Became of Antigonus, and Cleopatra’s Greedy Nature

The Jews inside Jerusalem were divided into several groups. The people gathered around the temple were the weaker faction, and they claimed that, given the state of affairs, the happiest and most religious man was the one who died first. The bolder and stronger men formed bands and began robbing others in different ways. They especially plundered the areas around the city, since there was no food left for either the horses or the people.

Some experienced soldiers were assigned to defend the city during the siege. They drove away the men who were building the earthworks against the walls, and they kept inventing new devices to interfere with the Romans’ siege machines. Their greatest success came through the underground tunnels they had dug.

Herod dealt with the robberies by setting ambushes that stopped the raiders from making their usual attacks. He also arranged for food to be brought in from great distances. Still, the Romans’ knowledge of warfare gave him the advantage over the Jews. Although the Jews fought with extreme courage, they knew that meeting the Romans in open battle would mean certain death. Instead, they came suddenly through their underground passages and appeared in the middle of the Roman forces. Whenever the Romans destroyed one wall, the Jews quickly built another in its place.

In every way, the Jews showed that they had no shortage of effort or invention. They had decided to resist until the very end. Even though a great army surrounded them, they held out for five months. At last, some of Herod’s chosen soldiers climbed onto the wall and entered the city. Sosius’s centurions followed them soon afterward.

The soldiers first took control of the area around the temple. Once the army poured into the city, a terrible slaughter began. The Romans were furious because the siege had lasted so long, while Herod’s Jewish supporters were determined to kill as many of their enemies as possible. Great numbers of people were cut down in the narrow streets and houses, and many others were killed while trying to escape toward the temple.

No mercy was shown to children, the elderly, or women. Herod sent messengers throughout the city and begged the soldiers to spare the people, but no one could be persuaded to stop killing. They slaughtered people of every age as if they had lost their minds.

At that moment, Antigonus came down from the citadel. He paid no attention to the change in his fortune and fell at Sosius’s feet. Sosius felt no pity for him. Instead, he laughed at Antigonus and mocked him by calling him “Antigona.” He didn’t treat him as a woman or set him free. He had him bound and kept him under guard.

After Herod had gained control of his enemies, he turned his attention to restraining the foreign soldiers who had helped him. These outsiders were eager to see the temple and the sacred things inside it. Herod tried to stop them with speeches, threats, and, when necessary, force. He believed that a victory would be worse than a defeat if they entered places they weren’t allowed to see.

He also ordered the soldiers not to plunder the city. He earnestly asked Sosius whether the Romans intended to leave him as king of a deserted city after taking away all its money and killing its people. Herod said that ruling the whole inhabited earth would be too small a reward for the death of so many citizens.

Sosius replied that the soldiers deserved to receive the city’s wealth as payment for what they had endured during the siege. Herod answered that he would reward every soldier with money from his own treasury. In this way, he bought the freedom of his country, kept his promises, and gave generous gifts to every soldier. He rewarded the commanders in proportion to their rank and gave Sosius a gift worthy of a king. No one left Jerusalem poor.

Sosius then dedicated a golden crown to God and departed from Jerusalem. He took Antigonus with him in chains and delivered him to Antony. Antigonus was then put to death with an ax. Until the end, he still wanted to live and held onto a weak hope that his life might be spared. But his cowardly conduct made him worthy of such a death.

After this, King Herod separated the people in the city according to their loyalties. Those who had supported him became even closer to him because of the honors he gave them. He killed the supporters of Antigonus.

When Herod’s money began to run out, he turned his treasures and ornaments into cash and sent the money to Antony and his followers. Even this couldn’t protect him from further trouble. Antony was now under the power of his love for Cleopatra and had been completely overcome by her charms.

Cleopatra had already killed all her close relatives, leaving no one of her own family alive near her. After that, she began killing people who weren’t related to her at all. She accused the leading men of Syria before Antony and convinced him to have them killed, so she could easily take possession of their property.

Her greed also reached the Jews and Arabs. She secretly tried to persuade Antony to order the deaths of Herod and Malichus, the kings of those two nations.

Antony followed some of Cleopatra’s requests. He thought it was too shameful to kill such powerful and honorable kings, but Cleopatra still turned him against the friendship he had once shown them. He also took away a large part of their territory and gave it to her. This included the palm-tree plantations at Jericho, where the balsam tree also grew.

He gave her all the cities on the far side of the Eleutherus River, except Tyre and Sidon. Once Cleopatra controlled these places, she accompanied Antony on his campaign against the Parthians as far as the Euphrates. She then traveled through Apamia and Damascus into Judea.

Herod calmed her anger toward him with expensive gifts. He also rented back the territories that had been taken from his kingdom, agreeing to pay her two hundred talents each year. He went with her as far as Pelusium and showed her every possible honor.

Not long afterward, Antony returned from Parthia. He brought Artabazes, the son of Tigranes, as a captive gift for Cleopatra. Antony gave her the Parthian prince, along with his money and all the spoils that had been taken with him.

CHAPTER 19

How Antony, At Cleopatra’s Request, Sent Herod To Fight The Arabians; How He Won After Several Battles; And The Great Earthquake

When the war around Actium began, Herod prepared to go and help Antony. He was already free from his troubles in Judea and had taken Hyrcania, which had been held by the sister of Antigonus. But Cleopatra cleverly kept him from sharing in Antony’s dangers. As we have already said, she had planned to destroy both the kings of Judea and Arabia. She persuaded Antony to send Herod against the Arabians. If Herod won, Cleopatra would gain control of Arabia; if he lost, she would gain Judea. In this way, she hoped to destroy one king through the other.
Yet this plan worked in Herod’s favor. At the beginning of the campaign, he took hostages from the enemy, gathered a large force of cavalry, and ordered them to march against the Arabians near Diospolis. He defeated the army, even though it fought bravely.

After this defeat, the Arabians were greatly stirred up. They gathered in enormous numbers at Kanatha, a city in Coelesyria, and waited for the Jews. When Herod arrived, he tried to direct the war with care. He ordered his men to build a wall around their camp. But the army refused to obey him. Their earlier victory had made them confident, so they attacked the Arabians at once. They defeated them in the first assault and began chasing them.

But Herod’s enemies had prepared a trap. Athenio, one of Cleopatra’s generals and a constant enemy of Herod, sent the men of Kanatha out against him. When the Arabians saw this new attack, they took courage and turned back. Both armies joined together near a rough, stony area that was difficult to cross. There they routed Herod’s forces and killed many of his men.

Those who escaped fled to Ormiza. The Arabians surrounded their camp and captured it, along with everyone inside.

3. Soon after this disaster, Herod came to bring help to his men, but he arrived too late. The defeat happened because the officers had refused to follow orders. If the battle had not begun so suddenly, Athenio would not have found the right moment to carry out his trap against Herod.

Herod later repaid the Arabians for what they had done. He invaded their country and caused them more harm than their single victory had brought them benefit.

While he was taking revenge on his enemies, another disaster came upon him by the will of Providence. In the seventh year of his reign, which was the twenty-ninth year, while the war around Actium was at its height and spring was beginning, the earth shook. The earthquake killed thirty thousand people and destroyed a great number of animals. The army suffered no harm because it was camped in the open air.

The Arabians were encouraged by news of the earthquake. They exaggerated the disaster, as people often do when speaking about terrible events, and claimed that all Judea had been destroyed. Believing they could easily take a land left without inhabitants, they first killed the Jewish ambassadors who had come to them. Then they marched at once into Judea.

The Jewish people were terrified by this invasion. Their disasters had followed one another so quickly that they had lost heart. Herod gathered them together and tried to encourage them to defend themselves with the following speech:

4. “The fear that has taken hold of you seems unreasonable to me. You had good reason to be troubled by the punishment that Providence has brought upon us. But to be just as frightened of human enemies is not worthy of brave men.

“As for me, this earthquake has not made me afraid of the Arabians. I believe God has used it as bait to draw them into our power, so that we may take revenge on them. They have invaded us because of our unexpected misfortunes, not because they trust in their weapons or believe themselves better suited for war.

“Hope that depends on another man’s failure is uncertain. Human fortune never stays in one condition, whether it is good or bad. It changes sides, and you have learned this from your own experience. In the first battle, you defeated your enemies, but they later overcame you. The same thing may happen now. Those who believe they are certain to defeat you may be defeated themselves.

“When men are too confident, they fail to stay alert. Fear teaches men to act with care. For this reason, I take courage from your present fear. Before, you were bolder than you should have been, and bolder than I wanted you to be. You marched forward, and Athenio’s treachery succeeded. Now your hesitation and discouragement give me hope that we will win.

“It is right to act carefully before a battle begins. But once we enter the fight, we must lift up our hearts. We must make our enemies, no matter how wicked they are, believe that neither human troubles nor any disaster sent by Providence can weaken the courage of living Jews.

“No Jew should allow an Arabian to take his possessions or rule over what belongs to him, especially when he has already captured that man many times. Don’t be troubled by the shaking of things that have no life. Don’t think this earthquake is a sign that another disaster is coming. The elements move according to their natural order, and an earthquake means no more to people than the damage it causes by itself.

“Sometimes pestilence, famine, or an earthquake may be preceded by a short warning. But these disasters have their own limits, and they don’t necessarily announce another disaster. What greater harm could even a violent war do to us than this earthquake has already done?

“Besides, we can already see a clear sign that our enemies will be destroyed. It is not a sign from nature, and it did not come from foreigners. The sign is this: they murdered our ambassadors in a barbarous way, against the common law of mankind. They killed so many of them that it seems they offered our ambassadors as sacrifices to God for the sake of this war.

“But they won’t escape God’s great eye or his unconquerable right hand. We will soon take revenge if we still have the courage of our ancestors and rise up boldly against these men who have broken their agreements.

“Let each of you fight, not only for your wives, your children, or the danger facing your country, but also for our murdered ambassadors. Those dead ambassadors will guide this war better than we who are still alive.

“If you will follow me, I will lead you into danger myself. You know that your courage cannot be overcome unless you injure yourselves by acting without care.”

5. After Herod had encouraged the people with this speech and saw how eagerly they were prepared to fight, he offered sacrifices to God. When the sacrifice was finished, he led his army across the Jordan River. He set up his camp near Philadelphia, close to the enemy and near a fortification that stood between the two armies.

Herod attacked the enemy from a distance with arrows and wanted to begin the battle at once. Some of his men had already been sent ahead to seize the fortification. The Arabian king sent troops against them, and those troops quickly drove them out.

Herod then placed his army in battle formation and stood at its front each day, challenging the Arabians to come out and fight. But none of them left their camp. They were terrified, and their general, Elthemus, was so afraid that he could not speak.

Herod finally attacked them and tore down their fortification. This forced the Arabians to come out and fight. They did so in confusion, with their cavalry and infantry mixed together. They had more soldiers than the Jews, but they had less courage. Their despair of victory forced them to face the danger.

6. While the Arabians held their ground, they did not lose many men. But as soon as they turned and fled, many were trampled under the feet of the Jews, while others were crushed by their own men. Five thousand died during the retreat. The rest escaped immediate death by crowding into the fortification.

Herod surrounded them and began a siege. They were already in danger of being captured by armed enemies, and now they suffered from thirst and a lack of water. The king refused to listen to their ambassadors. Even when they offered five hundred talents to buy their freedom, he pressed the siege harder.

Their thirst became unbearable. One group after another came out and surrendered to the Jews. Within five days, four thousand of them had been taken prisoner. On the sixth day, the remaining Arabians gave up hope of saving themselves and came out to fight.

Herod met them in battle and killed about seven thousand more. He punished Arabia so severely and destroyed the courage of its people so completely that the nation chose him as its ruler.

CHAPTER 20

Caesar Confirms Herod as King, and Herod Wins the Emperor’s Friendship with Magnificent Gifts; Caesar Returns His Kindness by Restoring the Lands Cleopatra Had Taken from Him and Adding Zenodorus’s Country to His Kingdom

Herod now faced a matter of the greatest importance. He had been a close friend of Antony, and Antony had already been defeated by Caesar at Actium. Herod had more reason for fear than he had suffered harm, since Caesar didn’t believe that Herod had destroyed Antony’s cause by continuing to support him. Still, the king decided to face the danger himself.

He sailed to Rhodes, where Caesar was staying, and went before him without his crown. He wore the clothing of a private citizen and appeared like one, but he still carried himself like a king. He didn’t hide the truth. Instead, he spoke openly to Caesar:

“Caesar, Antony made me king of the Jews, and I admit that I used my authority in the best way I could, always for his benefit. I won’t hide this from you either: you certainly would have found me fighting beside him, and staying with him to the end, if the Arabians hadn’t stopped me. Even so, I sent him as many troops as I could, along with many tens of thousands of measures of grain.

“I didn’t abandon my benefactor after the defeat he suffered at Actium. When I could no longer help him in battle, I gave him the best advice I could. I told him that he had only one way left to restore his affairs, and that was to kill Cleopatra. I promised him that, once she was dead, I would give him money and fortifications for his protection, along with an army and my own help in the war against you.

“But his love for Cleopatra closed his ears, and God himself had chosen you to rule. I admit that I have been defeated along with Antony. With his last fortune, I have laid down my crown and come here to you. I now place my hope of safety in your character. First consider what kind of friend I have been, not merely whose friend I have been.”

Caesar answered him:

“You will not only be safe, you will remain a king, and your position will be stronger than it was before. Your steadfast friendship has shown that you are worthy to rule over many people. Now show the same constancy in your friendship with me, since fortune has given me success. I trust that your generous nature will lead you to do so.

“Still, Antony did well to choose Cleopatra over you. His madness has brought you to us, and you became my friend before I became yours. Quintus Didius has already written to me about the help you sent him against the gladiators.

“I therefore promise you that I will confirm your kingdom by decree. I will also find other ways to show you kindness, so that you won’t feel the loss of Antony.”

After Caesar had spoken these kind words, he placed the crown back on Herod’s head. He then announced by decree that Herod would keep his kingdom, and he praised him in the most generous terms.

Herod responded to Caesar’s favor with gifts of his own. He also asked Caesar to forgive Alexander, one of Antony’s friends, who had come before him as a suppliant. Caesar, however, was still angry with Alexander. He listed the many serious offenses of the man Herod was asking him to spare, and he rejected the request.

After that, Caesar traveled through Syria on his way to Egypt. Herod welcomed him with royal feasts and every kind of generous hospitality. He was the first to ride beside Caesar while Caesar reviewed his army near Ptolemais. He then held a feast for Caesar and his friends, and he provided enough food for the rest of the army as well.

When the soldiers had to march through the dry country toward Pelusium, Herod supplied them with plenty of water. He did the same when they returned, and the army lacked none of the supplies it needed.

Because of this, Caesar and his soldiers both believed that Herod’s kingdom was too small for the gifts he had given them. So, after Caesar reached Egypt and Antony and Cleopatra were dead, he honored Herod in other ways and enlarged his kingdom. He gave him the lands Cleopatra had taken from him, as well as Gadara, Hippos, and Samaria. Among the coastal cities, he gave him Gaza, Anthedon, Joppa, and Strato’s Tower.

Caesar also gave Herod four hundred Gauls to serve as his personal guard. They had previously belonged to Cleopatra. Nothing persuaded Caesar to grant these gifts more than Herod’s generosity in giving his own gifts first.

After the first games held at Actium, Caesar added Trachonitis, the neighboring region of Batanea, and the country of Auranitis to Herod’s kingdom. This happened in the following way.

Zenodorus, who had rented the house of Lysanias, had for a long time sent robbers out of Trachonitis to attack the people of Damascus. The Damascenes went to Varro, the governor of Syria, and asked him to report their suffering to Caesar.

When Caesar learned what was happening, he ordered that this band of robbers be destroyed. Varro marched against them, cleared the land of the robbers, and took the territory away from Zenodorus.

Caesar later gave that land to Herod so it wouldn’t become a base for the robbers who had been attacking Damascus. He also made Herod procurator over all Syria. This happened ten years later, when Caesar returned to the province. The arrangement was made so that the other procurators couldn’t take any action in the administration without Herod’s advice.

When Zenodorus died, Caesar gave Herod all the country between Trachonitis and Galilee.

Herod’s position became even greater because Caesar loved him more than anyone except Agrippa, while Agrippa loved him more than anyone except Caesar. Herod therefore reached a high degree of good fortune. Yet his greatness of spirit was greater than his fortune, and he used much of his courage and power to honor God and advance true worship.

CHAPTER 21

The Temple and Cities Herod Built from Their Foundations, Along with His Other Buildings, His Magnificence Toward Foreigners, and the Favor Fortune Showed Him

In the fifteenth year of his reign, Herod rebuilt the temple. He surrounded it with a wall and enclosed an area twice as large as the ground that had been enclosed before. He spent an enormous amount of money on the work, and the wealth placed around the temple was beyond description. The great colonnades built around the temple show the scale of the project, as does the fortress on its northern side. Herod built the colonnades from their foundations, while the fortress was repaired at great expense. It was more than a fortress, for it was built like a royal palace. He named it Antonia in honor of Antony.

Herod also built himself a palace in the Upper City. It contained two very large and beautiful apartments, so spacious that even the temple itself could not compare with them in size. He named one Caesareum and the other Agrippium, after his two close friends.

Herod did not preserve the memory of his friends only by giving their names to individual buildings. His generosity reached entire cities. In Samaria, he built a beautiful wall around a region that stretched for twenty furlongs. He brought six thousand inhabitants into the city and gave it a very fertile area of land. In the center of the city, he built a large temple to Caesar and set aside three and a half furlongs of land around it as sacred ground. He named the city Sebaste, after Sebastus, the Greek name for Augustus, and arranged its government in an orderly way.
Caesar later gave Herod another region, and Herod built a temple of white marble there, near the sources of the Jordan. The place was called Panium. A mountain rises there to an immense height, and beneath its side, at the base, a dark cave opens into the earth. Inside the cave is a terrifying drop that falls straight down to a great depth. It holds a vast amount of still water, and no one has ever found a rope long enough to reach the bottom when measuring its depth.

The springs of the Jordan rise outside the cave, at its roots. Some people believe this is the farthest source of the Jordan, but I will discuss that matter more carefully in a later part of this history.

Herod built other places at Jericho, between the fortress of Cypros and his former palace. These buildings were more beautiful and more useful to travelers than the earlier ones, and he named them after the same friends. To put it simply, no suitable place in his kingdom was left without some building dedicated to Caesar’s honor. After filling his own country with temples, Herod spread the same signs of respect throughout the surrounding provinces. He built many cities and called them Caesareas.
Herod noticed that a coastal city called Strato’s Tower had fallen into serious decay. Yet its location was so favorable that his generosity could turn it into a great city. He rebuilt the whole place with white stone and decorated it with several magnificent palaces. Here he showed his greatness in a special way.

The entire coast between Dora and Joppa had no good harbor, even though the two cities lay on either side of Strato’s Tower. Anyone sailing from Phoenicia toward Egypt had to remain in the open sea during storms. The south winds were dangerous there, and even a moderately strong wind raised enormous waves. The waves crashed against the rocks, and when they pulled back, they left the sea in turmoil for a great distance.

Herod overcame these natural difficulties with the money he spent and the way he used it. He built a harbor larger than the Piraeus at Athens. Inside the harbor, he also made other deep places where ships could safely anchor.

The site Herod chose seemed to work against his plans, but he overcame the difficulty so completely that the sea could not easily break apart his construction. The buildings were also so beautiful that they looked as if no hardship had stood in the way of their construction.

He measured out the large area mentioned above and lowered stones into water twenty fathoms deep. Most of the stones were fifty feet long, nine feet deep, and ten feet wide, while some were even larger. After the harbor had been filled to that depth, he extended the wall above the water until it was two hundred feet wide. Buildings covered one hundred feet of it, and these buildings broke the force of the waves. For that reason, this section was called Procumatia, meaning “the first breaker of the waves.” The rest of the space was enclosed by a stone wall that ran around the harbor.

Very large towers stood on this wall. The chief and most beautiful tower was called Drusium, after Drusus, Caesar’s son-in-law.

Many arches were built along the harbor, and sailors lived in them. In front of the arches was a broad valley, or walkway, that served as a quay for people coming ashore. The harbor entrance faced north, because the north wind was the gentlest wind in that place.

At the mouth of the harbor stood three great statues on each side, supported by pillars. The statues on the left side, as a person sailed into the port, rested on one solid tower. Those on the right stood on two upright stones joined together, and these stones were larger than the tower on the opposite side.

Buildings made of white stone continued along the harbor. Narrow streets led from the city to it, all built at equal distances from one another. Across from the harbor entrance, on raised ground, stood a temple dedicated to Caesar. It was outstanding in both beauty and size. Inside was a giant statue of Caesar, as large as the statue of Jupiter Olympius, which it was made to resemble. The other statue of Rome was equal in size to the statue of Juno at Argos.

Herod dedicated the city to the province and the harbor to the sailors who used it. He credited Caesar with the honor of the whole work and named the city Caesarea.

Herod also built an amphitheater, a theater, and a marketplace, all in keeping with the city’s name. Every fifth year, he held games called Caesar’s Games. He personally offered the largest prizes at the 192nd Olympic festival. The winners received his royal generosity, but so did those who came in second and even those who came in third.

He also rebuilt Anthedon, a coastal city that had been destroyed in the wars, and named it Agrippeum. Herod cared so much for his friend Agrippa that he had Agrippa’s name carved into the gate he had built at the temple.

Herod loved his father as much as any son ever loved his father. He built a city as a monument to him in the finest plain within his kingdom. The plain had an abundance of rivers and trees, and Herod named the city Antipatris.

He also built a wall around a fortress above Jericho. It was a strong and beautiful structure, and he dedicated it to his mother by naming it Cypros. At Jerusalem, he dedicated a tower to his brother Phasaelus and gave it his brother’s name. I will describe the tower’s design, size, and magnificence later.

Herod built another city in the valley that runs north from Jericho and named it Phasaelis.

Herod preserved the memory of his family and friends, but he also made sure to leave a memorial for himself. He built a fortress on a mountain toward Arabia and named it Herodium. He gave the same name to a hill shaped like a woman’s breast, about sixty furlongs from Jerusalem.

He used great skill and ambition in building the place. Towers stood all around the top of the hill, and he filled the space between them with the most expensive palaces. The inner rooms were splendid, but he also spent great wealth on the outer walls, partitions, and roofs.

Herod brought a large supply of water from a great distance at enormous cost. He built an approach of two hundred steps from the whitest marble. The hill itself was only moderately high and had been made by human labor.

At the foot of the hill, he built other palaces large enough to hold all the necessary furnishings and to house his friends. Since it contained everything needed, the fortress could have been taken for a city. Yet because of its limited boundaries, it was still only a palace.

11. After building so much in his own kingdom, Herod showed his generosity to many foreign cities. At Tripoli, Damascus, and Ptolemais, he built palaces for athletic training. At Byblus, he built a wall. At Berytus and Tyre, he built large rooms, colonnades, temples, and marketplaces. At Sidon and Damascus, he built theaters.

He constructed aqueducts for the people of Laodicea who lived near the sea. For the people of Ascalon, he built baths, expensive fountains, and colonnades around a courtyard. Their workmanship and size were both impressive.

Herod also gave some people groves and meadows. Several cities received land from him as if those lands were part of his own kingdom. He granted yearly revenues to athletic training centers and made sure those payments would continue forever. The people of Cos received the same kind of gift, so their rewards would never run out.

He gave grain to anyone who needed it. He gave the people of Rhodes large sums of money to build ships, and he did this in many places, often more than once. When the temple of Apollo burned down, Herod rebuilt it at his own expense and made it better than it had been before.

There is no need to list every gift he gave to the Lycians and Samians, or all the generosity he showed throughout Ionia. He gave according to the needs of each place. Athens, Sparta, Nicopolis, and Pergamum in Mysia were all filled with gifts from Herod.

Antioch in Syria had a large open area that everyone avoided because it was covered with mud and filth. Herod paved the entire place with polished marble, even though it was twenty furlongs long. He also decorated it with a colonnade that stretched the same distance.

12. Someone may say that these gifts benefited only the particular cities that received them. But the gifts Herod gave to the Eleans benefited not only all Greece, but every inhabited land that heard of the Olympic Games.

Herod saw that the games had almost disappeared because the Eleans lacked money, and that the last remains of ancient Greece were fading away. While traveling to Rome, he happened to be present at the fifth-year games. He not only took part in the contests, but also gave the Eleans a permanent source of revenue. Because of this, his memory as a competitor at Olympia will never disappear.

It would take too long to list all the debts and taxes Herod paid for other people. He freed the people of Phasaelis, Batanea, and the small cities around Cilicia from the yearly payments they had previously been required to make.

Still, Herod feared that his generosity would expose him to envy or make it seem that he was seeking more praise than he deserved. He had given these cities greater gifts than their own rulers had given them, and that troubled him.

13. Herod had a body as strong as his spirit. He was an excellent hunter and usually succeeded because he was highly skilled at riding horses. In one day, he caught forty wild animals. The country also had bears, and much of it was filled with deer and wild donkeys.

He was such a capable warrior that no one could easily stand against him. Many people were amazed by how quickly and skillfully he performed military exercises. They watched him throw a javelin straight ahead and shoot an arrow directly at its mark.

Herod’s success did not depend only on his own strength of mind and body. Fortune also favored him in almost everything. He rarely failed in war, and when he did fail, the fault was not usually his. Someone had betrayed him, or the recklessness of his own soldiers had brought about the defeat.

CHAPTER 22

The Murder of Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, the High Priests, and of Mariamne the Queen

Fortune repaid Herod for all his success in public affairs by bringing troubles into his own household. These troubles began because of the wife he loved so much. When he became king, he sent away Doris, the woman he had married while still a private citizen. She had been born in Jerusalem. He then married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander and the granddaughter of Aristobulus. This marriage soon caused unrest in his family, though the worst troubles came after Herod returned from Rome.

First, for the sake of his sons by Mariamne, Herod drove Antipater, the son of Doris, out of Jerusalem. He allowed Antipater to return only during the festivals. After that, Herod killed Hyrcanus, Mariamne’s grandfather, when Hyrcanus returned to him from Parthia. Herod claimed that he suspected him of plotting against the kingdom.

Hyrcanus had once been taken captive by Barzapharnes when he invaded Syria. The Jews who lived beyond the Euphrates felt pity for him and wanted him to remain with them. They urged him not to cross the river and return to Herod. If he had listened to them, he would have survived. But he trusted Herod because Herod had married his granddaughter. Hyrcanus also loved his own country and returned to it for that reason. Herod’s anger was not caused by any attempt Hyrcanus had made to seize the kingdom. He was angry because Hyrcanus, by birth and family, was more fit to be king than Herod.

Herod had five children by Mariamne, three sons and two daughters. The youngest son was raised in Rome, where he later died. Herod treated the two older sons as princes because their mother came from a noble family and because they had been born after he became king. Yet the strongest reason was his love for Mariamne. His affection for her grew stronger every day, and because of it he felt no other trouble as sharply.

Mariamne’s hatred for Herod was as great as his love for her. She had more than enough reason to be angry because of what he had done, and his love for her gave her the courage to speak openly. She reproached him for killing her grandfather Hyrcanus and for what he had done to her brother Aristobulus.

Herod had not even spared Aristobulus, though the boy was still young. When Aristobulus was only seventeen, Herod made him high priest. Soon afterward, he had him killed. Aristobulus put on the sacred garments and came forward to serve at the altar during a festival. When the people saw him, large crowds began to weep. Herod then had the boy taken secretly by night to Jericho. There, at Herod’s command, the Galatians held him under water in a pool until he drowned.

Because of these things, Mariamne insulted Herod, his sister, and his mother in the harshest terms. Herod remained silent because he loved her. The women, however, were furious with Mariamne and began spreading a false accusation against her. They claimed that she had been unfaithful to Herod, knowing that this charge would be most likely to stir his anger.

They added other details to make the accusation seem believable. They said Mariamne had sent her portrait to Antony in Egypt. They claimed her desire for him was so shameless that she had shown herself to a man known for chasing women, even though he was far away and had the power to force himself upon her.

These accusations struck Herod like a thunderbolt and threw him into confusion. His love for Mariamne made him jealous, and he remembered that Cleopatra was a dangerous woman. He believed that Lysanias, the king, and Malichus, the Arabian ruler, had both been killed because of her. Herod feared more than the loss of his marriage. He feared for his life.

When Herod was preparing to leave the country, he entrusted Mariamne to Joseph, the husband of his sister Salome. Herod believed Joseph would be loyal to him because they were related by marriage. He also gave Joseph a secret command. If Antony killed Herod, Joseph was to kill Mariamne.

Joseph had no evil purpose. He only wanted to show Mariamne how much Herod loved her and how unwilling he was to be separated from her, even by death. So Joseph revealed the secret command to her.

When Herod returned, he spoke with Mariamne and swore several times that he loved her. He assured her that he had never cared for another woman as he cared for her. “Yes,” she replied, “you certainly proved your love for me by the command you gave Joseph, when you ordered him to kill me.”

When Herod realized that his secret command had been revealed, he became almost frantic. He decided that Joseph would never have told Mariamne unless he had slept with her. His jealousy drove him into a state of madness. He leaped from his bed and ran wildly through the palace.

At that moment, his sister Salome took the chance to accuse Mariamne again and strengthen his suspicion of Joseph. Overcome by jealousy and rage, Herod ordered both Mariamne and Joseph to be killed at once.

As soon as his anger passed, he regretted what he had done. When his rage faded, his love for Mariamne returned. His desire for her was so strong that he refused to believe she was dead. In his troubled state, he spoke to her as if she were still alive. Only with time did he understand what had happened, and then his grief over her death became as great as the love he had felt for her while she lived.

CHAPTER 23

Slanders Against Mariamne’s Sons, Antipater Is Favored Above Them, They Are Accused Before Caesar, and Herod Is Reconciled to Them

Mariamne’s sons inherited the hatred that had been directed against their mother. When they considered how great Herod’s crime against her had been, they became suspicious of him and regarded him as their enemy. They had felt this way while they were being educated in Rome, but their distrust grew stronger after they returned to Judea.

As they grew into manhood, their anger increased. When they reached the proper age for marriage, one of them married the daughter of their aunt Salome, the very woman who had accused their mother. The other married the daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia. They began to speak with great boldness, just as they carried great hatred in their hearts.

Those who slandered them used this bold speech as an excuse. Some of them spoke more openly to the king and told him that both his sons were plotting against him. They said that the son who was married to Archelaus’s daughter trusted his father-in-law and was preparing to flee so that he could accuse Herod before Caesar.

After Herod had heard these accusations again and again, he brought Antipater, his son by Doris, back into his favor. He treated Antipater as a defense against his other sons and began doing everything he could to place him above them.

The two brothers couldn’t bear this change in their position. They saw that a man born to a woman of no noble family was being honored above them, and their own noble birth made their anger impossible to hide. Whenever they were troubled by this, they showed their resentment openly.

As their anger grew day after day, Antipater used all his abilities, and he had many, to flatter his father and invent accusations against his brothers. He told some of these stories himself, and he arranged for other suitable people to spread the rest.

At last, he completely destroyed his brothers’ hope of succeeding to the kingdom. Herod had already named Antipater publicly in his will as his successor. Antipater was then sent to Caesar wearing royal clothing and carrying the other signs of kingship, though he did not wear the diadem.

In time, he was even able to bring his mother back into the place that had once belonged to Mariamne. He used two weapons against his brothers, flattery and slander. Through these methods, he secretly brought matters to the point where the king began considering whether he should put his own sons to death.

Herod took Alexander with him to Rome and accused him before Caesar of trying to poison him. Alexander was so overcome with grief that he could hardly speak. But he had a judge who was wiser than Herod and more skilled than Antipater.

Alexander carefully avoided accusing his father of wrongdoing. Instead, he answered the charges against him with clear and powerful reasoning. After proving his own innocence, he also showed that his brother, who was in the same danger, was innocent. At last, he mourned the cunning of Antipater and the disgrace that had been brought upon them.

Alexander was able to defend himself not only because his conscience was clear, but also because he was an excellent speaker. Finally, he said that if his father truly believed them guilty of such a crime, Herod had the power to put them to death.

These words caused everyone present to weep. Caesar rejected the accusations and immediately reconciled Herod with his sons. The terms of the reconciliation were that the sons must obey their father in everything, while Herod would have the power to leave the kingdom to whichever of them he chose.

After this, Herod returned from Rome. He appeared to have forgiven his sons for the accusations against them, but he still remained suspicious of them. Antipater followed him, since he had been the source of those accusations. Yet Antipater didn’t openly show his hatred for his brothers because he respected the man who had brought about their reconciliation.

As Herod sailed past Cilicia, he stopped at Eleusa. There, Archelaus treated him with every kindness. Archelaus thanked Herod for saving his son-in-law and showed great joy over the reconciliation between Herod and his sons. He was especially pleased because he had earlier written to his friends in Rome and asked them to support Alexander during the trial.

Archelaus escorted Herod as far as Zephyrium and gave him gifts worth thirty talents.

When Herod arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered the people and presented his three sons to them. He explained why he had been away and gave great thanks to God. He also thanked Caesar for restoring peace to his household when it had been troubled and for bringing harmony among his sons, which he said was more important than the kingdom itself.

Herod then said:

“I will make this peace even stronger. Caesar has given me the authority to arrange the government and choose my successor. As a return for his kindness, and for my own benefit, I declare that all three of my sons shall be kings.

“First, I ask God to approve what I am about to do. Then I ask for your approval as well. The age of one son and the noble birth of the other two will secure their succession. My kingdom is so large that it can support more than one king.

“Keep in their positions the men whom Caesar has joined together and whom their father has appointed. Don’t give one of them more honor than another. Treat each according to the privilege of his birth. Anyone who gives one of them more respect than he deserves won’t make the one who is honored too happy, but he will certainly make the one who is dishonored very sorrowful.

“I will choose the relatives and friends who will spend time with each of my sons. I will arrange this in such a way that they will help preserve peace among them. I know that bad-tempered companions will create quarrels and conflict, while good-tempered companions will help the brothers keep their natural affection for one another.

“Still, I want not only these men, but also all the commanders of my army, to place their hopes in me alone for now. I am not giving my kingdom to my sons. I am giving them royal honors. They will enjoy the pleasant parts of ruling as kings, but the burden of governing will remain with me, whether I want it to or not.

“Let everyone consider my age, the way I have lived, and the devotion I have shown to God. I am not so old that anyone should expect my death soon. I have not lived in such luxury that my life should be cut short while I am still young. We have also been faithful to God, so we have reason to hope that I will live to a very old age.

“But if anyone becomes a close friend of my sons while secretly seeking my destruction, I will punish that person because of them. I don’t envy my own children, so I don’t forbid people from showing them great respect. But I know that excessive honor will make them proud and insolent.

“Everyone who comes near my sons should keep this in mind: if he proves himself a good man, I will reward him; but if he becomes rebellious, his false friendship will earn him nothing from the people he is trying to please. I believe that all of you will therefore stand with me, and in doing so, you will stand with my sons. It is to their advantage that I remain king and live in peace with them.

“And you, my good sons, should think about the holiness of nature itself. Natural affection is preserved even among wild animals. Then think about Caesar, who has brought this reconciliation among us. Finally, think about me, your father, who asks you to do what I have the power to command you to do, remain brothers.

“I give you royal clothing and royal honors. I pray that God will preserve what I have decided, if you remain at peace with one another.”

After Herod finished speaking, he greeted each of his sons kindly and dismissed the crowd. Some of the people approved of what he had said and wished for it to happen. But those who wanted the situation to change acted as if they hadn’t heard him at all.

CHAPTER 24

The Malice of Antipater and Doris. Alexander Becomes Greatly Disturbed Because of Glaphyra. Herod Pardons Pheroras, Whom He Had Suspected, and Salome, Whom He Knew to Cause Trouble Among Them. Herod’s Eunuchs Are Tortured, and Alexander Is Bound

The quarrel between the brothers did not end when they parted. Instead, their suspicion of one another grew worse. Alexander and Aristobulus were deeply troubled because Antipater had been confirmed in the privileges of the firstborn. Antipater, for his part, was angry that his brothers would inherit the kingdom after him.

Antipater had a changeable and calculating nature. He knew when to keep silent, and through careful schemes he hid the hatred he felt toward his brothers. Alexander and Aristobulus, trusting in their noble birth, spoke openly and let their words reveal whatever was in their hearts. Many people encouraged them in this, while others who pretended to be their friends worked their way into their confidence so they could discover what they said and did.

Everything Alexander said was quickly reported to Antipater, and Antipater carried it to Herod with additions of his own. The young man couldn’t speak honestly, or even casually, without giving offense, because his words were always twisted into accusations against him. If he spoke freely for even a moment, serious charges were built upon the smallest remark.

Antipater also sent people to provoke Alexander into speaking, so the lies he spread about him would appear to have some basis in truth. If one story among the many could be proven, everyone assumed that the rest must be true as well. Antipater’s friends, however, were either naturally careful with their words or had been paid well to keep silent. Through them, none of these secret dealings became known.

A person would not be wrong to call Antipater’s life a carefully hidden work of wickedness. He either bribed Alexander’s companions with money or won them over with flattery. By these two methods, he gained control of them and persuaded them to betray their master, secretly reporting whatever Alexander did or said.

Antipater acted with great skill in all these matters. He made his way forward through slander, while pretending to be a loving brother to Alexander and Aristobulus. At the same time, he bribed other men to report their actions to Herod. Whenever someone brought an accusation against Alexander, Antipater would appear to defend him and contradict the report. Later, however, he would arrange matters in secret so that the king became even more angry with Alexander.

His chief purpose was to make Herod believe that Alexander was plotting to murder his father. Nothing strengthened these accusations more than Antipater’s public defenses of him. Because he seemed to protect Alexander, his slanders appeared honest.

By these methods, Herod’s anger was stirred against Alexander and Aristobulus. As his natural affection for the two young men faded, his favor toward Antipater increased. The courtiers followed the same course. Some did so by their own choice, while others acted because the king commanded it.

Ptolemy, Herod’s closest friend, supported Antipater, as did the king’s brothers and all his children. Antipater had become everything in the court. Even his mother held great influence. She gave advice against Alexander and Aristobulus, treated them more harshly than any stepmother should, and hated the queen’s sons more fiercely than anyone would normally hate her sons-in-law.

Everyone now paid honor to Antipater because they hoped to gain something from him. Herod himself had ordered his closest friends to keep away from Alexander and to show no favor to him or to his companions.

Herod had also become a terror, not only to the people who lived around his court, but to his friends in distant places. Caesar had granted him a power that no other king possessed. Herod could demand the return of anyone who fled from him, even if that person had taken refuge in a city outside Herod’s own authority.

The young men knew nothing about the accusations being made against them, so they had no way to defend themselves. Their father made no public complaint against either one of them, but before long they understood that something was wrong. They saw it in his cold treatment of them and in the great distress he showed whenever any matter concerning them came before him.

Antipater had also turned their uncle Pheroras and their aunt Salome against them. He was always speaking with Salome as if she were his wife, and he kept stirring up her anger against the brothers.

Alexander’s wife, Glaphyra, added to the trouble. She often spoke proudly of her noble ancestry and acted as if she were superior to every other woman in the kingdom. Through her father, she claimed descent from Temenus, and through her mother, from Darius, the son of Hystaspes.

Glaphyra frequently insulted Herod’s sister and his wives because of their less noble families. She said Herod had chosen them for their beauty, not for their ancestry. Herod had many wives, as Jewish custom allowed, and he himself took pleasure in having many. Because of Glaphyra’s pride and insults, all these women hated Alexander.

Aristobulus had also quarreled with Salome, who was his mother-in-law. He was already angry because of Glaphyra’s insults, and he often mocked his wife for the low standing of her family. He complained that he had married a woman of humble birth, while his brother Alexander had married a woman of royal blood.

Salome’s daughter cried when she heard this. She told her mother what Aristobulus had said and added another accusation. She claimed that Alexander had threatened the mothers of his other brothers, saying that once he became king, he would make them work as servants among their maidens. He would also make their sons into village schoolteachers. Alexander had supposedly joked that they had been educated with great care so they would be prepared for such work.

Salome couldn’t hold back her anger. She reported everything to Herod. Her testimony seemed especially convincing because she was accusing her own son-in-law.

Another accusation also spread and inflamed the king. Herod was told that his sons often spoke about their mother, Mariamne, and that while mourning her, they cursed him. It was also said that when Herod gave some of Mariamne’s clothing to his later wives, they threatened that they would soon strip them of their royal garments and clothe them in nothing better than sackcloth.

For these reasons, Herod feared the proud spirit of the young men. Still, he didn’t give up hope of bringing them back to a better attitude. Before he sailed for Rome, he called them to him. He spoke partly as a king and threatened them a little, but he spoke mainly as their father.

He urged them to love their brothers and told them he would forgive their former offenses if they changed their conduct in the future. Alexander and Aristobulus denied the accusations against them. They said the charges were false and that their actions were enough to prove their innocence.

They also told Herod that he should close his ears to such stories and not believe every report so easily. As long as people were willing to listen, they said, there would always be liars ready to speak against them.

Their answer quickly calmed Herod, since he was still their father, and they escaped the immediate danger they had feared.

Even so, they soon had reason to grieve. They knew that both Salome and their uncle Pheroras were their enemies. Both were severe and difficult people, but Pheroras held the greater position. He shared in nearly every matter of the kingdom with Herod, except the royal crown.

Pheroras had a personal income of one hundred talents and controlled all the land beyond the Jordan. Herod had given him that territory after asking Caesar to make him tetrarch, which Caesar then did.

Herod had also given Pheroras a wife from the royal family. She was the sister of Herod’s own wife. After her death, Herod formally promised his eldest daughter to Pheroras and gave her a dowry of three hundred talents.

Pheroras refused to complete the marriage, however, because he loved a maidservant. Herod became furious and married his daughter to his nephew Joseph, who was later killed by the Parthians. After some time, Herod put aside his anger toward Pheroras and forgave him, since Pheroras couldn’t overcome his foolish love for the servant.

Pheroras had been accused much earlier, while Queen Mariamne was still alive, of plotting to poison Herod. So many informers came forward that Herod, although he loved his brothers dearly, began to believe the charges and fear that the plot was real.

He had many suspects tortured. At last, the investigation reached Pheroras’s own friends. None of them openly confessed that he had planned to poison the king, but they admitted that Pheroras had prepared to take the woman he loved and flee with her to the Parthians.

Costobarus, Salome’s husband, helped arrange this plan and the proposed escape. Herod had given Salome to Costobarus in marriage after her former husband was executed for adultery.

Salome herself did not escape suspicion. Pheroras accused her of agreeing to marry Silleus, the chief minister of Obodas, king of Arabia. Silleus was a bitter enemy of Herod. Salome was convicted of this charge and of the other matters Pheroras had brought against her, but she received the king’s pardon.

Herod also forgave Pheroras for the crimes of which he had been accused.

The trouble that had spread through the royal family now fell entirely upon Alexander. Three eunuchs held high places in Herod’s household, as could be seen from the duties they performed. One was the king’s cupbearer, another prepared his evening meal, and the third put him to bed and slept beside him.

Alexander had won these men over with expensive gifts and persuaded them to take part in shameful acts with him. When this was reported to Herod, the eunuchs were tortured. They were found guilty and soon confessed their relationship with Alexander.

They also revealed the promises that had persuaded them. Alexander, they said, had told them not to place their hopes in Herod, an old and shameless man who dyed his hair. He asked whether anyone thought hair dye could make the king young again.

Instead, Alexander told them to look to him, since he would become king after Herod, whether Herod wanted it or not. He promised that before long he would take revenge on his enemies, reward his friends, and make the eunuchs among the first to benefit.

Alexander had also told them that the powerful men of the kingdom were already honoring him in secret. The army commanders and other officers, he said, were secretly coming to him.

These confessions terrified Herod so much that he didn’t dare announce them at once. Instead, he secretly sent spies out by night and by day to investigate everything people said and did.

Whenever anyone was merely suspected of treason, Herod had that person killed. The palace became a place of terrible injustice. People invented accusations because they were angry with one another, and many used the king’s violent temper to harm those with whom they had quarrels.

Lies were believed quickly, and punishments came before the accusations had even been properly examined. A man who had just accused someone else could soon find himself accused as well. He might be led away to execution beside the person he had condemned. Herod’s fear for his own life made every investigation brief.

His anger grew so severe that he couldn’t look kindly upon anyone who had not been accused. He became harsh even toward his own friends. He barred many of them from appearing at court, and he spoke cruelly to those he was unable to punish.

Antipater took advantage of Alexander’s suffering. He mocked him, gathered a large group of his relatives, and encouraged every kind of accusation against him. Herod became so frightened by these monstrous slanders and schemes that he imagined Alexander approaching him with a sword drawn in his hand.

The king immediately ordered Alexander seized and bound. He then had Alexander’s friends questioned under torture. Many died beneath it, but they revealed nothing and refused to speak against their consciences.

Others, unable to bear the pain, were forced to lie. They said that Alexander and his brother Aristobulus had plotted against Herod, waiting for a chance to kill him while he was hunting and then escape to Rome.

The charges were unbelievable and had been invented out of the prisoners’ misery. Still, Herod readily believed them. After having his son bound, he found some comfort in thinking that he had not done so without cause.

CHAPTER 25

Archelaus Brings About a Reconciliation Between Alexander, Pheroras, and Herod

Alexander saw that he couldn’t convince his father of his innocence, so he decided to face whatever punishment might come, no matter how severe. He wrote four books against his enemies and admitted that he had been part of a plot. At the same time, he claimed that most of the courtiers had joined him, especially Pheroras and Salome. He even accused Salome of once coming to him at night and forcing him to sleep with her against his will.

These books were placed in Herod’s hands, and they caused a great uproar against the men in power. At that point, Archelaus hurried to Judea because he feared for his son-in-law and his daughter. He came to help them, and he handled the matter with great skill. Through a clever plan, he kept the king from carrying out the executions he had threatened.

When Archelaus arrived, he cried out, “Where is this miserable son-in-law of mine? Where can I find the head of the man who planned to murder his own father? I will tear him to pieces with my own hands. I will do the same to my daughter, who has such a fine husband. Even if she didn’t take part in the plot, she has been polluted by marrying such a man.

“I can’t understand your patience, especially when this plot was made against you and Alexander is still alive. I came here as quickly as I could from Cappadocia, expecting to find that you had already put him to death for his crimes. Still, I wanted to speak with you about my daughter, whom I gave to him in marriage because I respected you and because of his position. Now we must decide what should be done with them both.

“If your love for your son is so strong that you can’t punish him for plotting against you, then let us join hands and take turns showing our anger. You can punish my daughter, and I will punish your son.”

After making this grand speech, Archelaus managed to calm Herod’s anger, even though the king was still greatly troubled. Herod then gave him the books Alexander had written. Archelaus read them, and he and Herod discussed each accusation as they came to it.

This gave Archelaus the opening he needed. Little by little, he shifted the blame to the men named in the books, especially Pheroras. When he saw that Herod believed he was speaking honestly, he said, “We must consider whether the young man was actually being plotted against by all these wicked men, instead of believing that he was plotting against you.

“I can’t see why Alexander would commit such a terrible crime. He already enjoys the advantages of royalty, and he expects to become one of your successors. Unless some people persuaded him to do it, there would be no reason for him to act this way. Such men take advantage of how easily young people can be persuaded. They don’t deceive only the young. They sometimes mislead old men as well, and they can bring down the greatest families and kingdoms.”

Herod accepted what Archelaus said. Little by little, his anger against Alexander faded, but he grew more furious with Pheroras. Pheroras was the main subject of Alexander’s four books.

Pheroras saw that the king’s feelings had suddenly changed. He also saw that Archelaus’s friendship gave him great influence with Herod, while Pheroras had no honorable way to protect himself. So he saved himself through boldness. He left Alexander and went to Archelaus for help.

Archelaus told him, “I don’t see how you can escape blame now that you’ve been caught in so many crimes. The evidence clearly shows that you plotted against the king and caused the troubles this young man now faces. You must stop using clever excuses and denying the charges. Admit what you’ve done and ask your brother to forgive you. He still cares for you. If you do that, I’ll give you all the help I can.”

Pheroras followed this advice. He dressed in a way meant to stir pity, putting on black clothing and coming with tears in his eyes. Then he threw himself at Herod’s feet and begged for forgiveness. He admitted that he had acted wickedly and was guilty of everything he had been accused of. He said that his love for a woman had confused his mind and driven him into this disorder.

After Archelaus had led Pheroras to accuse himself and confess his guilt, he began to defend him. He softened Herod’s anger by pointing to examples within his own family. Archelaus said that he himself had suffered much greater wrongs from one of his brothers, yet he had placed family duty above his desire for revenge.

He added that kingdoms are like living bodies. When one part of the body swells because of the body’s weight, it isn’t right to cut that part off at once. It should be healed with gentle treatment.

Archelaus said many other things along the same lines, and Herod’s anger against Pheroras finally weakened. Still, Herod remained angry with Alexander. He said that Alexander’s wife, Archelaus’s daughter, should be divorced and taken away from him.

Archelaus continued speaking with Herod until the king changed his mind. Herod eventually asked Archelaus to spare the young man and allow his daughter to remain married to Alexander. Archelaus had earlier made Herod believe that he would let his daughter marry someone else, but not Alexander. He claimed that their family connection and the privileges that came with it were too valuable to lose.

Herod then said that Alexander would consider it a great kindness if the marriage remained intact. Alexander and the young woman already had children, and she was dearly loved by her husband. As long as she remained with him, she could keep him from doing wrong again. If she were taken away, Alexander might fall into despair. Young men are often brought back from reckless actions when their love and attention are settled within their homes.

Archelaus agreed to Herod’s request, though he did so only after much difficulty. He reconciled with the young man himself and also brought Herod and Alexander back together. He insisted, however, that Alexander must be sent to Rome to speak with Caesar, since Archelaus had already written Caesar a full account of the entire matter.

In this way, Archelaus’s plan came to an end, and he rescued his son-in-law from the danger he faced. After the reconciliations, they spent their time feasting and enjoying pleasant gatherings.

When Archelaus was ready to leave, Herod gave him seventy talents, a golden throne set with precious stones, several eunuchs, and a concubine named Pannychis. He also honored each of Archelaus’s friends according to their rank.

At Herod’s command, all the king’s relatives gave Archelaus magnificent gifts as well. Herod and his nobles then escorted him as far as Antioch.

CHAPTER 26

How Eurycles Slandered the Sons of Mariamne, and How Euaratus of Cos Spoke in Their Defense Without Effect

Not long afterward, a man came into Judea who was far more dangerous than Archelaus’s schemes. He not only destroyed the wise reconciliation that had been made with Alexander, but also became the cause of Alexander’s ruin. He was a Lacedemonian named Eurycles.

Eurycles was a thoroughly corrupt man. He wanted money so badly that he chose to live under a king, since Greece could not support his expensive way of life. He brought Herod magnificent gifts as bait for his own plans, and soon received gifts worth many times more in return. Yet he considered such rewards too small unless he could also make his purchases with blood.

He won Herod over by flattering him, speaking to him with cleverness, and praising him with lies. Eurycles quickly discovered Herod’s weakness, so he said and did whatever pleased him. In this way he became one of the king’s closest friends. Herod and everyone around him respected the Spartan because of his country.

As soon as Eurycles discovered the weak points in the royal family, the quarrels between the brothers, and the way Herod felt toward each of them, he first took up residence in Antipater’s house. At the same time, he pretended to be Alexander’s friend and falsely claimed to have known Archelaus for many years. Because of this supposed friendship, Alexander quickly welcomed him as a trusted companion.

Eurycles soon gained the confidence of Aristobulus as well. After he had tested these men, he deceived each one in a different way. Antipater was the man who paid him, so Eurycles betrayed Alexander for his benefit. He criticized Antipater by saying that, although he was the oldest son, he had failed to challenge the plots of those who stood in the way of his hopes. He criticized Alexander too, saying that Alexander had been born to a queen and married to a king’s daughter, yet allowed a man born of a common woman to claim the succession. This was even more shameful because Archelaus was ready to support him fully.

Because Eurycles pretended to be a friend of Archelaus, Alexander believed his advice was honest. Alexander complained to him about Antipater and hid nothing from him. He said that it was no surprise if Herod, after killing their mother, now meant to take her kingdom away from them. Eurycles pretended to pity him and said that he shared his grief.

By using the same trick, he got Aristobulus to speak in the same way. In this manner, Eurycles drew both brothers into complaining about their father. He then went to Antipater and revealed everything they had said.

Eurycles also invented a story of his own. He claimed that Alexander and Aristobulus were plotting against Antipater and were nearly ready to attack him with drawn swords. Antipater paid him a large sum of money for this information. Eurycles praised him before Herod and eventually agreed to bring Alexander and Aristobulus to their deaths by accusing them before their father.

Eurycles went to Herod and told him that he would save the king’s life in return for the kindness Herod had shown him. He said he would preserve Herod’s life as payment for the hospitality he had received. According to Eurycles, a sword had long been sharpened against Herod, and Alexander’s right hand had long been raised against him. Eurycles claimed that he had delayed Alexander and slowed his plans by pretending to help him.

He said Alexander had complained that Herod wasn’t satisfied with ruling a kingdom that belonged to other people. After killing their mother, Herod had also taken control of her government and wasted its resources. On top of this, he had brought in an illegitimate successor and planned to give the kingdom of their ancestors to that wicked man, Antipater.

Eurycles claimed that Alexander wanted to avenge the deaths of Hyrcanus and Mariamne. He said Alexander believed he couldn’t take the government from such a father without shedding blood. Every day, Eurycles continued, Herod gave Alexander another reason to act. Alexander could say nothing without providing material for a new accusation.

If anyone mentioned noble birth, even in an ordinary conversation, Alexander was insulted. Herod would say that no one was truly noble except Alexander, and that Alexander’s father was dishonored because he lacked such noble birth. When they went hunting, Alexander offended his father if he said nothing, but if he praised anyone, Herod treated his words as a joke.

Eurycles also said the brothers always found Herod harsh and without natural affection for any of them except Antipater. For these reasons, Alexander was willing to die if the plot failed. But if he killed his father, he had several ways to escape.

First, he could flee to Archelaus, his father-in-law. He could also go to Caesar, who had never yet learned the truth about Herod’s character. Alexander would not have to appear before Caesar with the same fear he felt when Herod was there to intimidate him.

Eurycles said Alexander would not begin by defending himself. Instead, he would openly describe the suffering of their nation, the crushing taxes placed upon the people, and the luxury and wickedness in which the money taken through bloodshed was spent. He would ask what kind of men were receiving the nation’s wealth and to whom Herod had given the cities under his control.

He would ask what had happened to his grandfather Hyrcanus and his mother Mariamne. He would publicly expose the great wickedness that had taken place in the kingdom. Because of these things, he would not be seen as a parricide, but as a son seeking justice. This was the story Eurycles told Herod.

After making this terrible speech, Eurycles praised Antipater as the only son who truly loved his father. He said Antipater alone stood in the way of his brothers’ plot against the king.

Herod had barely managed to control his anger after hearing the first accusations. Now he was driven into a rage that could not be calmed. Antipater took advantage of this and sent more men to accuse his brothers before their father.

These men told Herod that Alexander and Aristobulus had secretly spoken with Jucundus and Tyrannus. Both men had once been masters of the king’s horse, but Herod had removed them from that honored position because of certain offenses.

Herod was furious when he heard this. He immediately ordered Jucundus and Tyrannus to be tortured. They confessed nothing about the accusations brought against them.

Then someone produced a letter that Alexander had supposedly written to the governor of a fortress. The letter asked the governor to receive Alexander and Aristobulus inside the fortress after Alexander had killed his father. It also asked him to provide them with weapons and any other help they might need.

Alexander declared that Diophantus had forged the letter. Diophantus was the king’s secretary, a bold man who was skilled at imitating anyone’s handwriting. After forging many documents, he was finally put to death for the crime.

Herod also ordered the governor of the fortress to be tortured, but he learned nothing that supported the accusations.

Even though the evidence against the brothers was weak, Herod ordered that his sons be held under guard. Until then, they had been free.

He also called Eurycles, the plague of his family and the maker of this vile accusation, his savior and benefactor. Herod rewarded him with fifty talents.

Eurycles immediately left Judea before anyone could make a careful report of what he had done. He went to Cappadocia and took money from Archelaus. He shamelessly claimed that he had reconciled Herod and Alexander.

From there, he went to Greece and used the money he had gained through wickedness for more wicked purposes. He was accused twice before Caesar of stirring up Achaia and plundering its cities. Caesar sent him into exile.

This was the punishment Eurycles received for the crimes he had committed against Aristobulus and Alexander.

It is also worth comparing this Spartan with Euaratus of Cos. Euaratus was one of Alexander’s closest friends, and he had come to visit him while traveling at the same time Eurycles arrived.

Herod asked Euaratus whether the accusations against Alexander were true. Euaratus swore that he had never heard the young men say anything like what they were accused of saying.

But his testimony did nothing to clear the unfortunate brothers. Herod was willing to hear only whatever harmed them. Anyone who believed them guilty and showed anger toward them was welcome in the king’s presence.

CHAPTER 27

Herod, Acting on Caesar’s Orders, Accuses His Sons at Berytus. They Are Not Brought Before the Court, Yet They Are Condemned and Soon Sent to Sebaste, Where They Are Strangled

Salome stirred up Herod’s anger against his sons. Aristobulus wanted to place Salome, who was both his mother-in-law and his aunt, in the same danger as himself and his brother. So he warned her to protect herself. He told her that the king was preparing to have her killed because of the charge against her, claiming that when she had once planned to marry Sylleus the Arabian, she had revealed the king’s secrets to him, even though he was the king’s enemy.

This accusation became the final blow against the young men, who were already in great danger. Salome hurried to the king and told him what Aristobulus had said. Herod could no longer control himself. He ordered both young men to be bound and kept apart from each other.

He immediately sent Volumnius, the commander of his army, to Caesar. Herod’s friend Olympus went with him, carrying written charges against the young men. When they reached Rome, they delivered the king’s letters to Caesar. Caesar was greatly troubled by what had happened to the young men, but he didn’t think he had the right to take away a father’s authority to judge his own sons.

So Caesar sent Herod a reply. He allowed him to decide what should happen to his sons, but advised him to investigate the alleged plot in a public court. Herod was to choose his relatives and the governors of the province as judges. If the young men were found guilty, he could put them to death. But if they had only planned to escape from him, Caesar told him to lessen their punishment.

Herod followed Caesar’s instructions and went to Berytus, where Caesar had ordered the court to meet. He gathered the judges together. Saturninus and Pedanius sat first, as Caesar’s letter had directed, along with the lieutenants serving under them. The procurator Volumnius sat with them.

After them came the king’s relatives and friends, including Salome and Pheroras. The leading men from all Syria sat after them, except Archelaus. Herod suspected Archelaus because he was Alexander’s father-in-law.

Herod didn’t bring his sons into the courtroom. He had a good reason for keeping them away. He knew that if the young men appeared before the judges, the people would feel sorry for them. If they were allowed to speak, Alexander could easily answer the charges against him. Instead, the two brothers were held at Platane, a village belonging to the Sidonians.

Herod rose and spoke against his sons as if they were standing before him. He only weakly argued that they had plotted against his life because he had no real proof. Instead, he focused on their insults, mocking words, disrespectful behavior, and countless other offenses against him.

He claimed these offenses were worse than death itself. Since no one spoke against him, he made the judges feel sorry for him, as if he were the one who had been condemned. He had won a bitter victory over his own sons, and he asked each judge to give his sentence.

Saturninus spoke first. He said he condemned the young men, but not to death. He had three sons of his own standing before him, and he didn’t think it was right for him to vote for the destruction of another man’s sons. The two lieutenants gave the same judgment, and several others followed their example.

Then Volumnius began voting for the harsher punishment. Everyone who spoke after him condemned the young men to death. Some did it to flatter Herod, while others did it because they hated him. None of them acted out of anger over the crimes the young men were accused of committing.

All Syria and Judea waited anxiously for the final act of this tragedy. Still, no one believed Herod would be so cruel as to murder his own children. But Herod took the young men to Tyre, then sailed to Caesarea. There, he considered what kind of death they should suffer.

One of Herod’s old soldiers was named Tero. Tero had a son who was a close friend of Alexander, and Tero himself cared deeply for the young men. He was almost beside himself with anger over what was happening.

At first, he walked around shouting that justice had been crushed, truth had disappeared, and nature itself had been thrown into confusion. He said human life was filled with wickedness and spoke every other angry thought that came to him, even though he knew his words might cost him his life.

At last, he went before the king and said:

“You’re a miserable man if you listen to the worst people instead of protecting those who should be dearest to you. You have often decided that Pheroras and Salome should be put to death, yet you believe their accusations against your sons. By destroying your own sons, they leave the entire succession to Antipater. They want you to remain a king who is completely under their control.

“Think about this too. When Antipater’s brothers are killed, won’t the soldiers hate him? Everyone feels sorry for these young men. Many of the commanders are openly angry about what you’re doing.”

Tero then named the commanders who shared his anger. Herod ordered that those men, Tero, and Tero’s son be seized at once.

At that time, a barber named Trypho suddenly came out of the crowd. Acting as if he were out of his mind, he accused himself and said:

“Tero also tried to persuade me to cut your throat with my razor while I was shaving you. He promised that Alexander would give me a large reward for doing it.”

When Herod heard this, he had Tero, his son, and the barber tortured and questioned. The others denied the charge, and Tero said nothing more. Herod then ordered that Tero be tortured even more severely.

Tero’s son felt sorry for his father. He promised to tell the king everything if Herod would stop torturing him. Herod agreed. The young man then said that Alexander had persuaded his father to plan the king’s death.

Some people believed the son had made up the story to save his father from further torture. Others believed the accusation was true.

Herod accused the commanders and Tero before the people. He gathered the crowd against them, and the commanders, Tero, and the barber Trypho were put to death. The people killed them with pieces of wood and stones.

Herod also sent his sons to Sebaste, a city not far from Caesarea, and ordered that they be strangled there. His orders were carried out at once. He then commanded that their bodies be taken to the fortress of Alexandrium and buried beside Alexander, their maternal grandfather.

This was the end of Alexander and Aristobulus.

CHAPTER 28

How Antipater Became Hated by Everyone, How the King Arranged Marriages Between His Relatives and the Children of Those He Had Killed, and How Antipater Made Him Change Those Matches. Herod’s Marriages and Children

The whole nation came to hate Antipater, even though he now had an unquestioned claim to the succession. Everyone knew that he had invented the accusations against his brothers. He also grew terrified as he watched the children of those men grow up.

Alexander had two sons by Glaphyra, Tigranes and Alexander. Aristobulus had three sons by Bernice, the daughter of Salome, named Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus. He also had two daughters, Herodias and Mariamne.

After Herod killed Alexander, he sent Glaphyra back to Cappadocia with the portion she had received. He married Bernice to Antipater’s maternal uncle. Antipater himself arranged the marriage to restore peace between them after they had quarreled. He also won the favor of Pheroras and of Caesar’s friends by giving them gifts and showing them great respect.

He sent large sums of money to Rome. Saturninus and his friends in Syria received many gifts from him as well. Yet the more Antipater gave, the more people hated him. They believed he wasn’t giving out of kindness, but because he was afraid. Those who accepted his gifts felt no more goodwill toward him than before, while those who received nothing became even more bitter enemies.

Still, Antipater kept giving away his money in greater amounts. He saw that, contrary to what he expected, the king was beginning to care for the orphans. Herod was also showing regret for killing their fathers by taking pity on the children they had left behind.

Herod gathered his relatives and friends and brought the children before them. With tears in his eyes, he said:

“It was an unfortunate fate that took these children’s fathers from me. Their orphaned condition naturally moves me to pity. Though I have been an unfortunate father, I will try to prove myself a better grandfather. I want to leave these children in the care of those who are dearest to me.

“Pheroras, I therefore promise your daughter in marriage to the older of Alexander’s two sons. This will require you to care for him. I also promise Aristobulus’s daughter to your son Antipater. You must be a father to that orphan.

“My son Herod, also called Philip, will marry her sister, whose grandfather on her mother’s side was the high priest. Everyone who loves me should approve these arrangements. No one who truly cares for me will try to undo them.

“I pray that God will join these children together in marriage for the good of my kingdom and my descendants. May he look upon them with more kindness than he showed their fathers.”

As Herod spoke, he wept. He joined the children’s right hands together, embraced each of them with affection, and then dismissed the gathering.

Antipater was immediately thrown into confusion. He openly complained about what had happened. He believed the honor given to these orphans would bring about his own destruction while his father was still alive. He also feared that he could lose the government again if Alexander’s sons had both Archelaus, their grandfather, and Pheroras, the tetrarch, supporting them.

Antipater knew that the nation hated him and pitied the orphans. He remembered how much the Jews had loved his brothers while they were alive and how gladly they now spoke of them, even though Antipater had been responsible for their deaths. So he decided to use every possible means to break up these proposed marriages.

Antipater was afraid to approach his father secretly. Herod was difficult to please and quickly became suspicious at the slightest hint of a plot. So Antipater went directly to him and begged him not to take away the position Herod had given him.

He argued that he shouldn’t be left with the empty title of king while other men held the real power. He said he would never be able to keep control of the government if Alexander’s son had both his grandfather Archelaus and Pheroras as guardians. Since so many members of the royal family were still alive, Antipater earnestly asked Herod to change the proposed marriages.

Herod had nine wives and children by seven of them. Antipater himself was the son of Doris. Herod Philip was the son of Mariamne, the daughter of the high priest. Antipas and Archelaus were sons of Malthace, the Samaritan woman. Their sister Olympias was also Malthace’s daughter, and she was married to Joseph’s son, who was Herod’s brother.

By Cleopatra of Jerusalem, Herod had two sons, Herod and Philip. By Pallas, he had Phasaelus. He also had two daughters, Roxana and Salome, one by Phedra and the other by Elpis.

Two of his wives had no children. One was his first cousin, and the other was his niece. Herod also had two daughters by Mariamne, the sisters of Alexander and Aristobulus. Since the royal family was so large, Antipater asked his father to replace the marriages he had planned.

When Herod understood Antipater’s feelings toward the orphans, he became angry. He began to wonder whether the false stories Antipater had told might have caused the deaths of his sons. At that moment, he gave Antipater a long and bitter answer and ordered him to leave.

Later, however, Antipater won him over with clever flattery. Herod changed the proposed marriages. He gave Aristobulus’s daughter to Antipater and arranged for his own son to marry Pheroras’s daughter.

This event shows how much Antipater’s flattery could accomplish. He persuaded Herod to do what even Salome, his own sister, had been unable to do.

Salome had earnestly asked, through Julia, Caesar’s wife, for permission to marry Sylleus the Arabian. Herod swore that he would treat her as his bitter enemy unless she abandoned the plan. He then forced her to marry Alexas, one of his friends, against her wishes.

Herod also arranged for one of Salome’s daughters to marry Alexas’s son and the other to marry Antipater’s maternal uncle. As for the two daughters Herod had by Mariamne, he married one to Antipater, his sister’s son, and the other to his brother’s son, Phasaelus.

CHAPTER 29

Antipater Becomes Intolerable and Is Sent to Rome With Herod’s Testament; Pheroras Leaves His Brother to Keep His Wife; He Dies at Home

After Antipater had destroyed the hopes of the orphans and formed alliances that served his own interests, he began to act with confidence, as though the kingdom already belonged to him. His wickedness had made him bold, and he became unbearable. Since he couldn’t escape the hatred of the people, he tried to protect himself by making them afraid of him.

Pheroras helped him in these plans because he believed Antipater’s position on the throne was already secure. At the same time, a group of women in the palace created new trouble. Pheroras’s wife, along with her mother and sister, and Antipater’s mother, became openly arrogant in the royal court. Pheroras’s wife even insulted the king’s two daughters, and Herod came to hate her for it.

Although Herod hated these women, they still lorded it over everyone else. Salome was the only person who opposed them. She told Herod about their meetings because she believed they threatened his interests. When the women learned about Salome’s accusations and saw how angry Herod had become, they stopped meeting openly and holding friendly gatherings. Instead, whenever Herod was close enough to hear them, they pretended to argue with one another.

Antipater used the same deception. In public, he acted as if he opposed Pheroras, but in private they continued their secret meetings and nighttime feasts. Their behavior only made it clearer that they were working together. Salome knew everything they were doing and reported it all to Herod.

Herod became furious with them, especially with Pheroras’s wife, since Salome had accused her more than anyone else. He called together his friends and relatives and charged the woman with many offenses. He accused her of insulting his daughters, giving money to the Pharisees as a reward for opposing him, and turning his brother against him by giving him love potions.

Herod then turned to Pheroras and gave him a choice. He could remain loyal to his brother, or he could stay with his wife. Pheroras answered that he would rather die than abandon her.

Herod didn’t know what else to do, so he addressed Antipater. He ordered him to have no dealings with Pheroras’s wife, Pheroras himself, or anyone connected with her. Antipater obeyed the order in public, but in secret he continued attending their nighttime meetings. He feared Salome was watching him, so he used his Italian friends to arrange a departure for Rome.

When those friends wrote that Antipater should spend some time with Caesar, Herod sent him without delay. Antipater left with a large and impressive entourage, plenty of money, and Herod’s testament. In that testament, Herod named Antipater as his heir. Herod also named his successor after Antipater, Herod, the son of Mariamne, the daughter of the high priest.

Sylleus, the Arabian, also sailed to Rome, ignoring Caesar’s orders. He went there to oppose Antipater as strongly as he could in the lawsuit Nicolaus had brought against him.

Sylleus was also involved in a serious conflict with his own king, Aretas. He had killed many of Aretas’s friends, including Sohemus, the most powerful man in Petra. Sylleus had also bribed Phabatus, Herod’s steward, with a large sum of money to help him act against Herod.

When Herod offered Phabatus more money, Phabatus abandoned Sylleus. Herod then demanded that Sylleus pay everything Caesar had ordered him to pay. Sylleus refused to pay any of it. He also accused Phabatus before Caesar, claiming that Phabatus wasn’t serving Caesar’s interests, but Herod’s.

Phabatus was angry at Sylleus for making this accusation. Herod, however, still trusted Phabatus, and Phabatus revealed Sylleus’s most serious secrets to the king. He told Herod that Sylleus had bribed Corinthus, one of Herod’s bodyguards, and had persuaded him to join his plans. Herod was warned to be careful of him.

Herod acted at once. Corinthus had been raised in Herod’s kingdom, but he was Arabian by birth. The king ordered him to be arrested, along with two other Arabians who were caught with him. One was a friend of Sylleus, and the other was the chief of a tribe.

The men were tortured and confessed that they had offered Corinthus a large sum of money to kill Herod. After they were questioned again before Saturninus, the governor of Syria, they were sent to Rome.

Herod still kept pressuring Pheroras to divorce his wife. Yet he couldn’t find a way to punish the woman herself, even though he had many reasons to hate her. At last, his anger and distress became so great that he drove both her and his brother out of the kingdom.

Pheroras accepted this treatment without protest. He went to his own territory, Perea, beyond the Jordan, and swore that only one thing would bring him back: Herod’s death. He said he wouldn’t return as long as his brother was alive.

Pheroras kept that promise even when Herod became sick. Herod urgently sent for him because he wanted to give him some final instructions before he died. But Herod unexpectedly recovered.

Not long afterward, Pheroras himself became sick. Herod showed great kindness toward him. He went to see him, felt pity for him, and personally cared for him. His concern did no good, however, because Pheroras died soon afterward.

Herod had shown affection for his brother until the end, yet people spread the report that he had poisoned him. Herod ordered Pheroras’s body to be carried to Jerusalem. He declared a period of mourning throughout the nation and gave his brother a grand funeral.

This was the end of one of the men responsible for the deaths of Alexander and Aristobulus.

CHAPTER 30

Herod Investigates Pheroras’s Death and Learns That Antipater Had Prepared Poison for Him. Herod Expels Doris and Her Accomplices, Along With Mariamne, From the Palace, and Removes Her Son Herod From His Will

The punishment now turned toward the man who had begun the whole plot, Antipater. It started with the death of Pheroras. Several of Pheroras’s freedmen came before the king with sorrowful faces and told him that his brother had been poisoned. They said Pheroras’s wife had given him something prepared in an unusual way, and that after he ate it, he immediately fell ill.

They also said that two days earlier, Antipater’s mother and sister had brought a woman from Arabia who knew how to mix drugs. They claimed they wanted her to prepare a love potion for Pheroras, but instead she gave him deadly poison. Sylleus, who knew the woman, had arranged the whole matter.

These suspicions disturbed the king, so he ordered the female servants, along with some free women, to be tortured. One of them cried out in her agony, “May the God who rules heaven and earth punish the woman who caused all our suffering, Antipater’s mother!”

Herod seized upon this confession and questioned her further. She then revealed the friendship between Antipater’s mother and Pheroras, as well as the secret meetings between them and Antipater’s women. She said that Pheroras and Antipater had once spent the whole night drinking with the women after returning from the king. They had allowed no one else to be present, neither male nor female servant. One of the free women had learned about the meeting and exposed it.

Herod then had each maidservant tortured separately. All of them gave the same account. They said Antipater and Pheroras had agreed to leave the country, with Antipater going to Rome and Pheroras going to Perea.

They often spoke to each other in this way:

“After Herod kills Alexander and Aristobulus, he will turn against us and our wives. Once he has killed Mariamne and her children, he won’t spare anyone. We must get as far away from this wild beast as we can.”

Antipater often complained about his situation to his mother. He told her that his hair was already turning gray while his father seemed to grow younger every day. Death might come for him before Antipater ever had a real chance to become king.

Even if Herod died soon, no one knew when that would happen, Antipater believed he would enjoy the succession for only a short time. The sons of Alexander and Aristobulus were growing up, like new heads of the Hydra. His father had taken away his hope of passing the kingdom to his own children, since Herod had named Herod, the son of Mariamne, as his successor instead.

Antipater said Herod was out of his mind to think that such a will would ever be carried out. He would make sure that none of Antipater’s descendants survived, because no father had ever hated his children as much as Herod did. Yet Herod hated his brother even more. That was why he had once offered Antipater a hundred talents to keep him from having any dealings with Pheroras.

When Pheroras asked, “What harm have we done him?” Antipater answered, “I wish he would take everything we own and leave us alive, but without anything else. Still, there is no escaping this murderer. He won’t even allow us to love each other openly, though we meet in secret. We could show our love openly too, if we had the courage and the hands of men.”

The women gave this account while they were being tortured. They also said that Pheroras had decided to flee with them to Perea.

Herod believed what they said because of the matter involving the hundred talents. He had discussed that matter with no one except Antipater. He first directed his anger against Antipater’s mother. He took back all the jewelry he had given her, worth many talents, and expelled her from the palace for the second time.

He also looked after Pheroras’s women after they had been tortured, since he had now made peace with them. But the king himself was filled with fear and suspicion. He ordered many innocent people to be tortured because he was afraid that some guilty person might escape examination.

Herod next questioned Antipater of Samaria, who managed the household of Herod’s son, Antipater. Under torture, the man confessed that Antipater had ordered a deadly potion from Egypt through Antiphilus, one of his companions.

He said Theudio, Antipater’s uncle, had received the poison from Antiphilus and passed it to Pheroras. Antipater had instructed Theudio to kill Herod while Antipater was in Rome, so no one would suspect him of arranging his father’s death. Pheroras had then given the poison to his wife.

The king summoned her and ordered her to bring him whatever she had received. She left the house as if she intended to bring it to him, but instead threw herself from the roof to avoid being questioned and tortured.

By what appeared to be God’s providence, while he was preparing to punish Antipater, she didn’t land on her head. She struck other parts of her body and survived. When the king had her brought before him, she was unconscious from the fall, so he cared for her until she recovered.

Herod asked why she had thrown herself from the roof. He swore that if she told him the whole truth, he would pardon her. But if she hid anything, he threatened to have her body torn apart under torture and leave no part of it buried.

The woman remained silent for a short time, then said:

“Why should I keep these great secrets now that Pheroras is dead? Doing so would only save Antipater, who has brought ruin on all of us. Listen, my king, and let both you and God, who cannot be deceived, witness that I am telling the truth.

“When you sat beside Pheroras and wept as he lay dying, he called me to him and said, ‘My dear wife, I was completely wrong about my brother’s feelings toward me. I hated the man who loved me, and I planned to kill the brother who was so distressed at the thought of my death.

“‘I am now receiving the punishment for my wickedness. But bring me the poison Antipater left with us. You have kept it so you could use it against him. Burn it at once in front of me, so I won’t face punishment from the avenger in the world after death.’

“I brought him the poison as he commanded and poured most of it into the fire. But I kept a small amount for myself, in case I needed it someday, because I was afraid of you.”

7. After she finished speaking, she brought out the box containing the small amount of poison that remained. Herod spared her and instead ordered Antiphilus’s mother and brother to be tortured. They both confessed that Antiphilus had brought the box from Egypt and that they had received the poison from one of his brothers, a physician in Alexandria.

It was then as if the spirits of Alexander and Aristobulus were moving through the entire palace, exposing crimes that would otherwise have remained hidden. People who had seemed least likely to be involved were brought in for questioning. During this investigation, Herod learned that Mariamne, the daughter of the high priest, knew about the plot. Her own brothers confirmed it when they were tortured.

Herod punished the mother by taking revenge on her son. He removed Herod, the son he had by Mariamne, from his will. The young man had previously been named as Antipater’s successor.

CHAPTER 31

Bathyllus Convicts Antipater, Though Antipater Returns from Rome Without Knowing It. Herod Brings Him to Trial.

After these matters had come to light, Bathyllus was questioned so he could give the final proof of Antipater’s plans. Bathyllus was Antipater’s own freedman. He revealed that Antipater had prepared another deadly poison, made from the venom of asps and the juices of other snakes. If the first poison failed, Pheroras and his wife were to use this one against the king.

Bathyllus also added to the charges against Antipater concerning his attempt against his father. He produced letters Antipater had written against his brothers, Archelaus and Philip, the king’s sons. They were still young men, living in Rome and receiving their education, but they had noble character. Antipater wanted to remove them as soon as possible, since they stood in the way of his hopes. For that reason, he forged letters in the names of his friends in Rome.

He bribed some of those men to write that Archelaus and Philip had spoken shamefully against their father, openly mourned Alexander and Aristobulus, and were angry that they had been called back. Herod had already sent for them, and this was what troubled Antipater most.

While Antipater was still in Judea, before he left for Rome, he paid men to send similar letters against his brothers. He then went to his father, who still suspected nothing, and defended his brothers. He claimed that some parts of the letters were false and that the rest were only the mistakes of young men.

At the same time, Antipater spent large sums of money bribing those who wrote against his brothers. He tried to hide these payments by filling his expense accounts with the cost of expensive clothing, richly woven carpets, gold and silver cups, and many other costly items. Among those large expenses, he hoped no one would notice the money he had used to hire men to write the letters.

He presented accounts totaling two hundred talents. His main excuse for this spending was the lawsuit he had brought against Sylleus. In this way, his greater crimes covered the smaller ones. The torture of those who had been questioned pointed to his plan to murder his father, while the letters showed his attempt to destroy his brothers.

Yet none of the men who went to Rome told Antipater what had happened in Judea. Seven months passed between his conviction and his return, but the hatred everyone felt for him kept them silent. Perhaps the ghosts of the brothers he had murdered stopped the mouths of those who meant to warn him.

Antipater wrote from Rome and told his friends that he would soon return. He also told them that Caesar had dismissed him with honor.

The king wanted to get this man, who had plotted against him, into his hands. He also feared that Antipater might learn what had happened and take steps to protect himself. So Herod hid his anger in the letter he sent him. He wrote kindly in other matters and urged Antipater to hurry home. He said that if Antipater returned quickly, he would set aside the complaints he had against his mother.

Antipater already knew that his mother had been driven from the palace. Before this, he had received a letter telling him that Pheroras had died at Tarentum. Antipater made a great show of mourning him, and some people praised him for grieving over his uncle. Yet his confusion probably came from the failure of the plot against his father’s life. He was mourning less for Pheroras than for the man who had been meant to help him carry out the murder.

Fear also came over him. He wondered whether the poison had been discovered.

When Antipater reached Cilicia, he received the letter from his father and hurried home. But after sailing to Celenderis, he began to suspect that something serious had happened to his mother. It was as if his own soul warned him that danger was waiting for him.

The wisest of his friends advised him not to go at once to his father. They told him to learn first why his mother had been expelled, since the accusations against her might also involve him. Others were less concerned about Antipater’s safety. They wanted to see their homeland again, and they urged him to continue without delay.

They argued that if he stayed away, his father might become more suspicious and give those who accused him a reason to spread more stories. If anything had been said against Antipater, they claimed, it had happened only because he was absent. No one would have dared to say such things if he had been there.

They also told him that it was foolish to give up certain happiness because of an uncertain fear. He should return to his father and take hold of the royal power, which was unstable only because of him.

Antipater followed this advice. Providence was driving him toward his destruction. He crossed the sea and landed at Sebastus, the harbor of Caesarea.

There he found an unexpected and complete loneliness. Everyone avoided him, and no one dared come near him. He was hated by all, and now that hatred could be shown openly. Fear of the king’s anger kept people away.

The whole city of Jerusalem was filled with rumors about Antipater, but Antipater alone knew nothing of them. No man had ever been sent away with greater honor when he began his journey to Rome, and no man had ever returned with greater shame.

He had already begun to suspect that trouble had fallen upon Herod’s family, but he carefully hid his suspicions. Inside, he was almost overcome with fear, yet he forced a bold expression onto his face.

He could not escape, and he had no way to free himself from the dangers surrounding him. He still had no certain knowledge of what had happened to the royal family, since the king had threatened anyone who spoke about it. Even so, he held on to a small hope that he would hear better news. Perhaps nothing had been discovered. Or perhaps, if something had been found out, he could clear himself through shameless denials and clever lies. These were the only means he trusted to save him.

With such hopes, he made his way to the palace without any friends beside him. His companions had been insulted and stopped at the first gate.

At that moment, Varus, the governor of Syria, happened to be in the palace. Antipater went in to his father and approached him with a confident face, intending to greet him. But Herod stretched out his hands, turned his head away, and cried out:

“Even this shows the heart of a parricide, that you want to take me in your arms while such terrible charges are laid against you. May God destroy you, you wicked man. Do not touch me until you have cleared yourself of these crimes. I have appointed a court to judge you, and Varus, who is here at the right time, will be your judge. Prepare your defense by tomorrow. I give you this much time to find suitable answers to the charges against you.”

Antipater was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t answer. He left the palace, and his mother and wife came to him. They told him about all the evidence that had been collected against him. He then gathered his thoughts and began to consider how he would defend himself against the accusations.

CHAPTER 32

Antipater Is Accused Before Varus and Convicted by the Strongest Evidence of Plotting Against His Father. Herod Delays His Punishment Until He Recovers and Changes His Will

The next day, the king gathered a court made up of his relatives and friends. He also summoned the friends of Antipater. Herod and Varus presided over the court. Herod called for all the witnesses and ordered them to be brought in. Among them were several servants of Antipater’s mother. They had recently been caught carrying this letter from her to her son:

“Since everything has already been discovered by your father, don’t come to him unless you can get help from Caesar.”

When the witnesses had entered, Antipater came forward and fell at his father’s feet. He said, “Father, I beg you not to condemn me before you hear me. Listen to my defense with an open mind. If you will allow me to speak, I will prove that I am innocent.”

Herod shouted at him to be silent, then spoke to Varus:

“I believe that you, Varus, and every fair judge will decide that Antipater is a wicked man. I fear you may also pity my misfortune and think that I deserve every kind of suffering for having fathered such sons. Yet I should be pitied, because I was a loving father to such miserable children.

“When I had made my older sons kings, though they were still young, I paid for their education in Rome, made them friends of Caesar, and gave them a position that caused other kings to envy them. Still, I found them plotting against me. They were put to death, and Antipater was largely responsible for their deaths. Since he was young at that time and had been named my successor, I was mainly concerned with keeping him safe.

“But this shameless wild beast was not satisfied with all the patience I had shown him. He turned all the blessings I had given him against me. He thought I had lived too long and was angry that I had reached old age. He could wait no longer. He wanted to become king by murdering his father.

“I deserve this from him because I brought him back from abroad and gave him a place at court, even though he had no reputation before. I pushed aside the sons born to the queen and made him heir to my kingdom. I admit, Varus, that I acted foolishly. For Antipater’s sake, I provoked those sons to turn against me and took away the future they rightly expected.

“What kindness did I show them that could equal what I did for Antipater? I had almost handed over my royal power to him while I was still alive. I openly named him as my successor in my will. I gave him an annual income of fifty talents and supplied him with more money from my own treasury than he could reasonably spend. When he was about to sail to Rome, I gave him three talents. I also introduced him to Caesar, and among all my children, I alone presented him as the man who had saved his father.

“What crimes had my other sons committed that were like Antipater’s crimes? What evidence was brought against them that was as strong as the evidence proving that this son plotted against me? Yet this would-be parricide dares to defend himself and hopes to hide the truth with clever tricks.

“Varus, guard yourself against him. I know this wild beast. I know how smoothly he will speak and how false his sorrow will appear. Wasn’t he the one who urged me, while Alexander was still alive, to be careful and not trust just anyone with my safety? Wasn’t he the one who came to my bedchamber and looked around to make sure no one had set a trap for me?

“Wasn’t he the one who watched over my sleep and protected me from fear of danger? Wasn’t he the one who comforted me after my sons were killed and watched to see whether my surviving relatives still loved me? He was my protector and the guardian of my life.

“When I remember his cunning and the way he hid his plans, I can hardly believe that I am still alive. I wonder how I escaped the schemes of such a dangerous man. Still, some fate has made my household miserable and keeps turning the people closest to me against me. I will mourn my hard fortune and grieve in private over my loneliness. But no one who thirsts for my blood will escape punishment, even if the evidence reaches all my sons.”

Herod was overcome by emotion and could not continue. He ordered Nicolaus, one of his friends, to present the evidence against Antipater.

While this was happening, Antipater raised his head. He had been lying on the ground at his father’s feet. He cried out:

“Father, you have defended me yourself. How can I be a parricide when you admit that I was always your guardian? You call my love for you a monstrous lie and hypocrisy. If I was so clever in every other matter, how could I be so foolish here that I failed to understand how impossible it would be to hide such a terrible crime from men, and completely impossible to hide it from the Judge of heaven, who sees everything and is present everywhere?

“Didn’t I know what happened to my brothers? God punished them so severely for their evil plans against you. What could possibly have turned me against you? Was it the hope of becoming king? I was already a king. Did I have reason to think you hated me? No. Wasn’t I loved by you? What other fear could I have had? By keeping you safe, I had become a terror to everyone else.

“Did I lack money? No. Who could spend as much as I did? Father, even if I had been the worst man alive, even if I had possessed the soul of the cruelest beast, wouldn’t the favors you gave me have overcome my hatred?

“You brought me into the palace, as you yourself have said. You preferred me to many of your other sons. You made me king while you were still alive. By the great gifts you gave me, you made me the envy of others.

“What a miserable man you are to suffer this bitter separation from me. My absence gave envy a chance to grow against you and gave those who plotted against you time to carry out their plans. Yet I was away because of your business. I went to Rome so that Sylleus would not insult you in your old age.

“Rome is a witness to my love for my father. Caesar, ruler of the whole inhabited world, is another witness. He often called me Philopater, which means ‘one who loves his father.’ Here are the letters he sent you. They deserve more belief than the accusations being made here. These letters are my only defense, and they prove the natural affection I have always had for you.

“Remember that I didn’t want to sail to Rome. I knew that hidden hatred against me was growing in the kingdom. Father, even though you didn’t mean to destroy me, you ruined me by forcing me to remain away long enough for accusations and envy to rise against me.

“Still, I have returned, and I am ready to hear the evidence against me. If I am a parricide, I have traveled over land and sea without suffering harm on either journey. Yet this trial gives me no comfort. It seems, father, that I have already been condemned before God and before you.

“Since I am already condemned, don’t believe only the men who were tortured. Bring fire and torture me yourself. Let the racks tear my body apart. Don’t listen to any cries that may come from this polluted flesh. If I am a parricide, I should not be allowed to die without torture.”

Antipater spoke these words with loud cries and tears. Everyone was moved by his suffering, especially Varus. Herod alone could not weep, because he knew that the evidence against his son was true.

At the king’s command, Nicolaus began his speech. He first spoke at length about Antipater’s skill at deception, so that the court would not be swayed by pity for him. He then brought a long and bitter accusation against Antipater.

Nicolaus blamed him for the wickedness that had spread through the kingdom, especially for the deaths of his brothers. He showed that they had been destroyed by the accusations Antipater had raised against them. He also said that Antipater had plotted against the brothers who were still alive by making it appear that they were planning to seize the succession.

“How can anyone believe,” Nicolaus said, “that a man who prepared poison for his father would spare his brothers?”

He then showed that Antipater had tried to poison Herod and explained, in order, how each part of the plot had been discovered. He spoke with particular anger about the affair involving Pheroras, because Antipater had tried to persuade him to murder his own brother. Antipater had also corrupted the people closest to the king and filled the palace with wickedness.

After presenting many other accusations and the evidence supporting them, Nicolaus ended his speech.

Varus then ordered Antipater to give his defense. Antipater remained lying on the ground in silence. He said only this:

“God is my witness that I am completely innocent.”

Varus asked for the poison. It was given to a condemned criminal who was being held in prison. The man drank it and died at once.

After speaking privately with Herod, Varus wrote a report of the proceedings to Caesar. He stayed for one day and then left. The king placed Antipater in chains and sent messengers to inform Caesar of his misfortune.

After this, it was discovered that Antipater had also plotted against Salome. One of the household servants of Antiphilus arrived with letters from Rome. They had been sent by Acme, a maidservant of Julia, Caesar’s wife.

Acme sent word to the king that she had found a letter written by Salome among Julia’s papers. She said that, out of goodwill toward Herod, she had secretly sent it to him. The letter contained harsh insults against the king and serious accusations against him.

But Antipater had forged the letter. He had bribed Acme and persuaded her to send it to Herod. This was proved by a letter Acme had written to Antipater. It said:

“As you asked, I wrote a letter to your father and sent it to him. I am sure the king will not spare his sister when he reads it. You should remember what you promised me when everything is finished.”

When this letter was discovered, and the contents of the forged letter against Salome became known, the king began to suspect that the letters accusing Alexander might also have been forged. He was shaken and furious because he had nearly killed his own sister on Antipater’s account.

Herod no longer wished to delay Antipater’s punishment for all his crimes. But while he was preparing to act against him, a serious illness came upon the king and stopped him.

Even so, Herod sent Caesar a full report about Acme and the plot against Salome. He also called for his will and changed it. In the new will, he made Antipas king. He ignored Archelaus and Philip because Antipater had turned him against them.

Herod left Caesar a thousand talents, along with gifts for Caesar’s wife, children, friends, and freedmen, who together received about five hundred talents. He also left large amounts of land and money to many other people. To his sister Salome, he gave magnificent gifts as a sign of his love and respect.

This was the form of Herod’s will after he had changed it.

CHAPTER 33

The Golden Eagle Is Cut Down. Herod’s Cruelty as He Nears Death. He Tries to Kill Himself and Orders Antipater to Be Executed. He Lives Five More Days and Then Dies

Herod’s illness grew worse and worse. His troubles had come upon him in old age, when he was already weighed down by sadness. He was about seventy years old, and the disasters involving his sons had left him with little pleasure in life, even when he was healthy. The fact that Antipater was still alive made his sickness even harder to bear. Herod had already decided that, once he recovered, he would have Antipater put to death in public.

Another trouble now arose among the people. Two teachers in Jerusalem were considered the most learned men in the laws of their nation, and people throughout the country held them in high honor. One was Judas, the son of Sepphoris, and the other was Matthias, the son of Margalus.

Large numbers of young men gathered around them whenever they explained the laws. Each day, more young people joined them, almost like an army preparing for battle. When these teachers heard that the king was wasting away from grief and illness, they told their followers that the time had come to defend God’s law and remove anything that had been built against the customs of their nation.

They said that the Temple must not contain images, human faces, or any likeness of an animal. Herod had placed a golden eagle above the great gate of the Temple, so the teachers urged the young men to tear it down. They told them that if danger came, it was an honorable thing to die for the laws of their country. The soul, they said, was immortal, and those who died for such a cause would receive eternal happiness. Only weak and foolish people would choose to die from sickness instead of dying for a noble action.

While the teachers were speaking to their students, a rumor spread that the king was dying. This made the young men act with even greater courage. At midday, while many people were in the Temple, they lowered themselves from the roof with thick ropes and attacked the golden eagle with axes.

The king’s captain of the Temple was told what had happened. He hurried there with a large group of soldiers, captured about forty of the young men, and brought them before Herod.

The king first asked whether they had really dared to cut down the golden eagle. They admitted that they had done it. He then asked who had ordered them to do this. They answered, “The law of our country.”

Herod asked how they could be so cheerful when they were about to be killed. They replied that they would receive greater happiness after death. (48)

Herod became so furious that, for a while, his anger overcame his illness. He went out before the people and accused the young men of sacrilege. He said they were using the law as an excuse to commit even greater crimes, and that they deserved to be punished as impious men.

The people became afraid that many others would also be condemned. They asked Herod to punish first the teachers who had encouraged the attack and then the young men who had been caught cutting down the eagle. After that, they begged him to end his anger against everyone else.

Herod agreed, though he did so with great difficulty. He ordered the men who had climbed down from the Temple, along with their teachers, to be burned alive. The others who had been captured were handed over to the proper officers, who put them to death.

After this, the sickness spread through Herod’s entire body and disturbed every part of him. He suffered from a mild fever, unbearable itching across his skin, constant pain in his colon, and swelling around his feet caused by dropsy. His abdomen became inflamed, and his private parts began to decay and fill with worms.

He also had trouble breathing and could only breathe when sitting upright. His whole body suffered violent convulsions. Some diviners said these diseases were punishment for what he had done to the teachers.

Still, Herod fought against all his illnesses. He wanted to live and hoped that he might recover. He considered many different treatments. He crossed the Jordan and went to the hot springs at Callirrhoe, which flow into Lake Asphaltitis. The water itself was sweet enough to drink.

The doctors decided to place his whole body into a large container filled with warm oil. While he was being treated, his eyes failed, and he seemed to drift in and out of death. His servants began shouting in panic, but he heard their voices and came back to his senses.

After this, Herod gave up hope of recovery. He ordered that every soldier be given fifty drachmae, and he commanded that large sums of money be given to his commanders and friends.

Herod returned to Jericho in such a weak and miserable condition that he seemed close to death. There he planned a terrible act.

He gathered the most honored men in the Jewish nation from every village and confined them in a place called the Hippodrome. Then he called for his sister Salome and her husband, Alexas, and spoke to them:

“I know that the Jews will celebrate when I die. But I can still make them mourn for another reason and give myself a splendid funeral, if you will carry out my orders. Send soldiers to surround the men who are now being held here. The moment I die, have them all killed. Then every family in Judea will mourn, whether they want to or not.”

While Herod was giving these orders, letters arrived from his ambassadors in Rome. They reported that Acme had been executed at Caesar’s command and that Antipater had been sentenced to death. They also said that Caesar would allow Herod to banish Antipater instead, if he preferred.

For a short time, this news gave Herod new strength and made him want to live. But his pain soon overwhelmed him again. He became weak from lack of food and was tormented by a violent cough. He tried to prevent himself from dying a natural death.

Herod took an apple and asked for a knife, as he often used one to peel apples before eating them. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, then raised his right hand as if to stab himself. But Achiabus, his first cousin, ran to him, seized his hand, and stopped him.

A great cry of mourning rose through the palace, as though the king had already died. When Antipater heard what had happened, he became hopeful. With a pleased look on his face, he offered money to his guards if they would release him and let him escape.

The chief keeper of the prison refused to help him. Instead, he went to Herod and told him what Antipater had tried to do. Herod cried out in anger, even though his illness made it difficult for him to speak. He immediately sent some of his guards to kill Antipater.

Herod ordered that Antipater be buried at Hyrcanium. He also changed his will again. Archelaus, his oldest son and the brother of Antipas, was named his successor. Antipas was made tetrarch.

Herod lived five days after the death of his son, and then he died. He had ruled for thirty-four years since he ordered Antigonus to be killed and took possession of the kingdom. He had been king for thirty-seven years since the Romans first appointed him.

In every other part of his life, Herod’s fortunes had been successful, if any man’s could be called successful. He had risen from a private citizen to become king, held the kingdom for many years, and left it to his own sons. But his family life brought him nothing but misery.

Before the soldiers learned that Herod had died, Salome and her husband went out and released the men who had been held in the Hippodrome. Herod had ordered those men to be killed, but Salome told them that the king had changed his mind and wanted every one of them to return home.

After the men had left, Salome told the soldiers that the king was dead. She gathered the soldiers and the rest of the people in the amphitheater at Jericho. Ptolemy, who had been trusted with Herod’s signet ring, came before them and spoke about the happiness Herod had now received. He comforted the crowd and read the letter Herod had left for the soldiers.

In the letter, Herod strongly urged the soldiers to support his successor. After reading it, Ptolemy opened Herod’s will. Philip was to inherit Trachonitis and the surrounding regions. Antipas was to be tetrarch, as already stated, and Archelaus was to be king.

Herod had also ordered Ptolemy to take his ring to Caesar, along with the sealed documents describing the territories he had assigned. Caesar was to have final authority over those settlements and confirm the will. Herod ordered that the arrangements in his new will remain the same as those in the earlier one.

The people shouted their approval of Archelaus and congratulated him on becoming king. The soldiers and the crowd gathered around him in groups, promised their loyalty, and prayed that God would bless his rule.

Afterward, they began preparing Herod’s funeral. Archelaus spared no expense. He brought out all the royal ornaments so the funeral would display the full glory of the dead king.

Herod’s body was placed on a golden bier covered with precious stones. A purple bed with richly woven cloth lay upon it, and the body rested on top, covered in purple fabric. A diadem was placed on his head, with a golden crown above it, and a scepter was put in his right hand.

Herod’s sons and many members of his family stood near the bier. Behind them came the king’s guards, along with the Thracian regiment, the Germans, and the Gauls, all dressed as if they were marching to war. The rest of the army went ahead, fully armed and arranged in proper order behind their commanders and officers.

Five hundred of Herod’s household servants and freedmen followed with spices in their hands. The body was carried two hundred furlongs to Herodium, where Herod had ordered himself to be buried.

This was the end of Herod’s life.

The Jewish War – Book 2

BOOK II

Containing the Sixty-Nine-Year Interval

From the Death of Herod Until Nero Sent Vespasian to Subdue the Jews

CHAPTER 1

Archelaus Holds a Funeral Feast for the People in Honor of Herod. A Great Disturbance Breaks Out, and He Sends Soldiers Against the Crowd, Who Kill About Three Thousand People

Archelaus now had to travel to Rome, and this led to fresh disturbances. After mourning his father for seven days, he held a costly funeral feast for the people. This custom brought many Jews into poverty, since they were expected to feed the crowd. Anyone who failed to do so was not considered a holy man.

Archelaus then put on a white robe and went up to the temple. The people greeted him with many cheers. He spoke kindly to them from a raised platform, seated on a golden throne. He thanked them for the zeal they had shown at his father’s funeral and for submitting to him as if he were already their king.

Still, he told them that he wouldn’t yet take the authority or title of king. Caesar had been given control of the succession through Herod’s will, so Archelaus would wait until Caesar confirmed him. He said that when the soldiers at Jericho had tried to place the royal crown on his head, he had refused it. Once the Roman rulers granted him the kingdom, he promised to repay both the soldiers and the people for their loyalty and good will. He also said that he would try to be better in every way than his father had been.

The people were pleased by this speech, and they soon tested his promises by asking him for great favors. Some demanded that he reduce their taxes. Others asked him to remove the duties on goods. Some wanted him to release the prisoners. Archelaus gave answers that satisfied them, since he wanted to win the crowd’s favor.

After this, he offered the proper sacrifices and ate with his friends. Toward evening, many people who wanted changes gathered together. The public mourning for Herod had ended, but they began mourning for their own reasons. They grieved for the men Herod had put to death because they had pulled down the golden eagle that had been placed over the temple gate.

Their mourning was not private or small. They cried out loudly throughout the city. Their grief was for men who had died defending the laws of their country and the temple. They demanded that those honored by Herod be punished for what had happened. First of all, they said, the high priest appointed by Herod should be removed. A man with greater devotion and purity should be chosen in his place.

Archelaus was angered by these cries, but he held himself back from punishing the leaders. He was preparing to leave for Rome, and he feared that a war with the people would keep him in Judea. He decided to calm the rebels with persuasion instead of force. He secretly sent his general to them and ordered him to tell them to remain peaceful.

The rebels threw stones at the general as soon as he entered the temple and drove him away before he could speak. They treated the other messengers in the same way. Archelaus sent several men to bring them back to their senses, but each one was met with angry replies. It became clear that the people wouldn’t remain quiet if enough of them gathered together.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was near. The Jews call it Passover, and it was celebrated with a great number of sacrifices. An enormous crowd came from the countryside to worship. Some of them stood in the temple mourning for the rabbis who had been put to death. They supported their rebellion by begging for food.

Archelaus became frightened. Before the unrest could spread through the entire crowd, he secretly sent a tribune with a cohort of soldiers. He ordered them to force the men who had started the disturbance to be quiet.

The crowd became furious and threw stones at the soldiers. Many soldiers were killed, while the wounded tribune fled and barely escaped. Afterward, the people returned to their sacrifices as if they had done nothing wrong.

Archelaus saw that the crowd couldn’t be controlled without bloodshed. He sent his entire army against them. Large groups of foot soldiers entered by way of the city, while the cavalry came across the plain. They suddenly attacked the people as they were offering their sacrifices and killed about three thousand of them.

The rest of the crowd fled into the nearby mountains. Archelaus sent heralds after them, ordering everyone to return home. They obeyed, and the festival was abandoned.

CHAPTER 2

Archelaus Goes to Rome With Many of His Relatives, Where Antipater Accuses Him Before Caesar, But Nicolaus Defends Him So Well That He Overcomes His Accusers

Archelaus now went down to the coast with his mother and his friends, Poplas, Ptolemy, and Nicolaus. He left Philip behind to manage the palace and oversee his household affairs. Salome traveled with him, along with her sons, the king’s brothers, and his sons-in-law.

They appeared to be going with Archelaus to help secure his succession. In truth, they meant to accuse him of breaking the law by what he had done at the temple.

When they reached Caesarea, Sabinus, the Roman procurator of Syria, met them. He was on his way to Judea to take control of Herod’s possessions. Varus, the governor of Syria, had also arrived there, and he stopped Sabinus from going any farther. Archelaus had asked Varus to come at Ptolemy’s urgent request.

At that time, Sabinus agreed to Varus’s wishes. He didn’t enter the citadels or seal the treasuries where Herod’s money was stored. Instead, he promised to wait until Caesar had examined the matter. So Sabinus stayed at Caesarea.

But once those who had held him back were gone, Sabinus acted. Varus left for Antioch, and Archelaus sailed to Rome. Sabinus then went to Jerusalem and took possession of the palace. He summoned the commanders of the citadels and the stewards who managed the king’s private affairs. He tried to examine the accounts and take control of the citadels.

The commanders had not forgotten Archelaus’s orders. They continued to guard the citadels and told Sabinus that their custody belonged to Caesar, not to Archelaus.

Antipas also went to Rome to claim the kingdom. He argued that the earlier testament, which named him king, should be considered valid instead of the later one.

Salome promised to support Antipas, as did many of Archelaus’s relatives who had traveled to Rome with him. Archelaus brought his mother and Ptolemy, Nicolaus’s brother, who carried great influence because Herod had trusted him and counted him among his most honored friends.

Antipas relied above all on Ireneus, his lawyer. Following Ireneus’s advice, he refused to listen to those who urged him to submit to Archelaus, since Archelaus was his older brother and the second testament named him as Herod’s successor.

When Archelaus’s relatives arrived in Rome, their support shifted to Antipas because they hated Archelaus. At first, they all preferred to live under their own laws without a king and to have a Roman governor rule over them. But if they couldn’t obtain that arrangement, they wanted Antipas to become king.

Sabinus supported them as well. He sent letters to Caesar accusing Archelaus and praising Antipas.

Salome and her companions also prepared a list of the charges against Archelaus and placed it before Caesar. Archelaus then wrote down the reasons for his claim. Through Ptolemy, he sent Caesar his father’s ring and the royal accounts.

Caesar carefully considered the arguments made by both sides. He also thought about the size of the kingdom, the amount of its revenue, and the large number of children Herod had left behind. He read the letters Varus and Sabinus had sent him about the matter.

After that, Caesar gathered the leading Romans together. Caius, the son of Agrippa, sat in the first place at the meeting. Caesar had adopted Caius and treated him as his own son. When everyone had assembled, Caesar allowed both sides to present their arguments.

Antipater, Salome’s son, rose first. He was the strongest speaker among all of Archelaus’s enemies. He accused Archelaus in this way:

“Archelaus claims the kingdom with words, but he has already taken royal power through his actions. He now insults Caesar by asking to be heard, since he didn’t wait for Caesar’s decision about the succession.

“After Herod died, Archelaus secretly arranged for certain people to ask that the crown be placed on his head. He sat on the royal throne, gave answers as a king, changed the army’s organization, and granted higher offices to some men. He also gave the people everything they asked of him as their king. He even released prisoners whom his father had confined for serious reasons.

“After doing all this, he now asks only for the appearance of royal authority, although he has already taken its full power for himself. He has made Caesar the ruler of words instead of the ruler of actions.

“Archelaus’s grief for his father was also a performance. During the day, he put on a sorrowful face, but at night he drank heavily. This behavior angered the people and helped cause the disturbance that followed.

“His whole conduct shows how serious his crime was when he slaughtered so many people at the temple. They had come to celebrate the festival, yet they were brutally killed in the middle of their sacrifices. So many bodies were piled up in the temple that even a foreign army attacking without warning could hardly have left more dead behind.

“Herod must have foreseen this cruelty. That is why he never gave Archelaus any hope of becoming king until Herod’s mind had become weaker than his body. At that point, Herod could no longer think clearly or recognize the character of the son he named as his successor in the second testament.

“Herod made that decision when he had no complaint against the man he had named before. At that earlier time, Herod was healthy, and his mind was free from passion.

“But even if someone believes that Herod’s judgment was better when he was sick than when he was well, Archelaus has still lost his right to the kingdom through his own behavior. His actions broke the law and harmed the kingdom.

“What kind of king will this man be if Caesar gives him the government, when he has already killed so many people before he has even received it?”

Antipater spoke at length and brought forward many of Archelaus’s relatives as witnesses. They supported every part of his accusation. When he had finished, Nicolaus stood up to defend Archelaus.

Nicolaus argued that the slaughter at the temple could not have been avoided. The people who were killed had become enemies not only of Archelaus’s kingdom, but also of Caesar, who had to decide Archelaus’s future.

He also showed that Archelaus’s accusers had advised him to commit other acts for which they could have charged him. But Nicolaus placed his greatest emphasis on the second testament. He said it should be accepted above all because Herod had appointed Caesar as the one who would confirm the succession.

A man who had enough wisdom to give up his own power and place it in the hands of the ruler of the world could not have been mistaken about the person who would inherit his kingdom. Herod knew whom to choose as the judge of the succession, so he must also have known whom to choose as his successor.

After Nicolaus had finished everything he wanted to say, Archelaus came forward and fell silently at Caesar’s knees. Caesar treated him kindly, helped him to his feet, and said that Archelaus truly deserved to succeed his father.

Still, Caesar didn’t make a final decision. He dismissed the advisers who had been with him that day and considered the matter by himself. He had to decide whether one of the men named in Herod’s testaments should succeed him, or whether the government should be divided among all of Herod’s descendants, since so many of them appeared to need support from the kingdom.

CHAPTER 3

The Jews Fight a Great Battle Against Sabinus’s Soldiers, and Much Destruction Takes Place in Jerusalem

Before Caesar had decided what should be done about these matters, Malthace, the mother of Archelaus, became sick and died. At the same time, letters arrived from Syria from Varus, reporting that the Jews had revolted. Varus had expected trouble, and after Archelaus sailed away, he went up to Jerusalem to restrain those who were stirring up the people. It was clear that the nation would not remain quiet. He left one of the legions he had brought from Syria in the city, then returned to Antioch.

After Varus had left, Sabinus arrived and gave the Jews a reason to begin new disturbances. He forced the keepers of the fortresses to hand them over to him, and he searched everywhere for the king’s money. He trusted not only the soldiers Varus had left behind, but also the large number of servants who belonged to him. He armed these servants and used them to carry out his greed.

The feast celebrated seven weeks later was drawing near. The Jews called it Pentecost, which means the fiftieth day, because it came fifty days after Passover. The people gathered together, but they weren’t coming for their usual religious worship. They came because they were angry about the condition of their affairs.

A huge crowd came from Galilee, Idumea, Jericho, and Perea, which lay beyond the Jordan River. The people who belonged to Judea itself were greater in number than the others, and their men were the most eager to act. They divided themselves into three groups and set up camps in three places. One group camped on the north side of the temple, another on the south side near the Hippodrome, and the third near the palace on the west. In this way, they surrounded the Romans on every side and laid siege to them.

Sabinus was terrified by both the size of the crowd and the courage of its men. He sent messengers to Varus again and again, begging him to come quickly to his aid. If Varus delayed, Sabinus warned him, the entire legion would be destroyed.

Sabinus himself climbed to the highest tower of the fortress, which was called Phasaelus. The tower had the same name as Herod’s brother, who had been killed by the Parthians. From there, Sabinus signaled the soldiers of the legion to attack the Jews. He was so frightened that he didn’t dare come down and join his own men.

The soldiers were persuaded to make the attack. They rushed into the temple and fought a fierce battle with the Jews. At first, the Romans had the advantage because they were trained in war, while many of the Jews had little skill in fighting. Yet the battle changed when a large number of Jews climbed onto the top of the cloisters and threw their weapons down at the Romans.

Many Romans were killed. They couldn’t easily strike back at the men attacking them from above, and they also struggled to defend themselves against those who came against them in close combat.

The Romans were suffering from attacks above and below, so they set fire to the cloisters. These buildings were admired for both their great size and their cost. The flames quickly surrounded the Jews who were standing above the Romans, and many of them died in the fire.

Others were killed when the enemy suddenly attacked them. Some threw themselves backward from the walls, while others, seeing no way out, killed themselves with their own swords. Those who managed to escape from the walls and reach the Romans were easily defeated because they were overcome with fear.

After some of the Jews had been killed and the rest had scattered in terror, the soldiers entered the temple treasury, which had been left unguarded. They plundered it and took four hundred talents. Sabinus collected whatever part of that money the soldiers hadn’t carried away.

The destruction of the buildings around the temple and the deaths of so many men caused an even larger crowd to gather against the Romans. Many of those who came were experienced fighters. They surrounded the palace and threatened to destroy everyone inside unless the Romans left at once.

The Jews promised that Sabinus would not be harmed if he came out with his legion. Many of the king’s supporters also abandoned the Romans and joined the Jews. Still, the strongest group among the king’s soldiers, three thousand men from Sebaste, remained with the Romans.

Their commanders, Rufus and Gratus, also stayed with the Romans. Gratus commanded the king’s infantry, while Rufus commanded the cavalry. Even without the soldiers under them, both men carried great influence because of their strength and judgment, qualities that often decide the outcome of a war.

The Jews continued the siege and tried to tear down the walls of the fortress. They shouted to Sabinus and his men that they should leave and stop blocking their way. After such a long time, the Jews said, they now had hope of recovering the ancient freedom their forefathers had enjoyed.

Sabinus was eager to escape the danger he faced, but he didn’t trust the promises of the Jews. He suspected that their gentle words were only a trap. His hope that Varus would soon send help also kept him from giving up the fortress, so he continued to endure the siege.

CHAPTER 4

Herod’s Veteran Soldiers Cause Trouble, Judas Leads Robberies, and Simon and Athronges Claim the Title of King

At this time, serious unrest broke out in many parts of the country. The disorder gave many men the chance to declare themselves kings. In Idumea, about two thousand of Herod’s veteran soldiers joined together, took up arms, and fought against the king’s supporters. Achiabus, the king’s first cousin, opposed them. He avoided meeting them in open battle on the plains and instead fought from some of the strongest fortified places.

In Sepphoris, a city of Galilee, there was a man named Judas. He was the son of Hezekias, the famous robber who had once raided the country before King Herod defeated him. Judas gathered a large group of men, broke into the place where the royal weapons were stored, armed his followers, and attacked those who were eager to seize control of the country.

In Perea, another man named Simon, who had once served the king, also claimed the title of king. He trusted in his tall, handsome appearance, placed a crown on his own head, and gathered a band of robbers around him. With them, he burned the royal palace at Jericho, along with many other costly buildings. He gained a rich supply of goods by taking whatever he could carry away from the burning ruins.

Simon might soon have destroyed all the finest buildings if Gratus, the commander of the king’s infantry, had not come against him. Gratus brought the Trachonite archers and the strongest soldiers from Sebaste. Many of Simon’s foot soldiers were killed in the battle. As Simon fled through a narrow valley, Gratus caught up with him and struck him across the neck, breaking it.

Some other rebels from Perea also burned down the royal palaces near the Jordan at Betharamphtha.

Around this same time, a shepherd named Athronges also decided to claim the title of king. His great physical strength gave him confidence, and he had a fearless spirit that did not shrink from death. He also had four brothers who were much like him. He placed a band of armed men under each brother and made them his generals and commanders during their raids. Athronges acted as king himself and handled only the most important matters.

After placing a crown on his head, he and his brothers continued raiding the country for a long time. They killed Romans and supporters of the king, and no Jew was safe from them if they thought they could gain anything by killing him. On one occasion, Athronges surrounded a whole troop of Romans at Emmaus. The soldiers were carrying grain and weapons to their legion. Athronges’ men shot arrows and threw spears, killing Arius, the Roman centurion, and forty of his strongest soldiers. The rest were in danger of being killed as well, but they escaped when Gratus and the soldiers from Sebaste came to help them.

The brothers continued attacking both their own countrymen and foreigners throughout the war. After some time, three of them were defeated. Archelaus captured the eldest, while Gratus and Ptolemeus captured the next two. The fourth brother surrendered to Archelaus after Archelaus gave him his right hand as a promise of safety. Their final defeat came later, however. For the time being, they filled all Judea with a war of robbery and raids.

CHAPTER 5

Varus Restores Order in Judea and Crucifies About Two Thousand Rebels

When Varus received the letters from Sabinus and the military commanders, he became afraid for the entire legion he had left behind. He hurried to its aid, taking with him the other two legions and their four troops of cavalry. He marched to Ptolemais and ordered the auxiliary forces sent by the kings and city governors to meet him there. As he passed through Berytus, the people of the city gave him fifteen hundred armed men.

When the other auxiliary troops arrived at Ptolemais, Aretas the Arabian also came with a large army of cavalry and infantry. He hated Herod and had brought his forces for that reason. Varus immediately sent part of his army into nearby Galilee, placing Caius, one of his friends, in command. Caius defeated those who came against him, captured the city of Sepphoris, burned it, and sold its inhabitants into slavery.

Varus himself marched to Samaria with his entire army. He left the city unharmed because it had taken no part in the revolt. Instead, he camped near a village called Aras. The village belonged to Ptolemy, so the Arabians plundered it, since they were angry with Herod and his supporters. From there, Varus moved on to Sampho, another fortified village, which the Arabians also robbed.

They took all the money they found that belonged to the public treasury. Fire and bloodshed spread everywhere, and nothing could stop the Arabians from plundering the country. The inhabitants of Emnaus fled, and Varus ordered the town to be burned. He gave this order in anger over the killing of those who had been with Arias.

From there, Varus marched toward Jerusalem. As soon as the Jews saw him, they broke up their camps and fled throughout the countryside. The citizens, however, received Varus and declared that they had taken no part in the revolt. They said they had only been forced to admit the crowds because of the festival. In truth, they claimed, they had been trapped in the city with the Romans and had been besieged along with them, rather than helping the rebels.

Before Varus arrived, Joseph, Archelaus’s first cousin, had already met him, along with Gratus and Rufus. Rufus commanded the people of Sebaste as well as the king’s army. Soldiers from the Roman legion also came to meet Varus, armed in their usual manner. Sabinus did not dare appear before Varus. He had already left the city and gone toward the coast.

Varus sent part of his army into the countryside against the men who had started the revolt. They captured many of them. Those who seemed less involved in the uprising were taken into custody, but the most guilty were crucified. About two thousand men were put to death in this way.

Varus was also told that ten thousand men were still armed in Idumea. But he saw that the Arabians were not acting like allies. They were fighting according to their own anger and damaging the country in ways he had not ordered, all because of their hatred for Herod. Varus sent them away and then marched with his own legions against the rebels.

Before the battle began, the rebels followed the advice of Achiabus and surrendered to Varus. Varus forgave the people for their offenses, but he sent their commanders to Caesar for judgment. Caesar pardoned the rest, but he ordered several of the king’s relatives to be put to death. Some of those men were related to Herod, and they had taken part in a war against a king from their own family.

After Varus settled affairs in Jerusalem, he left the first legion there as a garrison and returned to Antioch.

CHAPTER 6

The Jews Complain Bitterly About Archelaus and Ask to Be Ruled by Roman Governors. After Hearing Them, Caesar Divides Herod’s Kingdom Among His Sons as He Chooses.

Another charge was brought against Archelaus in Rome, and he was called upon to answer it. The accusation came from the ambassadors who, before the revolt, had received permission from Varus to plead for the freedom of their country. Fifty ambassadors had come, and more than eight thousand Jews in Rome supported them.

Caesar gathered a council of the leading Romans in the Temple of Apollo, which stood in the palace he had built and decorated at great expense. The Jewish crowd stood with the ambassadors, while Archelaus stood on the other side with his friends. Archelaus’s relatives stood with neither side. Their hatred and jealousy kept them from supporting him, but they were also afraid Caesar would see them standing with his accusers.

Archelaus’s brother Philip was there as well. Varus had sent him ahead out of kindness, for two reasons. First, he could help Archelaus. Second, if Caesar decided to divide Herod’s kingdom among his descendants, Philip might receive a share.

When the accusers were allowed to speak, they began by describing Herod’s violations of their laws. They said he hadn’t been a king at all, but the most savage of tyrants, as they had learned from everything they had suffered under him.

They said Herod had killed so many people that those who survived their suffering considered the dead fortunate. He hadn’t tortured only the bodies of his subjects. He had also destroyed entire cities. He had harmed the cities of his own country while decorating cities that belonged to foreigners. He had spilled Jewish blood to win the favor of people who lived outside the Jewish nation.

Instead of giving the people the happiness and laws they had enjoyed in earlier times, he had filled the nation with poverty and every kind of injustice. In only a few years, they said, the Jews had suffered more from Herod than their ancestors had suffered during all the years since they returned from Babylon under Xerxes.

The nation had been beaten down by so much hardship that it submitted willingly to Herod’s successor, even though he brought them into cruel slavery. After Herod died, they had called Archelaus king, despite his being the son of such a great tyrant. They had mourned with him over Herod’s death and had wished him success in taking the throne.

But Archelaus, afraid that people might doubt he was truly Herod’s son, began his rule by killing three thousand citizens. It was as if he wanted to offer that many bloody sacrifices to God for his government and fill the temple with dead bodies during the festival.

The people who had survived so many disasters now had every reason to think about what they had endured and to resist, like soldiers in battle, prepared to receive blows on their faces rather than continue to be beaten on their backs as they had been before.

For this reason, they begged the Romans to have mercy on the poor remnant of Judea. They asked the Romans not to hand over what remained of their nation to men who would tear it apart with cruelty. Instead, they asked that Judea be joined to Syria and governed by Roman commanders.

If that was done, they said, it would soon become clear that the people who were falsely accused of being rebellious and eager for war could live peacefully under rulers who treated them with some fairness. With this request, the Jews ended their accusation.

Nicolaus then rose to speak. He answered the charges brought against the kings and accused the Jewish nation of being difficult to govern and naturally unwilling to obey its kings. He also condemned the relatives of Archelaus who had abandoned him and joined his accusers.

After hearing both sides, Caesar ended the meeting. A few days later, he gave half of Herod’s kingdom to Archelaus and named him ethnarch. He also promised to make him king later if Archelaus proved worthy of the title.

Caesar divided the other half into two tetrarchies and gave them to two of Herod’s other sons, Philip and Antipas, the same Antipas who had competed with Archelaus for the throne.

Antipas received Perea and Galilee, with an annual revenue of two hundred talents. Philip received Batanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis, and some territory belonging to the house of Zeno near Jamnia, with a revenue of one hundred talents.

Archelaus received Idumea, all Judea, and Samaria. Caesar reduced Samaria’s taxes by one-fourth because the Samaritans hadn’t joined the rest of the nation in revolt. Archelaus also received Strato’s Tower, Sebaste, Joppa, and Jerusalem.

Caesar removed the Greek cities of Gaza, Gadara, and Hippos from Herod’s kingdom and added them to Syria. The territory given to Archelaus brought in four hundred talents each year.

Salome also received everything Herod had left her in his wills. Caesar made her mistress of Jamnia, Ashdod, and Phasaelis. He gave her the royal palace at Ascalon as well. These possessions brought her a revenue of sixty talents, although her household was placed under the authority of Archelaus.

The rest of Herod’s children received what had been left to them in his wills. Caesar also gave Herod’s two unmarried daughters five hundred thousand silver drachmas and married them to the sons of Pheroras.

After dividing the family inheritance, Caesar distributed among them the thousand talents Herod had left to him. He kept only a few small gifts as a sign of honor to the dead king.

CHAPTER 7

The Story of the False Alexander, and the Banishment of Archelaus and the Death of Glaphyra, Whose Fates Had Already Been Revealed to Them in Dreams

During this time, a certain man appeared who was a Jew by birth but had been raised at Sidon in the household of a Roman freedman. Because his face looked much like that of Alexander, who had been put to death by Herod, he falsely claimed to be that same Alexander.

He came to Rome, hoping no one would discover the truth. A Jew from his own country accompanied him and acted as his adviser. This man knew all the affairs of the royal family and taught him what to say. He instructed him to claim that the men sent to kill him and Aristobulus had felt sorry for them and secretly carried them away. In their place, they had supposedly left bodies that looked like theirs.

The false Alexander first deceived the Jews on Crete and collected a large amount of money from them so he could travel in royal style. From there, he sailed to Melos. The people there became so convinced that he was truly Alexander that he received even more money. He also persuaded those who had entertained him to sail with him to Rome.

He landed at Dicearchia, which is also called Puteoli, where the Jews living there gave him very large gifts. His father’s friends received him as if he were a king. The resemblance of his face won him so much trust that even people who had seen Alexander and known him well swore that he was the same man.

Because of this, the entire Jewish community in Rome hurried out to see him. Huge crowds filled the narrow streets through which he was carried. The people of Melos had become so foolish over the matter that they carried him in a sedan chair and paid all the costs of maintaining a royal household for him.

Caesar knew Alexander’s face very well, since Herod had once accused him before Caesar. Even before meeting the man, Caesar suspected that the story was false. Still, the good reputation that had spread about him made Caesar want to investigate further. He sent Celadus, a man who had known Alexander well, and ordered him to bring the young man to him.

As soon as Caesar saw him, he noticed that his face was not truly the same. When he also saw that the man’s body was much stronger and more heavily built than Alexander’s, and that he looked like a slave, Caesar understood that the whole story had been invented.

The man’s boldness made Caesar even more angry. When Caesar asked him about Aristobulus, he claimed that Aristobulus was still alive. He said that Aristobulus had been left on Cyprus for his own safety, because traitors would have a harder time capturing both of them if they were kept apart.

Caesar then took the man aside and spoke to him privately.

“I will spare your life,” he said, “if you tell me who persuaded you to make up these stories.”

The man agreed to reveal the truth. He followed Caesar and pointed out the Jew who had taken advantage of the resemblance between their faces to make money. He said that this man had received more gifts in every city than Alexander himself had ever received while alive.

Caesar laughed at the scheme. He sent the false Alexander to work among the rowers because of his strong body, but he ordered the man who had persuaded him to impersonate Alexander to be put to death. As for the people of Melos, their own foolishness had already punished them, since they had spent so much money on his journey and royal household.

Archelaus now took control of his territory. He treated not only the Jews but also the Samaritans cruelly, because he still resented their old disputes with him. Both groups therefore sent ambassadors to Caesar to accuse him.

In the ninth year of his rule, Archelaus was banished to Vienna, a city in Gaul, and his property was placed in Caesar’s treasury.

There was also a report about a dream Archelaus had before Caesar summoned him. He seemed to see nine full and healthy ears of grain, but oxen came and ate them. He called for fortune-tellers and some Chaldeans and asked them what the dream meant. Each man gave his own interpretation.

Simon, who belonged to the sect of the Essenes, said that he believed the ears of grain stood for years, while the oxen stood for a change in circumstances. Oxen changed the land by plowing it, so they showed that the country would undergo a great alteration.

Simon said that Archelaus would rule for as many years as there were ears of grain. After passing through many changes of fortune, he would die.

Only five days after Archelaus heard this interpretation, he was summoned to stand trial.

I also think it should be recorded what happened to Glaphyra, the daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia. She had once been married to Alexander, the brother of the Archelaus whose story we have been telling. This Alexander was the son of King Herod, and Herod had him put to death, as we have already explained.

After Alexander’s death, Glaphyra married Juba, the king of Libya. When Juba died, she returned to her father and lived there as a widow. Archelaus, the ethnarch, saw her and fell so much in love with her that he divorced his wife, Mariamne, and married Glaphyra.

After she came to Judea and had lived there for a short time, Glaphyra dreamed that Alexander was standing beside her. He said to her:

“Your marriage to the king of Libya should have been enough for you. But you weren’t satisfied with him. You returned to my family and took a third husband. You shameless woman, you chose my own brother as your husband.

“Still, I won’t ignore the wrong you have done to me. Soon you will be with me again, whether you want to be or not.”

Glaphyra lived only two days after telling others about this dream.

CHAPTER 8

Archelaus’s Territory Becomes a Roman Province, Judas of Galilee’s Revolt, and the Three Jewish Sects

Archelaus’s part of Judea was now made a Roman province. Caesar sent Coponius, a Roman of the equestrian order, to govern it as procurator, giving him authority over life and death.

During his administration, a Galilean named Judas persuaded his countrymen to rebel. He told them they were cowards if they agreed to pay taxes to Rome and accepted mortal men as their rulers after having God as their only Lord. Judas founded a sect of his own, and his teachings were unlike those of the other Jewish leaders.

The Jews have three philosophical sects. The followers of the first are called Pharisees, the followers of the second are called Sadducees, and the members of the third, who follow a stricter way of life, are called Essens.

The Essens are Jews by birth, and they appear to care more for one another than the members of the other sects do. They reject pleasure as evil and consider self-control, along with victory over one’s passions, to be a virtue.

They avoid marriage, but they choose children from other families while the children are still young and open to instruction. They treat these children as members of their own community and train them in their customs. They don’t completely reject marriage or the continuation of the human race through children. They do, however, guard themselves against the immoral behavior they associate with women, believing that no woman remains faithful to only one man.

The Essens despise wealth and share everything with one another in a way that is hard to believe. No one among them has more than anyone else, because their law requires everyone who joins them to place all personal property in the common treasury.

As a result, no one among them appears poor, and no one lives in excess wealth. Each person’s possessions are mixed with those of the others, so the entire group seems to hold one common inheritance.

They consider oil a form of pollution. If someone is anointed with oil without agreeing to it, the oil is wiped from his body. They believe a sweaty body is a good thing, and they usually wear white clothing.

They appoint managers to oversee their common affairs. None of these managers works for personal benefit. Everything they do is for the good of the whole community.

The Essens don’t live in one particular city. They are scattered among many cities, and several members of the sect live in each one. When one of them arrives from another place, everything owned by the community is available to him as if it were his own. They enter the homes of people they have never met as though they had known them for years.

For this reason, they carry almost nothing when traveling through distant regions. They do carry weapons, however, to protect themselves from thieves.

In every city where they live, one person is appointed to care for travelers and provide them with clothing and other necessities. Their way of life is simple, like that of children who are afraid of their teachers. They don’t replace their clothes or shoes until the old ones are completely worn out.

They don’t buy or sell anything among themselves. Each person gives what he has to anyone who needs it, and in return he may receive whatever he needs from that person. Even when no exchange is made, everyone is free to take what he needs from anyone in the community.

The Essens are very devoted to God. Before sunrise, they don’t speak about ordinary matters. Instead, they recite prayers handed down by their ancestors, as if they were asking God to bring up the sun.

Afterward, their supervisors send each man to practice the trade he has learned. They work with great care until the fifth hour. Then they gather in one place, put on white veils, and bathe their bodies in cold water.

After this purification, they meet in a private room. No one from another sect is allowed to enter. They then go into the dining room in a purified state, treating it as a holy place, and sit down in silence.

The baker sets a loaf of bread before each man. The cook brings one kind of food and places a single portion before everyone. A priest says a blessing before the meal, and no one is allowed to eat until the blessing has been spoken.

After the meal, the same priest gives thanks again. At the beginning and end of the meal, they praise God as the one who provides their food.

Then they remove their white clothes and return to their work until evening. At that time, they come home for supper and follow the same procedure. If visitors are staying with them, the visitors eat with them.

Their homes are never filled with shouting or disorder. Each person waits for his turn to speak. To outsiders, the silence in the house seems like some fearful mystery. It comes from the strict self-control they practice and from the fixed amount of food and drink assigned to each person, an amount that is enough for everyone.

In almost every matter, the Essens follow the orders of their supervisors. Only two things are left to each person’s free choice: helping those in need and showing mercy.

They may give assistance to anyone who deserves it and provide food to people in distress. They cannot give anything to their relatives without permission from the supervisors.

They control their anger and keep their passions in check. They are known for their loyalty and for promoting peace. Their word is more reliable than an oath. They avoid swearing and consider it worse than perjury. They say that anyone who cannot be believed without swearing by God is already condemned.

They also study the writings of ancient authors with great care. They choose from those writings whatever can benefit the soul or the body. They search for roots and medicinal stones that can cure illness.

Anyone who wants to join the Essens isn’t admitted at once. First, he must follow their way of life for one year while remaining outside the community. During that time, they give him a small hatchet, the belt mentioned earlier, and a white garment.

If he proves that he can live with the required self-control, he is allowed to come closer to their way of life and take part in their purification rites. Even then, he isn’t allowed to live with them.

His character is tested for two more years. If he proves himself worthy, they admit him into the community. Before he can touch the common food, he must take serious oaths.

First, he swears to honor God. He must also promise to treat other people justly and never harm anyone, either by his own choice or at someone else’s command. He must hate wicked people and help the righteous.

He must remain faithful to everyone, especially those in authority, because no one receives power without God’s permission. If he himself gains authority, he must never abuse it or try to appear greater than those under him through his clothing or any other display.

He must always love the truth and expose those who lie. He must keep his hands free of theft and his soul free of dishonest gain. He must not hide anything from members of his own sect or reveal their teachings to outsiders, even if someone threatens his life.

He also swears to teach their doctrines to no one except in the same way he received them. He must avoid robbery, protect the books belonging to the sect, and preserve the names of the angels (5), or messengers.

These are the oaths by which the Essens bind new members to their community.

Anyone caught committing a serious sin is expelled from the group. A person who is expelled often dies in a miserable condition.

Because of the oath he took and the customs he followed, he cannot eat the food he finds outside the community. He is forced to eat grass and slowly starve until he dies.

For this reason, the Essens often accept such people back when they are near death. They feel that the suffering endured by the expelled person, up to the edge of death, is enough punishment for his sins.

The Essens are extremely careful and fair in their judgments. They never make a decision with fewer than one hundred judges present. Once that number reaches a decision, the judgment cannot be changed.

After God, they honor the name of their lawgiver, Moses, more than anything else. Anyone who insults Moses is punished with death.

They also believe people should obey their elders and follow the majority. If ten of them are sitting together, no one will speak when nine of the others oppose him.

They avoid spitting in the middle of their group or toward the right side.

They observe the seventh day more strictly than any other Jewish group. They prepare their food the day before so they won’t have to light a fire on the Sabbath. They don’t move any container from its place, and they don’t relieve themselves on that day.

On other days, each man digs a small hole about a foot deep with a paddle. This is the same kind of small hatchet given to new members. He wraps his clothing around himself so he won’t expose the Divine rays of light, then relieves himself in the hole. Afterward, he covers the waste with the dirt he removed.

They do this only in isolated places chosen for that purpose. Although relieving the body is natural, they still wash afterward as if the act had made them unclean.

When the period of testing is finished, the members are divided into four classes. The younger members are considered so far below the older ones that if a younger man touches an older man, the older man must wash himself as if he had touched a foreigner.

The Essens live a long time. Many of them reach more than one hundred years of age. Their simple diet and regular way of life seem to help them live so long.

They look down on the troubles of life and endure pain with great courage. When death will bring them honor, they consider it better than continuing to live.

Their war with the Romans showed the strength of their character. They were tortured, twisted, burned, torn apart, and subjected to every kind of instrument of pain. Their enemies wanted to force them either to insult Moses or to eat foods forbidden by their law.

The Essens refused to do either. They wouldn’t flatter their torturers or shed a tear. They smiled while suffering and laughed at the men who tortured them. They gave up their lives willingly because they expected to receive them back again.

The Essens teach that the body is temporary and that the material from which it is made doesn’t last. The soul, however, is immortal and continues forever.

They believe souls come from the purest air and are drawn into bodies as if into prisons by a natural attraction. When the soul is released from the body, it rejoices as though it had escaped from a long imprisonment and rises upward.

Their teaching resembles the beliefs of the Greeks. The Greeks say that good souls live beyond the ocean, in a place untouched by rainstorms, snow, or excessive heat. A gentle west wind blows there continually from the ocean.

They assign wicked souls to a dark and stormy place filled with endless punishment. The Greeks appear to follow the same belief when they place their brave men, whom they call heroes and demigods, in the Islands of the Blessed. They send the souls of the wicked to the land of the ungodly in Hades, where their stories say people such as Sisyphus, Tantalus, Ixion, and Tityus are punished.

All of this is based on the belief that souls are immortal. From that belief come the calls to live virtuously and avoid evil. Good people are encouraged by the hope of receiving a reward after death. Wicked people are restrained by the fear that, even if they hide their sins during this life, they will suffer everlasting punishment after death.

These are the Essens’ teachings about the soul. They strongly attract anyone who has once tasted their philosophy.

Some Essens claim to predict the future. They study the holy books, practice various forms of purification, and spend their time examining the writings of the prophets. They rarely fail in their predictions.

There is another group of Essens who follow the same way of life, customs, and laws as the others, but they disagree with them about marriage.

They believe that refusing to marry removes the most important part of human life, the continuation of the family through children. They also believe that if everyone held this opinion, the human race would eventually disappear.

They test their future wives for three years. If the women experience their natural monthly periods three times, which they consider proof that the women can have children, the men then marry them.

They don’t sleep with their wives while the women are pregnant. This shows that they marry for the sake of having children, not for pleasure.

The women bathe while wearing some clothing, just as the men bathe with a cloth wrapped around part of the body. These are the customs of the Essens who allow marriage.

The two other Jewish sects mentioned earlier are the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The Pharisees are considered the most skilled at explaining the laws in detail. They teach that everything is guided by fate, or providence, and by God. At the same time, they allow that people have the main power to choose right or wrong, although fate works together with every human action.

They believe all souls are immortal. The souls of good people are moved into other bodies, but the souls of wicked people suffer everlasting punishment.

The Sadducees make up the second group. They remove fate from the picture entirely and say that God isn’t involved in whether people do good or evil. They believe everyone is free to choose between right and wrong, and that each person can act as he wishes.

They also reject the belief that the soul continues forever. They deny that there are rewards or punishments in Hades.

The Pharisees are friendly toward one another. They support peace among themselves and care about the common good. The Sadducees, however, are harsh even with members of their own group. Their conversations with one another are as rough as if they were speaking to strangers.

These are the Jewish philosophical sects.

CHAPTER 9

The Death of Salome; the Cities Built by Herod and Philip; Pilate Causes Disturbances; Tiberius Imprisons Agrippa, but Caius Frees Him and Makes Him King; Herod Antipas Is Banished

After Archelaus lost his ethnarchy and Judea became a Roman province, Herod’s other sons, Philip and Herod Antipas, each took control of his own tetrarchy. When Salome died, she left her toparchy, Jamriga, and her palm-tree plantation at Phasaelis to Julia, the wife of Augustus.

After Augustus died, having ruled for fifty-seven years, six months, and two days, the Roman Empire passed to Tiberius, Julia’s son. Herod and Philip continued to govern their tetrarchies. Philip built the city of Caesarea near the springs of the Jordan, in the region of Paneas. He also built the city of Julias in lower Gaulanitis. Herod built the city of Tiberias in Galilee, and another city in Perea, beyond the Jordan, which he also named Julias.

Pilate had been sent to Judea by Tiberius as procurator. He secretly brought the images of Caesar, called standards, into Jerusalem during the night. When the people saw them the next morning, a great disturbance broke out among the Jews. Those who lived nearby were horrified because the images seemed to show that their laws had been violated. Their law didn’t allow any kind of image to be brought into the city.

The people of Jerusalem were already angry, and then a great number of people came in from the countryside. They went to Pilate at Caesarea and begged him to remove the standards from Jerusalem and leave their ancient laws untouched. Pilate refused. The Jews then fell facedown on the ground and remained there without moving for five days and five nights.

The next day, Pilate sat on his tribunal in the open marketplace and called the crowd together, claiming that he wanted to answer them. He then signaled his soldiers to surround the Jews with their weapons. The soldiers formed three lines around them.

The Jews were terrified when they saw this. Pilate told them they would be killed unless they accepted Caesar’s images, and he ordered the soldiers to draw their swords. At that, the Jews all fell to the ground together, uncovered their necks, and cried out that they were ready to be killed rather than break their law.

Pilate was astonished by their determination. He ordered the standards to be taken out of Jerusalem at once.

After this, Pilate caused another disturbance. He used the sacred treasury, called Corban, to pay for the construction of aqueducts that carried water from a distance of four hundred furlongs. The people were outraged. When Pilate came to Jerusalem, they surrounded his tribunal and began shouting against him.

Pilate had already learned about the disturbance. He mixed his armed soldiers into the crowd, ordering them to disguise themselves as ordinary citizens. They weren’t to use their swords. Instead, they were to beat the people who caused the disturbance with their staffs. Pilate then gave the signal from his tribunal.

The Jews were beaten so badly that many died from their wounds. Others were trampled to death by the crowd itself. When the people saw the disaster that had fallen on those who had protested, they became silent.

During this time, Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, whom his father Herod had killed, went to Tiberius to accuse Herod the tetrarch. Tiberius refused to hear the accusation, so Agrippa remained in Rome. He formed friendships with several important men, especially Caius, the son of Germanicus, who was still a private citizen at that time.

On one occasion, Agrippa gave Caius a feast. Since Agrippa had treated him with great respect in other matters, he finally stretched out his hands and openly wished that Tiberius would die so Caius could soon become emperor of the world.

One of Agrippa’s servants reported these words to Tiberius. The emperor became furious and ordered Agrippa to be bound. He treated him harshly in prison for six months. Tiberius then died after ruling for twenty-two years, six months, and three days.

When Caius became Caesar, he released Agrippa and made him king over Philip’s tetrarchy, since Philip had died. Once Agrippa received this royal authority, Herod Antipas also began to desire the crown.

Herodias, his wife, encouraged his ambition. She criticized him for being content with so little and told him that he had no royal title only because he refused to sail to Caesar. If Caesar had made Agrippa, a private citizen, a king, then he would surely raise Herod from a tetrarch to the same rank.

Herod was persuaded by her words and went to Caius. But Caius punished him for his ambition and banished him to Spain. Agrippa followed him there so he could accuse him, and Caius gave Herod’s tetrarchy to Agrippa as an additional gift.

Herod died in Spain, where his wife had followed him.

CHAPTER 10

Caius Orders His Statue To Be Placed In The Temple, And What Petronius Did About It

Caius Caesar had abused his good fortune so badly that he began to think of himself as a god. He also wanted others to call him one. He had already put many of the highest-ranking men in his own country to death, and now he carried his impiety even against the Jews.

He sent Petronius with an army to Jerusalem to set up his statues in the temple. He ordered Petronius to kill anyone who resisted and to take the rest of the Jewish nation into captivity. But God opposed these commands.

Petronius marched from Antioch into Judea with three legions and many Syrian troops. Some Jews refused to believe the reports of war. Those who did believe them were filled with fear and didn’t know how they could defend themselves. Soon the fear spread through everyone, because the Roman army had already reached Ptolemais.

Ptolemais is a coastal city in Galilee, built on a broad plain. Mountains surround it. The mountain to the east belongs to Galilee and lies sixty furlongs away. The mountain to the south belongs to Carmel and is one hundred twenty furlongs from the city. The mountain to the north is the highest of them all. The people of that country call it the Ladder of the Tyrians, and it is one hundred furlongs away.

The small river called Belus flows near the city, about two furlongs away. Near the river is the monument of Memnon. There is also a place nearby that measures no more than one hundred cubits, but it is worth seeing. The place is round and hollow, and it contains sand that can be made into glass.

When ships carry away large amounts of this sand, the winds fill the place again. They bring sand from far away, almost as if they had been sent there for that purpose. The sand they bring is ordinary sand at first, but this place quickly changes it into glass-making sand. What is even more surprising is that any glass-making sand taken out of the area and left elsewhere turns back into ordinary sand. That is the nature of this place.

The Jews gathered in large numbers on the plain near Ptolemais. They brought their wives and children and pleaded with Petronius, first for permission to keep their laws and then for their own lives.

The great number of people and the force of their appeals moved Petronius. He left his army and the statues at Ptolemais, then went into Galilee. He called the people together, along with the leading men, at Tiberias.

There he explained the power of Rome and the threats made by Caesar. He also said their request was unreasonable. Every other nation under Roman rule had placed statues of Caesar in its cities beside the images of its own gods. If the Jews alone refused, they would appear to be rebels and would insult Caesar.

The Jews answered that they were bound by their law and the customs of their ancestors. Their law didn’t allow them to make an image of God or even an image of a man and place it in any part of their country, especially not in the temple.

Petronius replied:

“Am I not also bound to obey the law of my own master? If I disobey him and spare you, I deserve to die. The man who sent me, not I, will make war against you. I am under orders just as you are.”

The whole crowd then cried out that they were ready to die for their law.

Petronius quieted them and asked, “Then are you prepared to make war against Caesar?”

The Jews answered, “We offer sacrifices twice each day for Caesar and for the Roman people. But if he wants to place his statues among us, he must first destroy the entire Jewish nation. We are ready to let ourselves, our wives, and our children be killed.”

Petronius was amazed and felt pity for them. He saw how strongly their religion commanded them and how ready they were to die for it. He dismissed them, but he gained nothing from them.

During the days that followed, Petronius met privately with the leading men and spoke publicly to the crowd. At times he tried to persuade them. At other times he offered advice. But most of all, he threatened them. He reminded them of Rome’s power and of Caesar’s anger. He also explained that he himself was forced to carry out Caesar’s order.

Still, nothing could change their minds. Petronius also saw that the land was in danger of being left without workers. It was the season for planting, and the people had already spent fifty days gathered together instead of working their fields.

At last, Petronius called them together and said it was better for him to take the risk himself.

“With God’s help, I may persuade Caesar. Then I will escape the danger along with you, and we will all have reason to rejoice. But if Caesar remains angry, I will be ready to risk my own life for so many people.”

After saying this, he dismissed the crowd. They prayed for his success. Petronius then removed the army from Ptolemais and returned to Antioch.

From there he quickly sent Caesar a letter. He told him about his march into Judea and about the nation’s pleas. He explained that if Caesar didn’t want to lose both the country and its people, he would have to allow the Jews to keep their law and withdraw his earlier order.

Caius answered with great anger. He threatened to have Petronius put to death because he had been so slow to carry out the command.

But the men carrying Caius’s letter were caught in a storm and remained at sea for three months. Meanwhile, the men who carried news of Caius’s death had a safe and speedy journey.

So Petronius received the letter announcing Caius’s death twenty-seven days before he received the letter ordering his own execution.

CHAPTER 11

The Government of Claudius and the Reign of Agrippa, with an Account of the Deaths of Agrippa and Herod and the Children They Left Behind

Caius had ruled for three years and eight months when he was murdered by a conspiracy. Claudius was then carried away by the armies stationed at Rome, who wanted to make him emperor. But the senate, acting on the advice of the consuls, Sentius Saturninus and Pomponius Secundus, ordered the three regiments that remained with them to keep the city under control.

A large number of senators went up to the Capitol and decided to resist Claudius by force because of the cruel treatment they had suffered under Caius. They planned either to restore the government to an aristocracy, as it had been in earlier times, or at least to choose by vote an emperor who was worthy of the position.

At that time, Agrippa was staying in Rome. The senate called him to meet with them, while Claudius sent for him from the camp so he could help him whenever his services were needed. Agrippa saw that Claudius had, in effect, already been made Caesar, so he went to him.

Claudius sent Agrippa as an ambassador to the senate to explain his intentions. He said that the soldiers had carried him away and chosen him without his asking for the position. He also said that it would be wrong to abandon soldiers who had sworn to support him. If he deserted them, his own future would be uncertain, since it was dangerous to accept the empire and then give it up.

He added that he would govern as a good ruler, not as a tyrant. He would be content with the title of emperor, but in all his actions he would allow the senators to advise him. He admitted that he had not always been naturally moderate, but the death of Caius had shown him how carefully a man must act when placed in such a position.

Agrippa delivered this message to the senate. They replied that they had an army and the wisest counsel on their side, so they would not submit to slavery by their own choice.

When Claudius heard their answer, he sent Agrippa to them again with another message. He said that he couldn’t bear the thought of betraying the soldiers who had sworn to remain loyal to him. He saw that he might be forced to fight, even though he had no desire to fight against them. If a battle had to take place, he said, it should be fought outside the city. It would be impious to stain the temples of Rome with the blood of Roman citizens because of the senate’s foolish decision.

Agrippa heard this message and delivered it to the senators.

While this was happening, one of the soldiers serving with the senate drew his sword and cried out:

“O my fellow soldiers, what are we doing? Why should we kill our brothers and attack our own countrymen who are with Claudius? We can have an emperor whom no one can justly blame, a man with many good reasons to claim the government. Why should we fight against him?”

After saying this, he marched through the senate and persuaded all the soldiers to follow him. The patricians were suddenly terrified when they saw themselves abandoned. Still, since they had no other hope of safety, they hurried after the soldiers and went to Claudius.

Some men who were eager to flatter Claudius and win his favor rushed out to meet them before they reached the walls. They carried their swords drawn, and there was a real danger that the first senators to arrive would be attacked before Claudius learned what the soldiers intended to do.

Agrippa ran ahead and warned Claudius about the danger. He told him that the soldiers were in a frenzy against the patricians. Unless Claudius stopped them, he would lose the very men whose support made it worth ruling, and he would become emperor over an empty city.

When Claudius heard this, he restrained the soldiers and welcomed the senate into the camp. He treated the senators with respect and soon went out with them to offer sacrifices and thanks to God, as was proper when he first became emperor.

Claudius immediately restored Agrippa’s entire ancestral kingdom. He also gave him the territories that Augustus had once granted to Herod, along with Trachonitis and Auranitis. In addition, he gave him the kingdom that had belonged to Lysanias.

Claudius announced this gift to the people by decree. He also ordered the magistrates to have the grant engraved on bronze tablets and placed in the Capitol.

To his brother-in-law Herod, who had married his daughter Bernice, Claudius gave the kingdom of Chalcis.

Agrippa became wealthy because he ruled such a large territory. He didn’t waste his money on small and unimportant things. Instead, he began building a wall around Jerusalem. If he had finished it, the Romans would have found the city almost impossible to capture by siege.

But Agrippa died at Caesarea before the wall reached its planned height. He had ruled the kingdom for three years, after governing his tetrarchies for another three years.

Agrippa left three daughters by Cypros: Bernice, Mariamne, and Drusilla. He also had a son by the same mother, whose name was Agrippa. The boy was still very young, so Claudius made the country a Roman province. He sent Cuspius Fadus as its governor, and later sent Tiberius Alexander. They made no changes to the ancient laws and kept the people at peace.

After this, Herod, the king of Chalcis, died. He left two sons by Bernice, the daughter of his brother. Their names were Bernicianus and Hyrcanus. He also left Aristobulus, whom he had by his former wife, Mariamne.

Herod had another brother who died as a private citizen. His name was also Aristobulus, and he left behind a daughter named Jotape.

As I have already said, these were the descendants of Aristobulus, the son of Herod. Aristobulus and Alexander were born to Herod by Mariamne, and Herod later had them killed. Alexander’s descendants, however, became kings of Armenia.

CHAPTER 12

The Many Tumults Under Cumanus, Which Quadratus Settled; Felix Becomes Procurator of Judea; Agrippa Receives a Larger Kingdom

After the death of Herod, king of Chalcis, Claudius appointed Agrippa, the son of Agrippa, to rule his uncle’s kingdom. Cumanus became procurator over the rest of Judea, which was a Roman province, succeeding Alexander in that office. Under Cumanus, trouble began, and the ruin of the Jews drew near.

At the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a large crowd gathered in Jerusalem. A Roman cohort stood above the cloisters of the Temple, as soldiers always did during the festivals. They were armed and kept watch to prevent the crowd from starting an uprising.

One of the soldiers pulled back his garment, crouched down in an offensive manner, and turned his backside toward the Jews. He also spoke words suited to such an insult. The whole crowd became angry and shouted at Cumanus, demanding that he punish the soldier.

The boldest young men, along with those who were naturally most disorderly, began fighting. They picked up stones and threw them at the soldiers. Cumanus feared that the entire crowd would attack him, so he sent for more armed troops.

When the soldiers arrived in large numbers and entered the cloisters, the Jews were thrown into great confusion. They were driven out of the Temple and ran toward the city. The crowd pushed so violently toward the exits that people trampled and crushed one another. Ten thousand Jews were killed.

That festival became a time of mourning for the whole nation, and every family grieved for its own dead.

Another disaster followed, caused by a disturbance involving robbers. On the public road near Beth-boron, a servant of Caesar named Stephen was carrying some property when robbers attacked him and took everything he had.

Cumanus sent soldiers through the nearby villages to seize the inhabitants and bring them to him in chains. He accused them of failing to chase the robbers and capture them.

During this search, one soldier found a sacred book of the Jewish law. He tore it into pieces and threw it into the fire. The Jews were thrown into great confusion, as if their entire country were burning. Their zeal for their religion brought them together, and they marched to Caesarea with one loud cry.

When they reached Cumanus, they begged him not to ignore the man who had insulted God and His law. They demanded that the soldier be punished for what he had done.

Cumanus saw that the crowd wouldn’t calm down unless he gave them a satisfying answer. He ordered the soldier to be brought out and led through the people who had demanded his punishment. The soldier was then executed, and the Jews returned to their homes.

After this, a fight broke out between the Galileans and the Samaritans. It happened at a village called Geman, which stood in the great plain of Samaria.

A large number of Jews were traveling to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles when a Galilean was murdered. Afterward, many people came out of Galilee, ready to fight the Samaritans.

The leading men among the Galileans went to Cumanus and begged him to come into Galilee before the trouble became impossible to stop. They asked him to find and punish the men who had committed the murder, saying that this was the only way to keep the crowd from fighting.

Cumanus placed their request behind the other matters he was handling. He sent them away without giving them the help they wanted.

When news of the murder reached Jerusalem, the people became disorderly and left the festival. Without generals or proper leaders, they marched in great numbers toward Samaria. They refused to obey the magistrates appointed over them.

Instead, they followed Eleazar, the son of Dineus, and Alexander. These men led them in their robbery and rebellion. They attacked the people living near the toparchy of Acrabatene, killing everyone they found, regardless of age. They also burned the villages.

Cumanus took a troop of horsemen called the Sebaste troop from Caesarea and went to help the people who had been attacked. He captured many of Eleazar’s followers and killed even more of them.

As for the rest of the crowd that had gone out so eagerly to fight the Samaritans, the rulers of Jerusalem hurried after them. They wore sackcloth and had ashes on their heads. They begged the people to return home.

They warned them that if they tried to take revenge on the Samaritans, they might provoke the Romans to attack Jerusalem. They urged the people to have mercy on their country, the Temple, their children, and their wives. They asked them not to bring complete destruction upon everyone just to avenge the death of one Galilean.

The Jews listened to these appeals and scattered. Even so, many took up robbery, hoping they would escape punishment. Robbery and rebellion soon spread across the whole country.

The leading men among the Samaritans went to Tyre and met Ummidius Quadratus, the governor of Syria. They asked him to punish the men who had destroyed the countryside.

The leading Jews also came to Tyre, along with Jonathan, the son of the high priest Ananus. They argued that the Samaritans had started the trouble because they had murdered the Galilean. They also blamed Cumanus, saying that his refusal to punish the original murderers had caused everything that followed.

Quadratus postponed judgment on both sides. He told them that when he reached the places where the trouble had begun, he would carefully investigate every part of the matter.

He went first to Caesarea, where he crucified all the prisoners Cumanus had captured. From there, he traveled to the city of Lydda. After hearing more about the conflict with the Samaritans, he summoned eighteen Jews who were known to have taken part in the fighting and beheaded them.

He sent two other leading Jews, Jonathan and Ananias the high priests, Artanus the son of Ananias, and several other prominent men to Caesar in Rome. He did the same with the most important men among the Samaritans.

Quadratus also ordered Cumanus, the procurator, and Celer, the tribune, to sail to Rome and report to Caesar on everything that had happened.

After finishing these matters, Quadratus went from Lydda to Jerusalem. He found the people celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread without any disturbance, so he returned to Antioch.

When Caesar in Rome heard the claims made by Cumanus and the Samaritans, he held the hearing in the presence of Agrippa. Agrippa strongly defended the Jews, while many important men supported Cumanus.

Caesar condemned the Samaritans and ordered three of their most powerful men to be executed. He banished Cumanus. He also sent Celer, bound, to Jerusalem, where he was handed over to the Jews for punishment. They dragged him around the city and then beheaded him.

After this, Caesar sent Felix, the brother of Pallas, to serve as procurator over Galilee, Samaria, and Perea.

He also removed Agrippa from Chalcis and gave him a larger kingdom. Caesar granted him the tetrarchy that had belonged to Philip, including Batanaea, Trachonitis, and Gaulanitis. He added the kingdom of Lysanias and the province of Abilene, which Varus had governed.

Claudius ruled for thirteen years, eight months, and twenty days. Then he died, leaving Nero as his successor.

Claudius had adopted Nero as his heir after being influenced by his wife Agrippina, even though he had a son of his own, Britannicus, by his former wife Messalina. He also had a daughter named Octavia, whom he had married to Nero, and another daughter by Petina named Antonia.

CHAPTER 13

Nero Gives Four Cities to Agrippa’s Kingdom, While Felix Governs the Rest of Judea; Disturbances Caused by the Sicarii, the Magicians, and an Egyptian False Prophet; The Jews and Syrians Quarrel at Cesarea

There were many things Nero did like a madman because of the great wealth and good fortune he possessed. He used that fortune to harm others. He killed his brother, his wife, and his mother, and after that his cruelty spread to the rest of his family. In time, he became so confused that he acted in plays and appeared on the stage. I won’t say more about these matters, since many writers have already described them. I will speak instead about the actions of his reign that affected the Jews.

Nero gave the kingdom of Lesser Armenia to Aristobulus, the son of Herod. He also added four cities and their surrounding districts to Agrippa’s kingdom: Abila, Julias in Perea, Tarichea, and Tiberias in Galilee. He placed Felix in charge of the rest of Judea as procurator.

Felix captured Eleazar, the chief robber, along with many of his followers. They had ravaged the country for twenty years. Felix sent them to Rome. The number of robbers he crucified, along with those he captured and punished, was so great that no one could count them.

After the country had been cleared of these men, another kind of robber appeared in Jerusalem. They were called Sicarii. They murdered people in broad daylight, right in the middle of the city. They did this most often during the festivals, when they could mix with the crowds. They hid daggers beneath their clothing and used them to stab their enemies.

When a victim fell dead, the murderers would join the crowd that was angry about the killing. In this way, they gained such a reputation among the people that no one could identify them. The first important man they killed was Jonathan the high priest. After his death, people were murdered every day.

The fear of being killed was worse than the murders themselves. Everyone expected death at any moment, just as soldiers do during wartime. People watched those approaching them, even from far away. They no longer trusted their friends when they came near. While everyone was suspicious and trying to protect himself, the Sicarii struck them down. Their plans were carried out quickly, and their methods were difficult to discover.

Another group of wicked men also gathered together. Their actions weren’t as openly corrupt as those of the murderers, but their plans caused just as much harm to the city. They deceived the people by claiming to be inspired by God, while their real purpose was to bring political change and overthrow the government.

They persuaded the crowds to act like madmen. Then they led them into the wilderness, claiming that God would show them signs of freedom there. Felix saw this as the beginning of a revolt. He sent armed cavalry and infantry against them, and they killed many of the people who had followed these deceivers.

An Egyptian false prophet caused the Jews even more trouble than the men mentioned before. He was a fraud who also claimed to be a prophet. He gathered about thirty thousand people who believed him. He led them from the wilderness to the mountain called the Mount of Olives.

From there, he planned to force his way into Jerusalem. His plan was to defeat the Roman garrison and the people, then rule over them with the help of his followers, who were supposed to enter the city with him.

Felix stopped him. He went out with Roman soldiers, while the people joined him in the attack. When the battle began, the Egyptian fled with a few of his followers. Most of the others were killed or captured. The rest of the crowd scattered and went back to their own homes, where they hid themselves.

After these disturbances had been stopped, another part of the country became inflamed, just as one part of a diseased body may grow worse after another has been treated. A group of deceivers and robbers came together and urged the Jews to revolt. They told them to fight for freedom and to kill anyone who remained obedient to the Roman government.

They said that anyone who willingly accepted slavery should be forced to give up that choice. The rebels divided into groups and hid throughout the country. They robbed the houses of wealthy men, killed the owners, and burned villages. Judea was soon filled with the results of their madness.

The violence grew worse each day, until the rising became an open war.

Another disturbance began at Cesarea. The Jews who lived among the Syrians there started a quarrel with them. The Jews claimed that the city belonged to them because its founder was a Jew, meaning King Herod.

The Syrians admitted that Herod, a Jew, had built the city. They still argued that it was a Greek city, since anyone who built statues and temples there couldn’t have intended it for Jews. The two groups argued over this matter until the dispute finally turned into violence.

The more aggressive men from both sides marched out to fight. The Jewish elders couldn’t control their own people, and the Greeks considered it shameful to be defeated by Jews. The Jews had greater wealth and stronger bodies, but the Greeks had the support of the soldiers. Most of the Roman garrison had been recruited from Syria, and because those soldiers were connected to the Syrian side, they were ready to help them.

The city governors tried to keep the peace. Whenever they caught the men who were most eager to fight, from either side, they had them beaten and chained. But the punishment didn’t frighten the others or make them stop. Instead, the people became even angrier, and the revolt grew stronger.

Once, Felix came into the marketplace and ordered the Jews, after they had beaten the Syrians, to leave. He threatened them when they refused to obey. Then he sent his soldiers against them, and the soldiers killed many Jews. Afterward, the soldiers seized and plundered the property that belonged to them.

The revolt continued, so Felix chose the most respected men from both sides and sent them as ambassadors to Nero. They were to argue before him about the rights and privileges claimed by each group.

CHAPTER 14

Festus Succeeds Felix, Albinus Succeeds Festus, and Florus Succeeds Albinus. Florus’ Cruel Rule Drives the Jews into War

Festus succeeded Felix as procurator and set out to put down the disturbances in the country. He captured most of the robbers and put many of them to death.

Albinus succeeded Festus, but he did not carry out his office in the same way. There was hardly any kind of wickedness that he did not take part in. As a public official, he stole and seized the property of individuals. He also placed heavy taxes on the entire nation. Yet his worst practice was allowing the relatives of prisoners to buy their freedom.

Some of these prisoners had been arrested for robbery by the councils of their cities or by earlier procurators. Albinus set them free when their relatives paid him money. The only criminals left in prison were those who had nothing to give him.

At that time, the activities of the rebels in Jerusalem became more dangerous than ever. The leading men among them paid Albinus for permission to continue their violent actions. People who enjoyed disorder joined themselves to those who had dealings with Albinus. Each of these wicked men gathered his own band of robbers around him. Albinus himself acted like the chief of all robbers, or like a tyrant among them. He used his authority to rob peaceful people and protect those who served his purposes.

The result was that people who lost their property had to remain silent, even though they had every reason to be angry. Those who managed to keep what they owned had to flatter the man who deserved punishment, because they feared that the same thing would happen to them. No one dared speak openly. Tyranny became accepted everywhere, and during this period the seeds were planted that later brought Jerusalem to ruin.

Albinus was a wicked man, but Gessius Florus, who succeeded him, made Albinus look like an excellent governor by comparison. Albinus carried out most of his crimes in secret and tried to hide them. Florus committed his injustices openly, as if he had been sent to punish a condemned nation.

He left no kind of robbery or abuse untouched. When people were already suffering, he treated them with the greatest cruelty. In matters that called for shame, he showed no shame at all. No one was better at hiding the truth, and no one could invent more deceitful ways to get what he wanted.

Florus thought stealing from one person at a time was too small a crime. He plundered entire cities and ruined whole communities. He almost publicly announced throughout the country that people were free to become robbers, as long as he received a share of whatever they stole.

His greed caused entire districts to be destroyed. Many people abandoned their homes and fled into foreign provinces.

While Cestius Gallus was governor of Syria, no one dared send an official delegation to him to accuse Florus. But when Cestius came to Jerusalem as the Feast of Unleavened Bread approached, the people gathered around him. Their number was no fewer than three million.

They begged him to feel pity for their suffering nation and cried out against Florus, calling him the ruin of their country. Florus was standing beside Cestius, and he laughed at what they said.

Cestius quieted the crowd and promised that he would see to it that Florus treated them more gently in the future. He then returned to Antioch. Florus escorted him as far as Caesarea, but all the while he was planning how to provoke the nation into war.

Florus believed that war was the only way to hide his crimes. If peace continued, he expected the Jews to accuse him before Caesar. But if he could make them rebel, their greater suffering would distract everyone from the lesser crimes he had committed. For that reason, he added to their troubles every day, hoping to drive them into rebellion.

At this time, the Greeks in Caesarea had defeated the Jews in a legal dispute. They had obtained from Nero control of the city, along with the official judgment in their favor. The war began in the twelfth year of Nero’s reign and the seventeenth year of King Agrippa’s reign, during the month of Artemisius, called Jyar by the Jews.

The cause of the war was small compared with the terrible suffering that followed. The Jews who lived in Caesarea had a synagogue near a certain piece of land. The owner was a Greek citizen of Caesarea. The Jews had repeatedly tried to buy the property and had offered many times more than it was worth.

The owner ignored their offers. Instead, he built other structures on the land to insult them. He turned the buildings into workshops and left the Jews with only a narrow, difficult passage leading to their synagogue.

The more aggressive young Jews hurried to the workmen and ordered them to stop building. Florus wouldn’t allow them to use force. The leading Jewish men, along with John the tax collector, were at a loss over what to do. They offered Florus eight talents to stop the construction.

Florus cared about nothing but money. He promised to do everything they asked, then left Caesarea and went to Sebaste. By doing this, he abandoned the conflict and allowed the quarrel to grow, as if he had sold the Jews permission to fight it out among themselves.

The next day was the seventh day of the week, and the Jews were gathering in large numbers at their synagogue. A certain man from Caesarea, who was known for stirring up trouble, took an earthen pot and placed it upside down at the entrance of the synagogue. He then sacrificed birds beside it.

This enraged the Jews because their laws had been insulted and their holy place had been polluted. The calmer and more reasonable Jews thought they should appeal to the authorities again. But the rebels and the hot-headed young men were eager to fight.

The troublemakers among the Gentiles in Caesarea were also prepared for violence. They had arranged beforehand for the man to make the sacrifice, so they were ready to support him. Soon the dispute turned into a fight.

Jucundus, the commander of the cavalry, had been ordered to prevent the conflict. He came to the scene, removed the earthen vessel, and tried to stop the fighting. But the people of Caesarea were too violent for him to control.

The Jews then took their copies of the law and withdrew to Narbata, a place that belonged to them about sixty furlongs from Caesarea. John and twelve leading men went to Florus at Sebaste. They gave him a full account of what had happened and begged him to help them. With the greatest respect, they also reminded him of the eight talents they had paid him.

Florus responded by having them arrested and imprisoned. He accused them of removing the books of the law from Caesarea.

The people of Jerusalem were deeply angered by what had happened, but they managed to hold back their anger. Florus acted as if he had been paid to start a war. He sent men to take seventeen talents from the sacred treasury and claimed that Caesar needed the money.

The people were immediately thrown into confusion. They ran together to the temple, shouting loudly. They called Caesar by name and begged him to rescue them from Florus’ tyranny.

Some of the rebels mocked Florus and spoke against him with the strongest insults. They carried a basket around and begged people to give them small coins for Florus, as if he were poor and had no possessions.

This did not shame Florus or lessen his greed. It only made him angrier and more determined to take even more money. He should have gone to Caesarea to put out the fire of conflict that had begun there. He had accepted the eight talents for doing exactly that.

Instead, he quickly marched toward Jerusalem with a force of cavalry and infantry. He intended to get his way by using Roman weapons and to bring the city under control through fear and threats.

The people wanted to make Florus ashamed of what he was doing. They went out to meet his soldiers with cheers and arranged themselves in a respectful manner to receive him.

Florus sent a centurion named Capito ahead with fifty soldiers. Capito told the people to go back and stop pretending that they wished to welcome Florus. They had insulted him openly, Capito said, so they should show their courage by mocking him to his face. If they truly loved freedom, they should prove it with their weapons and not only with their words.

The crowd was shocked by this message. When Capito’s horsemen entered the middle of the people, the crowd scattered before it could greet Florus or show him the respect it had intended to show.

The people returned to their homes and spent the night in fear, confused and ashamed.

Florus took up residence in the palace. The next day, he had his judgment seat set up in front of it and sat there. The high priests, the leading men, and the most respected people in the city all came before him.

Florus ordered them to hand over the people who had insulted him. He told them that they would suffer the same punishment if they failed to produce those men.

The leaders explained that the people were peaceful and begged him to forgive those who had spoken wrongly. They said it was not surprising that, in such a large crowd, a few people might act more boldly than they should. Because of their young age, they might also have acted foolishly.

They said it was impossible to identify the offenders among the rest of the crowd. Everyone regretted what had happened, and those who had taken part in it were denying their actions because they feared the punishment that would follow.

The leaders urged Florus to protect the peace of the nation and make decisions that would keep the city loyal to Rome. It was better, they said, to forgive a few guilty people for the sake of so many innocent citizens than to throw a large and respectable community into disorder because of a few wicked men.

Their words made Florus even angrier. He shouted to the soldiers to plunder the place called the Upper Market and kill anyone they found there.

The soldiers understood their command in a way that suited their desire for profit. They didn’t limit themselves to robbing the marketplace. They forced their way into houses and killed the people inside. Citizens fled through the narrow streets, but the soldiers killed everyone they caught. They used every method of robbery they could think of.

They also seized many peaceful citizens and brought them before Florus. He had them beaten and then crucified.

About three thousand six hundred people were killed that day, including their wives and children. The soldiers didn’t spare even the infants.

This disaster was made worse by a new act of Roman cruelty. Florus dared to do what no one before him had done. He ordered men of the equestrian order to be whipped and crucified in front of his judgment seat. They were Jews by birth, but they also held Roman rank.

CHAPTER 15

Bernice Pleads with Florus to Spare the Jews, but He Refuses; After the Rebellion Is Calmed, Florus Starts It Again

Around this time, King Agrippa was traveling to Alexandria to congratulate Alexander, who had received control of Egypt from Nero. His sister Bernice had come to Jerusalem, where she saw the cruel actions of the soldiers. She was deeply troubled by what was happening, so she repeatedly sent her horse masters and guards to Florus, asking him to stop the killings.

Florus refused to listen. He cared neither about the number of people who had already been killed nor about Bernice’s rank. He cared only about the profit he could gain by plundering the city. The soldiers had become so violent that they even turned against the queen herself. They tortured and killed people in front of her, and they would have killed Bernice too if she hadn’t escaped to the palace. She stayed there all night with her guards because she feared the soldiers would attack her.

Bernice was living in Jerusalem at the time to fulfill a vow she had made to God. People who had suffered from illness or some other trouble often made such vows. For thirty days before offering their sacrifices, they were required to avoid wine and shave their heads. Bernice was following these customs. She stood barefoot before Florus’s court and begged him to spare the Jews, but he showed her no respect. She barely escaped with her own life.

This happened on the sixteenth day of the month Artemisius, which the Jews call Jyar. The next day, the people, still overwhelmed with grief, gathered in the Upper Market and mourned loudly for those who had been killed. Most of their cries were directed against Florus.

The powerful men of the city and the high priests became frightened. They tore their clothes, fell before the people, and begged them to stop. They warned that if the crowd continued, Florus might take even harsher action against them, adding to the suffering they had already endured.

The people immediately agreed to calm themselves, partly because they respected those who asked them to stop and partly because they hoped Florus wouldn’t harm them again.

Florus was upset that the unrest had ended. He wanted to start it again, so he summoned the high priests and other leading men. He told them that the only way to prove the people wouldn’t cause further trouble was to go out and welcome the soldiers coming up from Caesarea. Two cohorts were on their way.

While the leaders were urging the people to meet the soldiers, Florus secretly sent instructions to the centurions. He ordered them to tell their troops not to return the Jews’ greetings. If the Jews said anything against him, the soldiers were to attack them.

The high priests gathered the people in the temple and urged them to go meet the Romans. They told the crowd to greet the soldiers politely before their situation became impossible to repair.

The rebellious group refused to follow this advice. But the memory of those who had already been killed caused many people to support the men who were calling for action.

At that point, every priest and temple servant brought out the sacred vessels and the beautiful garments used in worship. The harp players and singers also came out with their instruments. They fell before the people and begged them to protect the holy objects instead of provoking the Romans to carry away the temple treasures.

The high priests themselves came out with large amounts of dust sprinkled on their heads. Their clothing was torn, leaving their chests exposed. They called the leading men by name and pleaded with the entire crowd not to hand their country over to those who wanted to destroy it because of such a small offense.

They asked, “What will the soldiers gain from receiving a greeting from the Jews? And how will your situation improve if you don’t go out to meet them? If you greet them properly, Florus will have no excuse to start a war. You can protect your country and avoid further suffering. It would also show a lack of self-control if such a large people allowed a few rebellious men to dictate their actions. You should make those men behave sensibly.”

These arguments affected both the crowd and the rebels. Some were held back by threats, while others obeyed because of the respect they had for the priests. The leaders then brought the people out to meet the soldiers.

The Jews approached peacefully and calmly. When they reached the soldiers, they greeted them, but the soldiers gave no answer. The rebellious men then began shouting against Florus. This was the signal the soldiers had been waiting for.

The soldiers immediately surrounded the crowd and struck the people with clubs. As the Jews tried to escape, the cavalry rode over them. Many were killed by the Roman weapons, but even more died when people crushed one another in the rush to get away.

A terrible crush formed near the gates. Everyone tried to get ahead of everyone else, which slowed the escape and caused many people to fall. Those who went down were suffocated or trampled beneath the crowd. Their relatives couldn’t even identify many of the bodies to prepare them for burial.

The soldiers continued beating everyone they caught, showing no mercy. They drove the crowd through the area called Bezetha as they tried to force their way into the city and seize the temple and the Antonia fortress.

Florus also wanted control of those places. He brought the soldiers who were with him out of the king’s palace and ordered them to advance toward the citadel, Antonia. But his plan failed. The people turned against him and stopped the attack.

The Jews stood on the roofs of their houses and threw weapons down at the Romans. The soldiers were badly wounded because the attacks came from above. They also couldn’t move through the narrow streets, which were blocked by the crowd. Because of this, they withdrew to the camp near the palace.

The rebels feared that Florus would return and capture the temple through Antonia. They immediately climbed onto the temple cloisters connected to the fortress and tore them down.

This ended Florus’s desire to take the temple treasures. He had wanted to reach Antonia so he could seize the wealth kept in the temple, but once the cloisters had been destroyed, he gave up the attack.

Florus then summoned the high priests and the Sanhedrin. He told them that he was leaving the city, but that he would leave behind as many soldiers as they wanted.

They promised not to cause any further trouble if he left one cohort behind. They refused to accept the same cohort that had fought against the Jews because the people hated those soldiers for what they had done.

Florus agreed to their request. He replaced the cohort, then returned to Caesarea with the rest of his forces.

CHAPTER 16

Cestius Sends the Tribune Neopolitanus to Learn the Condition of Jewish Affairs, and Agrippa Speaks to the Jews to Turn Them Away from War Against Rome

Florus found another way to push the Jews into war. He sent word to Cestius, falsely accusing the Jews of rebelling against Roman rule. He blamed them for the earlier conflict and claimed that they had started the disturbance, even though they had only suffered from it.

The officials in Jerusalem did not remain silent. They wrote to Cestius themselves, and Bernice also sent him a letter, explaining the unlawful acts Florus had committed against the city. After Cestius read both sides of the matter, he consulted his commanders.

Some advised him to march into Judea with his army. If the Jews had truly revolted, he could punish them. If they remained peaceful, he could still place Roman affairs there on firmer ground. Cestius, however, thought it wiser to send one of his trusted friends ahead of him. That man could examine the situation and give a truthful report about the Jews’ intentions.

So Cestius sent one of his tribunes, named Neopolitanus. Neopolitanus met King Agrippa at Jamnia while Agrippa was returning from Alexandria. He told Agrippa who had sent him and explained the reason for his visit.

The high priests, the leading men among the Jews, and the members of the Sanhedrin came to welcome the king. After they had shown him proper respect, they began to speak about their own troubles. They described the cruel treatment Florus had inflicted on the city.

Agrippa was greatly angered by Florus’s cruelty. Still, he presented his anger in a clever way. He directed his words against the very Jews he pitied, hoping to bring down their confidence and persuade them that they had not been treated as unjustly as they claimed. He wanted to stop them from taking revenge.

The leading men understood that the king’s harsh words were meant for their benefit. They were wealthier and more concerned with peace because they had property to lose. The common people, however, came out from Jerusalem to meet Agrippa and Neopolitanus. They traveled about sixty furlongs from the city.

The wives of the men who had been killed came first, crying and mourning. When the people heard them, they began to weep as well. They begged Agrippa to help them. They also called out to Neopolitanus, telling him about the many wrongs they had suffered under Florus.

When Agrippa and Neopolitanus entered the city, the people showed them the empty marketplace and the houses that had been robbed. They then persuaded Neopolitanus, through Agrippa, to walk around the city with only one servant. They wanted him to see for himself that the Jews were obedient to the rest of the Roman officials and were angry only with Florus because of his extreme cruelty.

Neopolitanus walked around the city and saw that the people were calm. Afterward, he went up to the temple and called the crowd together. He praised them for remaining loyal to Rome and urged them to keep the peace. He also took part in the religious worship at the temple as far as he was permitted to do so. Then he returned to Cestius.

The Jewish crowd then went to Agrippa and the high priests. They asked permission to send ambassadors to Nero to accuse Florus. They said that if they remained silent, people might think they had caused the massacres and were planning a revolt.

They argued that if they didn’t show who had started the trouble, everyone would believe that the Jews had begun the war. It was also clear that the people would not remain quiet if anyone tried to stop them from sending the embassy.

Agrippa believed it would be dangerous for the Jews to send men to accuse Florus before Nero. Still, he knew he couldn’t ignore a crowd that was already prepared for war. So he called the people together in a large gallery.

He placed his sister Bernice in the house of the Hasmoneans, where the people could see her. The house stood above the gallery, near the passage leading to the upper city, at the place where the bridge connected the temple with the gallery. Agrippa then spoke to the people:

“If I had seen that all of you were determined to fight the Romans, and that the better and more honest part of the nation wanted no peace, I wouldn’t have come out to speak with you. I wouldn’t have dared to offer advice. When people have already agreed to do the opposite of what they should do, every speech urging them to act rightly is useless.

“But I know that some of you want war because you are young and have never experienced the suffering that war brings. Some want it because they foolishly expect to recover their freedom. Others support it because they hope to profit from the confusion. They want to seize the property of people too weak to resist them.

“For these reasons, I called you together. I want to tell you what I believe will help you. Perhaps the young will gain wisdom and change their minds. Perhaps the better people among you will not suffer because of the foolish actions of others.

“Don’t become angry with me if you dislike what I say. Those who are determined to revolt can keep the same opinion after my speech is over. But even those who are willing to listen won’t gain anything from my words unless everyone remains quiet while I speak.

“I know that many of you make loud complaints about the injuries caused by your governors. I also know that you speak proudly about the benefits of freedom. Before we decide who must fight and whom we must fight, we need to separate these arguments, because you are joining things together that don’t belong together.

“If your goal is to take revenge on the men who have harmed you, why do you call this war a fight to recover your freedom? But if you believe all slavery is unbearable, what difference does it make whether a particular governor treated you kindly? Even if your governors treated you with fairness, it would still be shameful, according to your argument, to live under foreign rule.

“Look at each reason you have given for war, and you will see how little cause you have for taking up arms.

“Your first complaint is against your governors. In that case, you should submit to those in authority and avoid provoking them. When you loudly accuse men over small offenses, you turn them into your enemies. They may stop harming you in private or with some restraint, and begin destroying your property openly.

“Nothing weakens the force of an injury more than patience. When those who are mistreated remain calm, the people who mistreat them may stop causing them pain. But even if we assume that the Roman officials are unjust and impossible to correct, they aren’t all Romans. Caesar himself, against whom you are preparing to fight, hasn’t injured you.

“No governor was sent here by Caesar’s command to commit every evil act. The rulers in the western parts of the empire cannot see what is happening in the east. Many times, they can’t even hear about it. So it is foolish to fight a great many people because of one man. It is even more foolish to fight a mighty nation over a small cause, especially when that nation may not know what you are complaining about.

“These wrongs can also be corrected without war. The same governor will not remain here forever. His successors may come with milder and better intentions. War, once it begins, is not easily ended. It cannot be carried on without bringing disaster with it.

“As for your wish to recover your freedom, you have chosen a very late time to pursue it. You should have fought long ago, before you lost your freedom. It was reasonable to resist when Roman rule was first being imposed. The first experience of slavery is hard to bear, and it would have been right to struggle so that you would never become subject to it.

“But a slave who has already been conquered and then runs away is not really acting like a lover of freedom. He is acting like a rebellious slave. The proper time to do everything possible was when Pompey first came into this country. You should never have allowed the Romans to enter Jerusalem.

“Yet our ancestors and their kings were stronger than we are. They had more money, stronger bodies, and braver spirits. Even they couldn’t withstand a small Roman army. You have now been accustomed to obeying Rome for generation after generation. You are weaker in every way than the people who first submitted. Do you really intend to fight the entire Roman Empire?

“Think about the Athenians. They once burned their own city to preserve the freedom of Greece. They pursued Xerxes, the proud king who claimed that he could sail across the land and march across the sea. His army was so large that it seemed too great for Europe to contain. Yet the Athenians drove him away like a fugitive in a single ship and defeated so much of his power at Salamis.

“Even those Athenians are now servants of Rome. Orders sent from Italy become laws in Athens, the leading city of Greece.

“Consider the Spartans as well. They won great victories at Thermopylae and Plataea. They had King Agesilaus and explored every part of Asia. They too are content to accept Roman rule.

“The Macedonians still remember the greatness of Philip and Alexander. Alexander promised them rule over the whole world. Yet they have accepted their changed condition and now obey the people whom fortune has placed above them.

“More than ten thousand other nations have a better reason than you do to demand freedom, but they all submit. You alone think it disgraceful to serve the people whom nearly the whole world obeys.

“What army are you counting on? What weapons do you have? Where is your fleet, the fleet that could seize control of Roman waters? Where are the treasures needed to support such a war?

“Do you think you will be fighting only the Egyptians and Arabians? Will you refuse to consider the size of the Roman Empire? Will you compare it with your own weakness? Your army has often been defeated by neighboring peoples, while Roman power has proved victorious across the whole inhabited earth.

“The Romans are still searching for lands beyond those they have conquered. The Euphrates isn’t a sufficient boundary for them in the east, nor is the Danube enough to hold them back in the north. In the south, they have explored Libya as far as the uninhabited regions. In the west, their rule reaches to Gades. They have even searched for another inhabited world beyond the ocean and carried their weapons to British islands that were once unknown.

“What do you have that they don’t? Are you richer than the Gauls? Stronger than the Germans? Wiser than the Greeks? More numerous than all the other peoples of the earth? What gives you the confidence to oppose Rome?

“Perhaps you will say that slavery is hard to endure. It is hard, but it is even harder for the Greeks, who are considered the noblest people under the sun. They live in a large and prosperous country, yet they submit to the Roman fasces.

“The Macedonians have an even stronger reason to demand freedom than you do, but they also obey Rome. What about the five hundred cities of Asia? Don’t they submit to one governor and to Roman authority?

“Why should I speak about the Heniochi, the Colchi, the Tauri, the people who live around the Bosporus, and the nations near Pontus and the Sea of Azov? Once they had no ruler of their own. Now three thousand armed Roman soldiers control them, and forty long ships keep their seas peaceful. Those waters were once too dangerous for ships to sail.

“How much stronger a claim to freedom could Bithynia, Cappadocia, Pamphylia, Lycia, and Cilicia make? Yet they pay tribute to Rome without requiring a large Roman army.

“Look at the Thracians. Their country takes five days to cross in width and seven days in length. It is rougher and easier to defend than your land. Its severe cold alone can stop armies from invading. Still, they submit to only two thousand Roman soldiers.

“The Illyrians live in the neighboring country, extending toward Dalmatia and the Danube. Barely two Roman legions govern them and keep back the Dacian raids.

“The Dalmatians often rebelled to regain their freedom. In earlier times, they were never fully defeated, because they always gathered their forces and rose again. Now they live quietly under one Roman legion.

“If great advantages were enough to make a people revolt, the Gauls would have the best reason of all. Nature protects them on every side. The Alps guard them in the east, the Rhine in the north, the Pyrenees in the south, and the ocean in the west.

“Those Gauls have every natural defense against invasion. They also have three hundred and five nations among them. Their land contains the sources of many good things, and its wealth flows out to much of the world. Yet they pay tribute to Rome and receive their prosperity under Roman rule.

“They don’t submit because they are weak-minded or descended from an unworthy people. They fought for eighty years to preserve their freedom. They submit because they respect Roman power and because Roman fortune has proved stronger than their weapons.

“Twelve hundred Roman soldiers keep these Gauls under control, hardly more soldiers than the Gauls have cities. The gold taken from the mines of Spain couldn’t support a war for their freedom. Their great distance from Rome, by land and sea, couldn’t save them either.

“The fierce tribes of Lusitania and Spain were conquered as well. Even the ocean and its tides, which terrified the people who lived there before, couldn’t protect them. Rome carried its arms beyond the Pillars of Hercules, crossed the Pyrenees as though walking among the clouds, and subdued those nations.

“One Roman legion is enough to guard them, even though they were difficult to conquer and live so far from Rome.

“Who among you hasn’t heard about the Germans? You have often seen them yourselves. They are tall and strong, and Roman armies capture them everywhere. These Germans live in a huge country. Their courage is greater than their bodies, they despise death, and when they are angry, they are fiercer than wild animals.

“Still, the Rhine limits their attacks, and eight Roman legions have brought them under control. Some Germans were taken captive and became servants. The rest of the nation had to save itself by fleeing.

“You trust in the walls of Jerusalem. Think about the walls the Britons had. The Romans sailed across the sea, invaded their island, and conquered them while the ocean surrounded them. Their island is almost as large as the whole inhabited earth, yet four Roman legions are enough to guard it.

“Why should I say more? The Parthians are among the most warlike people in the world. They rule many nations and are surrounded by great armies, yet they send hostages to Rome. You can see their nobles in Italy, where this greatest nation of the East submits to Rome under the name of peace.

“Almost every people under the sun obeys Roman arms. Will you be the only people to fight them? Remember what happened to Carthage. Its people boasted about the great Hannibal and their noble Phoenician ancestry, but Scipio defeated them.

“The Cyrenians, who came from the Spartans, couldn’t stop Roman power. Neither could the Marmaridae, whose land reaches toward regions where no one can live because there is no water. The Syrtes, a place frightening even to hear described, couldn’t stop Rome. The Nasamones, the Moors, and the countless Numidians couldn’t stop Roman courage either.

“Look at Africa, the third great part of the inhabited earth. Its nations are so numerous that they are hard to count. The Atlantic Ocean and the Pillars of Hercules bound it on one side, and its land supports countless Ethiopians as far as the Red Sea. Rome has conquered all of it.

“Africa supplies Rome with the yearly harvest that feeds its people for eight months of the year. It also pays every kind of tribute and provides revenue for the needs of the government. The people there don’t consider it shameful to obey Rome, even though only one Roman legion remains among them.

“There is no need to prove Roman power by talking about distant countries. Egypt, which is near us, shows enough. Egypt reaches toward Ethiopia, Arabia Felix, and India. Its population is about seven and a half million, not counting the people of Alexandria, as can be seen from the poll tax.

“Egypt isn’t ashamed to submit to Rome, even though Alexandria gives it a strong reason to revolt. The city is crowded with people and wealth, and it is enormous, measuring thirty furlongs in length and at least ten in width.

“Egypt pays more money to Rome in one month than you pay in a whole year. In addition to its money, it sends grain to Rome that supports the city for four months.

“Egypt is also protected by deserts that are nearly impossible to cross, seas without harbors, rivers, and lakes. None of these defenses has been too strong for Roman fortune. Two legions stationed in Alexandria control both the distant parts of Egypt and the regions where the more noble Macedonians live.

“Where will you find allies? Will they come from lands no one inhabits? Nearly everyone in the inhabited world is under Roman rule.

“Perhaps you hope that Jews living beyond the Euphrates, in Adiabene, will come to your aid. They won’t involve themselves in an unjust war. Even if they wanted to follow such bad advice, the Parthians wouldn’t allow it. The Parthians need to keep their treaty with Rome. If anyone under their rule marched against the Romans, the Parthians would be accused of breaking their agreement.

“That leaves only one hope, the help of God. But God’s favor is already with the Romans. No empire so great could have been established without God’s providence.

“Think about how difficult it will be to keep your religious customs during this war. They are hard enough to observe when you are fighting people you can defeat. How can you expect God’s help when you will be forced to break his laws? If you keep the Sabbath and refuse to act on that day, the enemy will easily capture you.

“Your ancestors learned this when Pompey attacked them. He made his strongest efforts to take the city on the very days when the Jews were resting.

“But if you break the law during the war, what reason will you have left for fighting? Your concern should be to avoid doing anything against the traditions of your ancestors. How can you ask God to help you while you willingly violate your own religion?

“Everyone who goes to war depends either on divine help or on human strength. Your war will cut you off from both. Those who insist on fighting are choosing certain destruction.

“If you are determined to destroy yourselves, why not kill your children and wives with your own hands and burn this beautiful city? At least then you would avoid the shame of being defeated.

“But my friends, it would be far better to see the coming storm while your ship is still in the harbor. Don’t leave the port and sail into the middle of a hurricane. We pity people who fall into great disasters without seeing them coming. But a person who rushes knowingly into destruction deserves blame instead of pity.

“No one should imagine that you can enter this war by agreement, or that the Romans will treat you gently once they have conquered you. They will likely burn your holy city and destroy your nation as an example to other peoples.

“Those of you who survive will have nowhere to escape. Every nation already has Rome as its master, or fears that Rome will soon become its master.

“The danger won’t affect only the Jews who live here. It will reach Jews in every other city as well. There is no inhabited country without Jewish communities. If you go to war, your enemies will kill those Jews because of your revolt.

“Every city with a Jewish population could be filled with slaughter because of a few men. The people who kill them may be forgiven because they will claim that they are punishing enemies. But if no such slaughter takes place, remember how wicked it would be for you to take up arms against people who have treated you kindly.

“Have pity, then. If not for your children and wives, at least have pity on this great city and its sacred walls. Spare the temple. Protect this holy house and its treasures for yourselves.

“If the Romans gain control of you, they won’t continue to spare those things. Your former protection of the temple will have been repaid with ingratitude.

“I call your sanctuary as my witness. I call the holy angels of God as witnesses. I call this land, which belongs to all of us, as a witness. I haven’t held anything back that could help save you.

“If you follow the advice you ought to follow, you and I will share the same peace. But if you give yourselves over to your anger, you will face dangers from which I will be free.”

When Agrippa finished speaking, he and his sister began to weep. Their tears restrained much of the people’s anger. Still, the crowd shouted that they didn’t want to fight the Romans. They wanted to fight Florus because of everything he had done to them.

Agrippa answered that their actions had already begun to look like a war against Rome.

“You have refused to pay the tribute owed to Caesar. You have also cut off the temple colonnades from the tower of Antonia. If you reconnect the colonnades and pay the tribute, you can remove every reason for revolt.

“The fortress no longer belongs to Florus, and the tribute money isn’t being paid to Florus.”

CHAPTER 17

How the War Between the Jews and the Romans Began, and the Story of Manahem

The people accepted this advice and went up to the Temple with the king and Bernice. They began rebuilding the colonnades. The rulers and senators also divided themselves among the villages and collected the taxes. Before long, they had gathered the forty talents that were still owed. In this way, Agrippa brought the threatened war to an end for the time being.

He also tried to persuade the people to obey Florus until Caesar sent someone to replace him. But this only made the people angrier. They insulted the king and forced him out of the city. Some of the rebels even had the nerve to throw stones at him.

When the king saw that the men calling for rebellion could not be restrained, and when he became angry over the insults he had received, he sent the rulers and other powerful men to Florus in Caesarea. He told Florus to appoint whoever he considered suitable to collect the taxes in the country. Agrippa then returned to his own kingdom.

Around this time, some of the men who had stirred up the people and urged them toward war attacked a fortress called Masada. They captured it by treachery, killed the Roman soldiers stationed there, and placed men from their own party in charge of it.

At the same time, Eleazar, the son of Ananias the high priest, was serving as commander of the Temple. He was a bold young man, and he persuaded the priests who performed the sacred services to accept no gift or sacrifice from any foreigner.

This was the real beginning of the war between the Jews and the Romans. The Jews rejected Caesar’s sacrifice for this reason. Many of the high priests and other leading men pleaded with them not to stop the sacrifice, since it had always been offered for the rulers. But the rebels refused to listen.

They trusted in their numbers, because the strongest part of the rebel party supported them. Still, their greatest respect was given to Eleazar, the commander of the Temple.

The powerful men gathered with the high priests. The leading Pharisees also joined them. They believed everything was at risk and that their troubles were becoming impossible to cure, so they met to decide what should be done.

They decided to try to persuade the rebels with words. They gathered the people in front of the Brazen Gate, the gate of the inner Temple court, which faced east toward the sunrise.

First, they spoke of their anger over the attempt to begin a revolt and bring such a terrible war upon their country. Then they showed that the rebels’ argument could not be defended.

They reminded the people that their ancestors had decorated much of the Temple with gifts from foreigners. The Jews had always accepted offerings brought by other nations. They had not rejected anyone’s sacrifice, since doing so would be a serious act of impiety. In fact, they had placed many foreign gifts around the Temple, where they could still be seen after all those years.

The leaders warned that the rebels were now provoking the Romans to take up arms against them. They were inviting the Romans to make war on the Jewish nation. They were introducing strange new rules about divine worship and risking the judgment that their city would be condemned for impiety. They were refusing to let anyone but Jews offer sacrifices or worship in the Temple.

If such a law were imposed against one private person, they said, everyone would consider it cruel and inhuman. Yet the rebels showed no concern for the Romans or Caesar, and they even refused to accept offerings made for Caesar.

The leaders also warned that if the Jews rejected the Romans’ sacrifices, the Romans might refuse to allow the Jews to offer their own sacrifices. Jerusalem could lose its position as the chief city unless the rebels quickly changed their minds, restored the sacrifices according to the old custom, and corrected the insult before the people they had offended heard about it.

While they were speaking, the leaders brought forward priests who knew the customs of the nation. These priests testified that their ancestors had always accepted sacrifices from foreign nations.

Still, not one of the rebels would listen. Even the men who served in the Temple refused to carry out the sacred services. Instead, they were preparing everything needed to begin the war.

The powerful men saw that they could not put down the revolt. They also realized that if the Romans attacked, they would be the first to suffer. So they tried to protect themselves.

They sent one group of ambassadors to Florus. Simon, the son of Ananias, was the chief among them. They sent another group to Agrippa. The most important men in that group were Saul, Antipas, and Costobarus, all of whom were related to the king.

They asked both Florus and Agrippa to come to Jerusalem with an army and destroy the rebels before the revolt became too strong to control.

This message pleased Florus, since he wanted a war to break out. He gave the ambassadors no answer at all.

Agrippa, on the other hand, was concerned about both sides, the people who were rebelling and those who would have to fight them. He wanted to preserve the Jews for the Romans, and the Temple and the capital city for the Jews. He also understood that continued disorder would not help him.

So he sent three thousand horsemen to aid the people. They came from Auranitis, Batanea, and Trachonitis. Darius, the king’s cavalry commander, led them, with Philip, the son of Jacimus, who commanded the army.

The powerful men, the high priests, and all the people who wanted peace gained courage from this. They seized the upper city, Mount Zion, while the rebels controlled the lower city and the Temple.

Both sides constantly attacked each other with stones, slings, and darts. At times, groups made sudden attacks and fought hand to hand. The rebels were bolder, but the king’s soldiers had better military skill.

The king’s soldiers focused mainly on capturing the Temple and driving out the men who had profaned it. The rebels, led by Eleazar, tried to take the upper city in addition to the places they already held.

For seven days, the two sides continued killing one another. Neither side surrendered the part of the city it had captured.

The next day was the Festival of Xylophory. On this festival, everyone was expected to bring wood for the altar so there would always be enough fuel for the sacred fire, which was never allowed to go out.

That day, the rebels prevented the other side from taking part in this religious duty. They also joined forces with many of the Sicarii. That was the name given to robbers who carried short swords called sicae beneath their clothing.

With these men among them, the rebels became more confident and pushed their attack further. The king’s soldiers were overwhelmed by the rebels’ numbers and courage. They were forced to retreat and were driven out of the upper city.

The rebels then burned the house of Ananias the high priest, along with the palaces of Agrippa and Bernice. After that, they set fire to the building where the public records were stored.

They wanted to destroy the contracts held by creditors and cancel the debts recorded in them. By doing this, they hoped to win over the many people who owed money. They also wanted to persuade the poor to join the revolt, since they would no longer have to fear the wealthy creditors.

The keepers of the records fled, and the rebels burned the documents. After destroying what held the city’s debts together, they attacked their enemies.

Some of the powerful men and high priests hid in underground passages. Others fled with the king’s soldiers to the upper palace and immediately shut the gates. Ananias the high priest and the ambassadors who had been sent to Agrippa were among those who took refuge there.

The rebels were satisfied with the victory they had won and with the buildings they had burned, so they did not continue the attack that day.

The following day was the fifteenth day of the month Lous, called Ab by the Jews. The rebels attacked Antonia and besieged the Roman garrison there for two days. They finally captured the fortress, killed the soldiers, and set the citadel on fire.

Afterward, they marched against the palace where the king’s soldiers had taken refuge. The rebels divided themselves into four groups and attacked the walls.

The soldiers inside did not dare to make a sortie because the attackers were so numerous. Instead, they took positions behind the defenses and in the towers, shooting at the rebels below. Many of the robbers were killed beneath the walls.

The fighting continued day and night. The rebels expected the soldiers inside to grow tired because they were running out of food. The soldiers, on the other hand, hoped the rebels outside would lose heart because of the long siege.

During this time, a man named Manahem, the son of Judas the Galilean, gathered some important followers and went to Masada. He was a clever speaker who had once accused the Jews under Cyrenius of being subject to the Romans after God alone.

At Masada, Manahem broke open King Herod’s armory. He took weapons not only for his own followers but also for other robbers. He used these armed men as his personal guard and returned to Jerusalem like a king.

Manahem became the leader of the revolt and ordered the siege to continue. The rebels lacked the proper tools, however, and could not easily undermine the wall because the defenders were shooting down at them from above.

Even so, they dug a tunnel from a great distance beneath one of the towers. The tower began to lean. The rebels then set fire to everything that could burn and left the area. When the supports beneath the tower had been destroyed by the fire, the tower suddenly collapsed.

The rebels discovered that the defenders had built another wall behind it. The soldiers inside had realized what the rebels were doing, probably because they felt the tower shaking as the tunnel was dug beneath it. They had prepared a second defense before the tower fell.

The rebels had expected to capture the fortress, so the sight of the new wall startled them. The defenders then sent word to Manahem and the other rebel leaders, asking permission to leave under an agreement.

The rebels allowed the king’s soldiers and their fellow Jews to leave. The Roman soldiers who remained were discouraged. They knew they could not fight their way through such a large crowd. They also thought it would be shameful to ask the rebels for a pledge of safety, and they did not trust the rebels to honor one even if they gave it.

So the Romans abandoned their camp, which was easy for the rebels to seize, and fled to the royal towers called Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne.

Manahem and his followers attacked the camp after the soldiers had fled. They killed as many of the Romans as they could catch before they reached the towers. They also took the supplies the soldiers had left behind and burned the camp.

This happened on the sixth day of the month Gorpieus, which the Jews call Elul.

The next day, the robbers found Ananias the high priest hiding in an aqueduct. They killed him and his brother Hezekiah.

After this, the rebels surrounded the towers and guarded them closely so none of the soldiers inside could escape.

The capture of the strongholds and the death of Ananias the high priest made Manahem proud and cruel. Since he believed no one could challenge his authority, he became an unbearable tyrant.

Eleazar and his followers argued against him. They said that the Jews had rebelled against the Romans because they wanted freedom, so they should not hand that freedom over to one of their own people. They said it was shameful to accept a master who was no better than themselves, even if he did not commit acts of violence.

If the people needed someone to direct public affairs, they said, they should choose anyone but Manahem.

Manahem went to the Temple to worship in a display of royal splendor. He wore royal clothing, and his followers went with him in full armor.

Eleazar and his men attacked him there. The rest of the people joined them. They picked up stones and threw them at Manahem, believing that if they destroyed him, the entire revolt would collapse.

Manahem and his followers resisted for a while. But when they saw that the whole crowd was attacking them, they fled in every direction. Those who were caught were killed, and the people searched for those who had hidden.

A few escaped secretly to Masada. One of them was Eleazar, the son of Jairus, who was related to Manahem. He later became a tyrant at Masada.

Manahem himself fled to a place called Ophla and hid there. The people found him alive and dragged him out before everyone. They tortured him in many ways and then killed him. They also killed the officers who had served under him, especially Apsalom, the chief instrument of Manahem’s tyranny.

Up to this point, the people had supported Eleazar and his followers because they hoped Manahem’s death might bring an end to the rebellion’s worst actions.

The rebels, however, had no desire to end the war. They believed they could now continue the fighting with less danger because Manahem was dead.

The people repeatedly begged them to stop attacking the soldiers, but the rebels only pressed the siege harder.

At last, Metilius, the Roman commander, sent a message to Eleazar. He asked that the Romans be allowed to keep their lives, while agreeing to surrender their weapons and everything else they possessed.

The rebels accepted the request. They sent Gorion, the son of Nicodemus; Ananias, the son of Sadduk; and Judas, the son of Jonathan to promise the Romans safety. The ambassadors gave them assurances and swore oaths that the soldiers would not be harmed.

Metilius then led his soldiers down from the fortress. While the soldiers were still armed, none of the rebels attacked them, and there was no obvious sign of treachery.

But once the Romans had laid down their shields and swords according to the agreement, and the rebels no longer appeared to have any reason to fear them, Eleazar’s men suddenly attacked. They surrounded the soldiers and killed them.

The Romans did not defend themselves or beg for mercy. They only cried out that the rebels had broken their agreement and violated their oaths.

All the soldiers were killed except Metilius. When he begged for his life, he promised to become a Jew and accept circumcision. The rebels spared him, but they killed everyone else.

The Roman loss was small, since only a few men had been killed from such a large army. Even so, the massacre looked like a warning of the destruction that would soon fall upon the Jews.

When the people saw that the city had allowed such an act to take place, they openly mourned. They believed the murder had created a war that could no longer be avoided. The city had been polluted by such wickedness, and it was reasonable to expect punishment from God even if the Jews managed to escape punishment from the Romans.

Jerusalem filled with sorrow. The more moderate people were troubled because they feared that they might be punished for the crimes of the rebels.

The massacre took place on the Sabbath, the day when the Jews rest from their work for the sake of divine worship.

CHAPTER 18

The Disasters and Massacres That Befell the Jews

On the very same day and at the very hour when the Roman soldiers were killed, the people of Caesarea also slaughtered the Jews who lived among them. It seemed as though Providence had directed both events to happen at once. In a single hour, more than twenty thousand Jews were killed, and Caesarea was emptied of its Jewish population. Florus captured those who tried to escape and sent them in chains to the galleys.

The news of what had happened at Caesarea filled the whole Jewish nation with anger. The people divided into several groups and attacked the villages and cities of the Syrians. They destroyed Philadelphia, Sebonitis, Gerasa, Pella, Scythopolis, Gadara, and Hippos. They then moved through Gaulanitis, destroying some cities and setting others on fire. After that, they attacked Kedasa, which belonged to the Tyrians, along with Ptolemais, Gaba, and Caesarea.

Sebaste, also called Samaria, and Askelon were unable to resist them. The Jews burned both cities to the ground. They also completely destroyed Anthedon and Gaza. Many villages around each of these cities were plundered, and countless men who were captured were put to death.

The Syrians answered the Jews with massacres of their own. They killed every Jew they caught in their cities, not only because of the hatred they had carried against them for so long, but also because they feared what the Jews might do to them. The disorder spread through all Syria. Every city was divided into two hostile camps, each one setting up its own army against the other. Each side believed it could survive only by destroying the other.

The days were spent in bloodshed, while the nights were filled with fear. In some ways, the nights were worse. Even after the Syrians believed they had destroyed the Jews, they still suspected those who favored Judaism. Since neither side wanted to kill everyone who was merely suspected of supporting the enemy, both sides feared such people when they were mixed in among them, as though they were certainly foreigners.

Greed also drove people to murder their opponents. Even men who had once seemed gentle and kind toward their neighbors joined in. They plundered the possessions of the dead without fear and carried the spoils home as if they had won them in a lawful battle. The man who took the largest share was praised as honorable because people believed he had defeated the greatest number of enemies.

It became common to see cities filled with unburied bodies. The dead included old men and infants, all lying scattered together. Women also lay among them, their bodies left uncovered. The whole province was filled with horrors that words could not describe, and the fear of even worse acts was greater than the suffering that had already taken place.

Until this point, the fighting had been between the Jews and foreigners. But when the Jews entered the area of Scythopolis, they found that some of their own people had joined their enemies. These Jewish residents had placed their personal safety above their connection to the Jewish nation, and they fought against their own countrymen.

They fought so eagerly that the people of Scythopolis began to suspect them. They feared that these Jews might attack the city during the night and then use that attack to prove to their own people that they had only pretended to turn against them. The people of Scythopolis therefore told them that, if they wanted to prove their loyalty to the city and confirm their agreement with a foreign people, they should leave the city with their families and camp in a nearby grove.

The Jewish residents did exactly as they were told, without suspecting the plan against them. The people of Scythopolis waited for two days, allowing them to feel secure. On the third night, they seized the opportunity and attacked. They cut the throats of some while they were unguarded and killed others as they slept. More than thirteen thousand people were murdered. Afterward, the attackers took everything the victims possessed.

What happened to Simon also deserves to be told. He was the son of Saul, a well-known man among the Jews. Simon stood out from the others because of his physical strength and his courage. He used both qualities, however, to harm his own people.

Every day, he went out and killed many of the Jews of Scythopolis. He often drove them into flight, and he alone was frequently the reason his side won its battles. But he eventually received a fitting punishment for killing people who belonged to the same nation as he did.

When the people of Scythopolis began throwing their weapons at the Jews in the grove, Simon drew his sword. He didn’t attack the enemy, because he saw that he could do nothing against such a large crowd. Instead, he cried out in a way that moved everyone who heard him:

“O people of Scythopolis, I deserve what is happening to me because of what I did among you. I proved my loyalty to you by killing so many of my own relatives. We are now suffering the treachery of foreigners, just as we acted wickedly against our own nation.

“I will die by my own hand, polluted as I am. I shouldn’t die by the hands of our enemies. Let my death punish me for my crimes, and let it also show my courage. No enemy should be able to boast that he killed me, and no one should insult me as I fall.”

After saying this, Simon looked around at his family with both pity and anger. His family included his wife and children, as well as his elderly parents. First, he seized his father by his gray hair and drove his sword through him. His mother willingly received the same fate. He then killed his wife and children. Almost every member of his family offered themselves to his sword because they wanted to avoid being killed by the enemy.

When he had killed them all, Simon stood on top of their bodies where everyone could see him. He raised his right hand so that all would notice what he was about to do, then drove his sword into his own stomach.

This young man deserved pity because of his physical strength and courage. But he had promised foreigners that he would remain loyal to them against his own people, and for that he suffered a deserved fate.

The massacre at Scythopolis was not the only attack against the Jews. Other cities also rose up against the Jews who lived among them. The people of Askelon killed 2,500 Jews. The people of Ptolemais killed 2,000 and imprisoned many others. The people of Tyre also killed a large number, while keeping even more in prison.

The people of Hippos and Gadara acted in the same way. They killed the boldest Jews and imprisoned those they feared. The other cities of Syria did whatever their hatred or fear led them to do.

Only the people of Antioch, Sidon, and Apamea spared the Jews who lived among them. They refused to kill them or place them in chains. Perhaps they did this because their own numbers were so great that they had no reason to fear the Jews. But I believe much of their mercy came from seeing that the Jews had not tried to cause any trouble.

The people of Gerasa also did no harm to the Jews who remained among them. Those who wanted to leave were escorted safely to the borders of the city.

A plot was also formed against the Jews in the kingdom of Agrippa. Agrippa himself had gone to Antioch to meet Cestius Gallus, but he had left one of his companions, a man named Noarus, in charge of public affairs. Noarus was related to King Sohaemus.

At that time, seventy men came from Batanea. They were the most prominent and sensible men among the people there. They asked Noarus to give them an army so they could have enough protection if a revolt broke out against them.

Instead, Noarus sent some of the king’s soldiers against them during the night and had all seventy men killed. He carried out this bold act without Agrippa’s permission. Noarus was so greedy for money that he was willing to act wickedly against his own countrymen, even though his actions brought ruin upon the kingdom.

He continued treating the people with cruelty and breaking the law until Agrippa learned what he had done. Agrippa didn’t dare put Noarus to death because he respected Sohaemus, but he immediately removed him from his office.

The rebels then seized a fortress called Cypros, which stood above Jericho. They killed the entire garrison and destroyed the fortifications. Around the same time, the Jewish population at Machaerus persuaded the Romans stationed there to leave the fortress and hand it over to them.

The Romans were afraid that the Jews would capture the place by force, so they agreed to leave under certain conditions. Once the Romans had received the guarantees they demanded, they handed over the fortress. The people of Machaerus placed their own garrison there and kept control of the place.

In Alexandria, conflict between the local population and the Jews had continued for a long time. It had begun when Alexander the Great saw how willingly the Jews helped him in his war against the Egyptians. As a reward, he gave the Jews the same rights in Alexandria that the Greeks enjoyed.

That privilege continued under Alexander’s successors. They also assigned the Jews a separate part of the city so they could live there without being forced into close contact with foreigners. The rulers gave them another honor as well, allowing them to be called Macedonians.

After the Romans took control of Egypt, neither Julius Caesar nor any ruler who followed him reduced the privileges Alexander had granted the Jews. Even so, fights between the Jews and Greeks continued. The governors punished many people every day, but the conflict kept getting worse.

At this time, when riots were breaking out in many other places, the trouble in Alexandria became even more violent. The people of Alexandria held a public meeting in the theater to discuss an embassy they planned to send to Nero. A large number of Jews entered the theater.

When their enemies saw them, they immediately shouted that the Jews were enemies who had come to spy on them. The crowd rushed at the Jews and attacked them. Those who couldn’t escape were killed as they ran.

The Alexandrians captured three men and dragged them away so they could burn them alive. All the Jews then gathered together to defend them. At first, they threw stones at the Greeks. Then they took lamps and rushed into the theater. They threatened to burn every person there.

They would soon have carried out the threat if Tiberius Alexander, the governor of the city, hadn’t stopped them. He didn’t begin by using weapons against them. Instead, he secretly sent some of the leading men among them to ask the Jews to remain calm and avoid provoking the Roman army.

The rebels mocked Tiberius Alexander’s pleas and insulted him for making them.

When Tiberius Alexander saw that the rebels would not calm down until some great disaster fell upon them, he sent the two Roman legions stationed in Alexandria against them. He also sent 5,000 other soldiers who had recently arrived from Libya. These troops were allowed not only to kill the Jews but also to plunder their possessions and burn their homes.

The soldiers rushed into the part of the city called Delta, where the Jewish population lived. They carried out their orders, though some of them were killed as well. The Jews gathered together and placed their best-armed men at the front. They resisted the Romans for a long time.

But when the Jews began to retreat, the Romans slaughtered them without mercy. Some were caught in the open, while others were driven into their houses. The Romans first plundered the houses and then set them on fire. They showed no mercy to infants and no respect for the elderly. They continued killing people of every age until the entire area was covered in blood.

Fifty thousand Jews lay dead in heaps. The rest would also have been killed if they hadn’t begged for mercy. Alexander felt pity for them and ordered the Romans to withdraw. The soldiers were used to obeying orders, so they stopped killing as soon as they received the command.

The people of Alexandria hated the Jews so fiercely, however, that it was difficult to pull them away from the attack. They were also unwilling to leave the bodies of those who had been killed.

This was the terrible disaster that struck the Jews of Alexandria at that time.

After hearing what had happened, Cestius decided he could no longer remain inactive while the Jews everywhere were taking up arms. He took the entire Twelfth Legion from Antioch. From each of the other legions, he selected 2,000 soldiers. He also brought six cohorts of infantry and four troops of cavalry, along with soldiers supplied by allied kings.

Antiochus sent 2,000 horsemen and 3,000 infantry, supported by the same number of archers. Agrippa sent 3,000 infantry and 1,000 horsemen. Sohaemus joined the army with 4,000 soldiers. One-third of his men were horsemen, and most of the rest were archers.

Cestius marched with this army toward Ptolemais. Large numbers of soldiers also came from the free cities. They didn’t have the same experience in warfare as the Roman troops, but their eagerness and hatred of the Jews made up for their lack of skill.

Agrippa traveled with Cestius. He guided the army through the country and advised Cestius about what should be done. Cestius took part of his forces and hurried toward Zabulon, a strong city in Galilee. The city was also called the City of Men, and it marked the border between the territory of Ptolemais and the Jewish nation.

Cestius found the city abandoned by its men. Most of the people had fled into the mountains, but the city was filled with valuable goods. Cestius allowed his soldiers to plunder it and then set it on fire. Zabulon was a beautiful city, with houses built in the style of those in Tyre, Sidon, and Berytus.

Afterward, Cestius marched through the surrounding country. He seized everything that fell into his hands and burned the nearby villages. Then he returned to Ptolemais.

While the Syrians, especially the people of Berytus, were busy plundering, the Jews regained their courage. They knew that Cestius had withdrawn, so they suddenly attacked the soldiers who had been left behind. They killed about 2,000 of them.

Cestius then marched from Ptolemais to Caesarea. He sent part of his army ahead to Joppa and ordered them to keep the city if they could capture it by surprise. If the people of Joppa discovered the attack, the soldiers were told to wait for Cestius and the rest of the army.

Some of the troops hurried along the coast, while others approached by land. Attacking the city from both sides, they captured it without difficulty. The people of Joppa had made no preparations to escape and had gathered nothing they could use for defense.

The soldiers fell upon them and killed them along with their families. They then plundered the city and burned it. The number of people killed was 8,400.

Cestius also sent a large force of cavalry into the district of Narbatene, which bordered Caesarea. The soldiers destroyed the countryside, killed many of its people, plundered their possessions, and burned their villages.

Cestius sent Gallus, the commander of the Twelfth Legion, into Galilee. He gave him as many troops as he believed were needed to bring the region under Roman control.

Sepphoris, the strongest city in Galilee, welcomed Gallus with joyful shouts. Because the city chose this sensible course, the other cities remained quiet as well. The rebels and bandits fled to a mountain in the center of Galilee, directly across from Sepphoris. The mountain was called Asamon.

Gallus brought his army against them. The rebels held the higher ground above the Romans, so they could easily throw their weapons down upon the soldiers as they approached. They killed about 200 Romans.

The Romans then marched around the mountain and reached the ground above their enemies. The rebels were quickly defeated. They wore only light armor and couldn’t withstand soldiers covered in full armor. Once they were beaten, they also couldn’t escape the Roman cavalry.

Only a few managed to hide in places among the mountains that were difficult to reach. More than 2,000 others were killed.

CHAPTER 19

What Cestius Did Against the Jews, How He Retreated from Jerusalem Without Any Good Reason, and the Heavy Losses His Army Suffered During the Retreat

Gallus saw that nothing more was likely to cause an uprising in Galilee, so he returned with his army to Caesarea. Cestius, however, moved forward with all his forces and marched to Antipatris. When he learned that a large group of Jewish soldiers had gathered at a tower called Aphek, he sent a detachment to attack them. The Jews fled in fear before the fighting even began. The Romans entered their abandoned camp, burned it, and set fire to the villages around it.

Cestius then marched from Antipatris to Lydda. He found the city almost empty of men, since the entire population had gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Still, he killed fifty people who remained, burned the city, and continued on his way. He went up through Bethoron and set up his camp at a place called Gabao, about fifty furlongs from Jerusalem.

When the Jews saw that the war was moving toward their capital, they left the feast and took up their weapons. Their large numbers gave them great confidence, and they rushed into battle in a sudden and disorderly attack, shouting loudly. They paid no attention to the fact that it was the seventh day, even though they honored the Sabbath more than any other day. Their anger made them forget their usual religious observance, but it also gave them such force that they overwhelmed the Romans.

The Jews broke through the Roman ranks and pushed straight through the middle of the army, killing many soldiers as they went. If the cavalry, along with the infantry who were still fresh, hadn’t turned around and helped the part of the army that was breaking apart, Cestius and his entire force would have been in serious danger.

The Romans lost 515 men, including 400 infantry soldiers and the rest cavalry. The Jews lost only twenty-two men. Among the Jewish dead were Monobazus and Kenedeus, relatives of Monobazus, the king of Adiabene. Next to them in courage were Niger of Perea and Silas of Babylon. Silas had once served in King Agrippa’s army before deserting and joining the Jews.

After the front of the Jewish army had been pushed back, the Jews withdrew into the city. Simon, the son of Giora, still attacked the rear of the Roman army as it climbed toward Bethoron. He threw the last part of the army into confusion, captured many of the animals carrying the Roman weapons, and brought them into the city.

Cestius remained there for three days. During that time, the Jews took control of the high ground around the city, posted guards at the entrances, and made it clear that they were ready to attack as soon as the Romans began to march.

When Agrippa saw that the Roman army was in danger, surrounded as it was by such a large number of enemies on the mountains, he decided to try to settle the matter by speaking with the Jews. He hoped either to persuade all of them to stop fighting or, at least, to separate the more reasonable men from the rebels.

He sent Borceus and Phebus, two men from his own party who were well known to the Jews. They promised that Cestius would offer them his hand and guarantee the Romans’ complete forgiveness for everything they had done, if they would lay down their weapons and come over to him.

The rebels feared that the whole crowd might accept Agrippa’s offer in the hope of saving themselves. So they decided to attack and kill the messengers. They killed Phebus before he could say a word, but Borceus was only wounded and escaped by running away.

The people were furious when they heard what had happened. They beat the rebels with stones and clubs, then drove them back into the city.

Cestius saw that the disagreement among the Jews gave him a good chance to attack. He took his entire army against them, drove them away, and pursued them to Jerusalem. He then set up his camp on a hill called Scopus, or the Watchtower, about seven furlongs from the city.

For three days, he didn’t attack. He expected that the people inside might give in. During that time, he sent many soldiers into the nearby villages to seize their grain.

On the fourth day, the thirtieth day of the month Hyperbereteus, or Tisri, he arranged his army for battle and led it into the city. The people were being controlled by the rebels, but the rebels themselves were terrified by the Romans’ orderly advance. They left the suburbs and withdrew into the inner part of the city and into the Temple.

When Cestius entered the city, he set fire to the section called Bezetha, also known as the New City, or Cenopolis. He also burned the timber market. After that, he moved into the Upper City and set up his camp across from the royal palace.

If he had attacked the walls at that moment, he would have taken the city at once and ended the war. But Tyrannius Priscus, the army’s muster-master, along with many of the cavalry officers, had been bribed by Florus. They persuaded Cestius not to make the attack. Because of that decision, the war continued for a long time, and the Jews suffered disasters that could not be repaired.

During this time, several leading men in the city were persuaded by Ananus, the son of Jonathan, to invite Cestius inside. They were ready to open the gates for him. But Cestius ignored their offer. Part of the reason was his anger toward the Jews, and part was that he didn’t believe they were truly prepared to surrender.

He waited so long that the rebels discovered what Ananus and his followers were planning. They threw Ananus and the others down from the wall. Then they pelted them with stones and forced them into their houses. The rebels themselves took up positions at the towers, where they threw spears at the Romans who tried to climb over the wall.

The Romans attacked the wall for five days, but they accomplished nothing. On the sixth day, Cestius chose many of his best soldiers and brought archers with them. He tried to break into the Temple from the northern side.

The Jews drove them away from the surrounding colonnades. Several times, they pushed the Romans back when they came close to the wall. At last, the huge number of darts forced the Romans to retreat.

The first line of Roman soldiers placed their shields against the wall. The soldiers behind them placed their shields over the first row, and the men behind them did the same. In this way, they formed what the Romans called the Testudo, or tortoise formation. The darts thrown at them struck the shields and slid away without causing harm.

Protected by this formation, the soldiers dug beneath the wall. They prepared everything needed to set fire to the Temple gate, and the Jews were unable to stop them.

A terrible fear seized the rebels. Many of them ran out of the city as if they believed it would fall at once. When the people saw the rebels giving way, they grew confident. They moved into the places the rebels had abandoned and prepared to open the gates and welcome Cestius as their protector.

If Cestius had continued the siege a little longer, he would certainly have taken the city. But, as I suppose, God had already turned against the city and the sanctuary, and for that reason Cestius was prevented from ending the war that very day.

Cestius didn’t understand how close the besieged people were to giving up, and he didn’t realize that the people were ready to support him. So he recalled his soldiers. He gave up hope of taking the city, even though no defeat had forced him to withdraw, and he retreated for no clear reason at all.

When the robbers saw this unexpected retreat, they regained their courage. They rushed after the rear of the Roman army and killed many cavalrymen and infantry soldiers. Cestius spent that night at the camp on Scopus.

The next day, he marched farther away, and this encouraged the Jews to keep pursuing him. They attacked the rear of the army again and again. They also attacked both sides of the Roman column, throwing their darts at an angle.

The soldiers at the rear didn’t dare turn around to face those attacking them from behind. They believed the number of pursuers was enormous. They also couldn’t drive away the Jews attacking them from the sides. Their armor and weapons made them slow, and they feared that breaking formation would destroy the army’s order. The Jews, on the other hand, were lightly armed and ready to rush in and out of the fight.

Because of this, the Romans suffered heavy losses without being able to strike back. The Jews harassed them the entire way, broke apart their ranks, and killed the soldiers who became separated. Among the dead were Priscus, commander of the Sixth Legion; Longinus, a military tribune; and Emilius Secundus, commander of a cavalry troop.

The Romans reached Gabao, their former camp, only after great difficulty. They also lost much of their baggage. Cestius remained there for two days, unsure what to do. On the third day, he saw an even larger number of Jewish soldiers gathering around him. Every place nearby was filled with Jews, and he understood that staying any longer would only bring more enemies against him.

To make the army move faster, Cestius ordered his soldiers to throw away anything that might slow them down. They killed the mules and other animals, except for those carrying their darts and military machines. They kept those animals because they feared the Jews would capture the weapons.

Cestius then led the army toward Bethoron. The Jews didn’t press them as hard in the open country. But when the Romans entered the narrow roads leading down from the hills, the Jews attacked them from every side.

Some Jews moved ahead of the army and blocked the narrow passages. Others pushed the soldiers at the rear down into the lower ground. The rest spread across the heights above the road and covered the Roman army with darts.

The infantry didn’t know how to defend themselves, but the cavalry was in even greater danger. The horsemen were struck so heavily that they couldn’t keep their ranks while moving along the road. The climbs were too steep for the cavalry to attack the Jews, and on both sides were valleys and cliffs where men and horses often fell.

There was nowhere to escape, and the Romans could find no way to protect themselves. Their distress became so great that they began to cry out and mourn like men who had lost all hope. The Jews answered with shouts of victory and encouraged one another. Their voices echoed through the hills, filled with both joy and anger.

The Jews were nearly ready to capture Cestius and his entire army when night came. The Romans fled into Bethoron, while the Jews took control of the surrounding ground and watched for the Romans to come out in the morning.

Cestius no longer hoped to move his army out in an orderly march, so he made plans to escape as quickly as possible. He chose 400 of his bravest soldiers and placed them at the strongest parts of the fortifications. He ordered them to raise the Roman standards when the morning watch began. This would make the Jews believe that the entire army was still in the camp.

Cestius took the rest of his forces and marched away in silence. He traveled thirty furlongs during the night.

When the Jews saw in the morning that the camp was empty, they attacked the 400 soldiers who had deceived them. They immediately threw their darts at them and killed every one of them. Then they set out after Cestius.

Cestius had already spent much of the night fleeing, and he moved even faster after daylight came. The Roman soldiers were so shocked and frightened that they abandoned their siege engines, their stone-throwing machines, and much of their other military equipment.

The Jews pursued the Romans as far as Antipatris. When they realized they couldn’t catch them, they turned back. They gathered the engines, stripped the dead bodies, and collected the supplies the Romans had left behind. Then they returned to Jerusalem, running and singing.

The Jews had lost only a few men. The Romans had lost 5,300 infantry soldiers and 380 cavalrymen. This defeat took place on the eighth day of the month Dius, or Marcheshvan, in the twelfth year of Nero’s reign.

CHAPTER 20

Cestius Sends Envoys to Nero. The People of Damascus Kill the Jews Living Among Them. After the People of Jerusalem Stop Chasing Cestius, They Return to the City, Prepare Its Defenses, and Appoint Many Commanders, Including Josephus, the Writer of These Books. An Account of His Administration

After this disaster had overtaken Cestius, many of the most important Jews escaped from the city, just as people leave a ship when they see that it is about to sink. Costobarus and Saul, who were brothers, fled with Philip, the son of Jacimus, commander of King Agrippa’s army. They went to Cestius.

Antipas had also been trapped with them in the king’s palace, but he refused to flee with them. He was later killed by the rebels, though I will give the details of his death in another place.

Cestius then sent Saul and his companions to Achaia, where Nero was staying. They went at their own request, so they could report the great danger they were facing and accuse Florus of starting the war. Cestius hoped that Nero’s anger against Florus would lessen the danger he himself faced.

At that same time, the people of Damascus learned that the Romans had been defeated. They immediately began planning to kill the Jews who lived among them. The Jews had already been gathered together in the public exercise ground because the people of Damascus suspected them. Since they were all shut up in one place, the Damascenes thought the killings would be easy.

Still, they feared their own wives, almost all of whom followed the Jewish religion. Their main concern was to keep the plan hidden from them. They therefore attacked the Jews without warning and cut their throats. The Jews numbered ten thousand, they had no weapons, and they were trapped in a narrow place. In less than an hour, the Damascenes killed every one of them without anyone coming to their aid.

Those who had chased Cestius returned to Jerusalem. Some of the people who supported the Romans were forced to join them, while others were persuaded by their requests. Soon, a large crowd gathered in the Temple, and they appointed many commanders for the war.

Joseph, the son of Gorion, and Ananus the high priest were chosen to manage all affairs within the city. They were also ordered to repair the city walls. Eleazar, the son of Simon, was not given this authority, even though he had taken possession of the goods seized from the Romans, the money captured from Cestius, and a large part of the public treasury.

The people refused to appoint him because they saw that he had a tyrant’s spirit, and his followers stood around him like armed guards. Yet the people needed Eleazar’s money, and he used clever tricks to win them over. In the end, he deceived them and gained control of the city’s public affairs.

They also appointed commanders for Idumea. These were Jesus, the son of Sapphias, one of the high priests, and Eleazar, the son of Ananias, the high priest. They ordered Niger, the governor of Idumea, to obey these commanders. Niger came from Perea, the land beyond the Jordan, which is why he was called the Peraite.

They also appointed commanders for the other parts of the country. Joseph, the son of Simon, was sent to govern Jericho. Manasseh was placed over Perea, and John the Essene was given command of the toparchy of Thamna. Lydda, Joppa, and Emmaus were added to his authority.

John, the son of Matthias, was made governor of the toparchies of Gophnitica and Acrabattene. Josephus, the son of Matthias, was placed over both Galilees. Gamala, the strongest city in that region, was also put under his command.

Each commander managed his own territory with as much energy and good judgment as he possessed. When Josephus arrived in Galilee, his first concern was to win the people’s trust. He understood that if he gained their goodwill, he would succeed in most of his other duties, even if he failed in some matters.

He also knew that sharing part of his authority with the leading men would make them loyal friends. He believed the common people would trust him as well if he carried out his commands through men from their own country, men they already knew.

For this reason, he chose seventy of the wisest men in Galilee. They were also advanced in age, and he appointed them to govern the whole region. In every city, he appointed seven judges to settle smaller disputes. Major cases, especially those involving life and death, had to be brought before Josephus and the seventy elders.

After establishing these courts to settle disputes according to the law, Josephus turned his attention to protecting the people from outside attack. He knew the Romans would invade Galilee, so he built defensive walls at Jotapata, Bersabee, and Selamis. He also fortified Caphareccho, Japha, Sigo, Mount Tabor, Tarichee, and Tiberias.

He built walls around the caves near the lake of Gennesar, all of which were in Lower Galilee. In Upper Galilee, he fortified the Rock of the Achabari, Seph, Jamnith, and Meroth. In Gaulonitis, he strengthened Seleucia, Sogane, and Gamala.

Sepphoris was the only city that he allowed to build its own walls. Its people were wealthy, had enough resources for war, and needed no orders to prepare their defenses. The same was true of Gischala. John, the son of Levi, built its wall himself with Josephus’s approval.

Josephus helped with the construction of all the other fortresses. He worked alongside the builders and stayed present to give whatever orders were needed. He also raised an army in Galilee of more than one hundred thousand young men. He armed them with old weapons that he had gathered and prepared for their use.

Josephus understood that Rome’s strength came mainly from two things, its soldiers obeyed orders quickly, and they trained constantly with their weapons. He knew he couldn’t teach his own men the skill that Roman soldiers gained through long experience. But he saw that the Romans were also effective because they had many officers to direct the troops.

For that reason, he organized his army in a way that copied the Roman system. He appointed many lower-ranking officers and divided the soldiers into different groups. Captains commanded groups of ten, others commanded groups of one hundred, and others commanded one thousand. Above them, he placed officers over even larger bodies of soldiers.

He taught the men how to send signals to one another, how to call soldiers forward and order them back by trumpet, and how to spread out the wings of an army. He showed them how to turn one wing around, how to help another wing that was under pressure, and how to defend the part of the army that had suffered the greatest loss.

He also trained them in courage and endurance. Most of all, he prepared them for war by explaining the discipline of the Romans. He told them they would face men who had conquered almost the whole inhabited world through the strength of their bodies and the courage of their hearts.

Josephus said he would test their discipline before they ever reached a battlefield. They had to stop committing the crimes they had made a habit of committing, including theft, robbery, violence, and cheating their own countrymen. They were not to treat harm done to their neighbors as a personal gain.

He told them that armies fight best when their soldiers have clear consciences. Wicked men, he said, would have more enemies than the people who attacked them. They would also have God himself fighting against them.

Josephus continued to teach them these things. He chose an army of sixty thousand infantry and two hundred fifty cavalrymen for the war. Along with them were about four thousand five hundred hired soldiers, whom he trusted greatly. He also kept six hundred men as his personal guard.

The cities could easily support most of the army, except for the hired soldiers. Each city named above sent half of its men to serve in the army and kept the other half at home to gather food and supplies. One group went to war while the other worked.

In this way, those who supplied the grain received payment from the soldiers through the protection the army gave them.

The Jewish War – Flavius Josephus

The Jewish War By Flavius Josephus

PREFACE

BOOK I

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

The Jewish War – Book 2

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

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