 Preface of the Wars of the Jews I have already observed more than once that this history of the Jewish War was Josephus' first work and published about AD 75 when he was about 38 years of age, and that when he wrote it he was not thoroughly acquainted with several circumstances of history from the days of Antiochus Epiphanes with which it begins till near his own times, contained in the first and former part of the second book, and so committed many involuntary errors therein, that he published his antiquities 18 years afterward in the 13th year of Domitian AD 93 when he was much more completely acquainted with those ancient times, and after he had perused those most authentic histories, the first book of Maccabees, and the chronicles of the priesthood of John Hercanus, etc. that accordingly he then reviewed those parts of this work and gave the public a more faithful, complete and accurate account of the facts therein related, and honestly corrected the errors he had before run into. End of Footnote Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans has been the greatest of all those not only that have been in our times, but in a manner of those that ever were heard of, both of those wherein cities have fought against cities or nations against nations, while some men who were not concerned in the affairs themselves have gotten together vain and contradictory stories by hearsay, and have written them down after a sophisticated manner, and while those that were there present have given false accounts of things, and this either out of a humor of flattery to the Romans or of hatred towards the Jews, and while their writings contain sometimes accusations and sometimes encomiums, but know where the accurate truth of the facts, I have proposed to myself, for the sake of such as live under the government of the Romans, to translate those books into the Greek tongue which I formally composed in the language of our country and sent to the Upper Barbarians. Footnote Who these Upper Barbarians remote from the sea were, Josephus himself will inform us in section 2, namely the Parthians and Babylonians and remotest Arabians of the Jews among them, besides the Jews beyond Euphrates and the Adiabenei or Assyrians. Hence we also learned that these Parthians, Babylonians, the remotest Arabians or at least the Jews among them, as also the Jews beyond Euphrates and the Adiabenei or Assyrians understood Josephus's Hebrew or rather caldaic books of the Jewish war before they were put into the Greek language. End of footnote Joseph, the son of Matthias, by Bertha Hebrew, a priest also, and one who at first fought against the Romans myself and was forced to be present at what was done afterwards and the author of this work. Now at the time when this great concussion of affairs happened, the affairs of the Romans were themselves in great disorder. Those Jews also who were for innovations then arose when the times were disturbed. They were also in a flourishing condition for strength and riches in so much that the affairs of the East were then exceeding to multuous, while some hoped for gain and others were afraid of loss in such troubles. For the Jews hoped that all of their nation which were beyond Euphrates would have raised an insurrection together with them. The Gauls also in the neighbourhood of the Romans were in motion and the Jeltyn were not quiet, but all was in disorder after the death of Nero. And the opportunity now offered induced many to aim at the royal power and the soldiery affected change out of the hopes of getting money. I thought it therefore an absurd thing to see the truth falsified in affairs of such great consequence and to take no notice of it, but to suffer those Greeks and Romans that were not in the wars to be ignorant of these things and to read either flatteries or fictions, while the Parthians and the Babylonians and the remotest Arabians and those of our nation beyond Euphrates with the Adiabenei by my means knew accurately both whence the war begun, what miseries it brought upon us, and after what manner it ended. It is true these writers have the confidence to call their accounts histories, wherein yet they seem to me to fail of their own purpose as well as to relate nothing that is sound, for they have a mind to demonstrate the greatness of the Romans, while they still diminish and lessen the actions of the Jews, as not discerning how it cannot be that those must appear to be great who have only conquered those that were little, nor are they ashamed to overlook the length of the war, the multitude of the Roman forces who so greatly suffered in it, or the might of the commanders whose great labours about Jerusalem will be deemed inglorious if what they achieved be reckoned but a small matter. However, I will not go to the other extreme out of opposition to those men who extol the Romans, nor will I determine to raise the actions of my countrymen too high, but I will prosecute the actions of both parties with accuracy, yet shall I suit my language to the passions I am under as to the affairs I describe, and must be allowed to indulge some lamentations upon the miseries undergone by my own country. For that it was a seditious temper of our own that destroyed it, and that they were the tyrants among the Jews who brought the Roman power upon us, who unwillingly attacked us and occasioned the burning of our holy temple, Titus Caesar, who destroyed it, is himself a witness, who during the entire war pitted the people who were kept under by the seditious, and did often voluntarily delay the taking of the city and allowed time to the siege in order to let the authors have opportunity for repentance. But if any one makes an unjust accusation against us when we speak so passionately about the tyrants, or the robbers, or sorely bewail the misfortunes of our country, let him indulge my affections herein, though it be contrary to the rules for writing history, because it had so come to pass that our city Jerusalem had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sores of calamities again. Accordingly it appears to me that the misfortunes of all men from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews, footnote that these calamities of the Jews, who were our saviour's murderers, were to be the greatest that had ever been since the beginning of the world, our saviour had directly foretold. Matthew chapter 24 verse 21, Mark chapter 13 verse 19, Luke chapter 21 verses 23 and 24, and that they proved to be such accordingly Josephus is here a most authentic witness. End of footnote. Are not so considerable as they were, while the authors of them were not foreigners neither. This makes it impossible for me to contain my lamentations, but if any one be inflexible in his censures of me, let him attribute the facts themselves to the historical part, and the lamentations to the writer himself only. However I may justly blame the learned men among the Greeks, who when such great actions have been done in their own times, which upon the comparison quite eclipse the old wars, do yet sit as judges of those affairs, and pass bitter censures upon the labours of the best writers of antiquity, which moderns, although they may be superior to the old writers in eloquence, yet are they inferior to them in the execution of what they intended to do. While these also write new histories about the Assyrians and Medes, as if the ancient writers had not described their affairs as they ought to have done, although these be as far inferior to them in abilities as they are different in their notions from them. For of old everyone took upon them to write what happened in his own time, where their immediate concern in the actions made their promises of value, and where it must be reproachful to write lies when they must be known by the readers to be such. But then an undertaking to preserve the memory of what hath not been before recorded, and to represent the affairs of one's own time to those that come afterwards, is really worthy of praise and commendation. Now he is to be esteemed to have taken good pains in earnest, not who does no more than change the disposition and order of other men's works, but he who not only relates what hath not been related before, but composes an entire body of history of his own. Accordingly I have been at great charges and have taken very great pains about this history, though I be a foreigner, and do dedicate this work as a memorial of great actions both to the Greeks and to the barbarians. But for some of our own principal men their mouths are wide open and their tongues loosed presently for gain and lawsuits, but quite muzzled up when they are to write history where they must speak truth and gather facts together with a great deal of pains, and so they leave the writing such histories to weaker people and to such as are not acquainted with the actions of princes. Yet shall the real truth of historical facts be preferred by us, how much so ever it be neglected among the Greek historians. To write concerning the antiquities of the Jews, who they were originally, and how they revolted from the Egyptians, and what country they travelled over, and what countries they seized upon afterward, and how they were removed out of them, I think this not to be a fit opportunity, and on other accounts also superfluous. And this because many Jews before me have composed the histories of our ancestors very exactly, as have some of the Greeks done it also, and have translated our histories into their own tongue, and have not much mistaken the truth in their histories. But then, where the writers of these affairs and our prophets leave off, thence shall I take my rise and begin my history. Now as to what concerns that war which happened in my own time, I will go over it very largely, and with all the diligence I am able. But for what preceded my known age, that I shall run over briefly. For example, I shall relate how Antiochus, who was named Epiphanes, took Jerusalem by force, and held it three years and three months, and was then ejected out of the country by the sons of Asimonius. After that, how their posterity quarrelled about the government, and brought upon their settlement the Romans and Pompey. How Herod also, the son of Antipater, dissolved their government, and brought Sosius upon them. As also how our people made a sedition upon Herod's death, while Augustus was the Roman emperor, and Quintilius Verus was in that country, and how the war broke out in the twelfth year of Nero, with what happened to Cestius, and what places the Jews assaulted in a hostile manner in the first sallies of the war. As also I shall relate how they built walls about the neighbouring cities, and how Nero upon Cestius's defeat was in fear of the entire event of the war, and there upon made Vespasian general in this war, and how this Vespasian with the elder of his sons, footnote Titus, end of footnote, made an expedition into the country of Judea, what was the number of the Roman army that he made use of, and how many of his auxiliaries were cut off in all Galilee, and how he took some of its cities entirely and by force, others of them by treaty and on terms. Now, when I am come so far, I shall describe the good order of the Romans in war and the discipline of their legions, the amplitude of both the Galilees with its nature and the limits of Judea, and besides this I shall particularly go over what is peculiar to the country, the lakes and fountains that are in them, and what miseries happened to every city as they were taken, and all this with accuracy as I saw the things done or suffered in them, for I shall not conceal any of the calamities I myself endured since I shall relate them to such as know the truth of them. After this I shall relate how, when the Jews affairs were become very bad, Nero died, and Vespasian, when he was going to attack Jerusalem, was called back to take the government upon him, what signs happened to him relating to his gaining that government, and what mutations of government then happened at Rome and how he was unwillingly made emperor by his soldiers, and how, upon his departure to Egypt, to take upon him the government of the empire, the affairs of the Jews became very tumultuous, as also how the tyrants rose up against them and fell into dissensions among themselves. Moreover I shall relate how Titus marched out of Egypt into Judea the second time, as also how and where and how many forces he got together, and in what state the city was by the means of the seditious at his coming, what attacks he made and how many ramparts he cast up, of the three walls that encompassed the city and of their measures, of the strength of the city and the structure of the temple and holy house, and besides the measures of those edifices and of the altar, and all accurately determined. A description also of certain of their festivals and seven purifications of purity. Footnote, these seven or rather five degrees of purity or purification are enumerated hereafter. The rabbins make ten degrees of them as Rieland there informs us. End of footnote. And the sacred administrations of the priests with the garments of the priests and of the high priests and of the nature of the most holy place of the temple without concealing anything or adding anything to the known truth of things. After this I shall relate the barbarity of the tyrants towards the people of their own nation as well as the indulgence of the Romans in sparing foreigners and how often Titus out of his desire to preserve the city and the temple invited the seditious to come to terms of accommodation. I shall also distinguish the sufferings of the people and their calamities, how far they were afflicted by the sedition and how far by the famine and at length were taken. Nor shall I omit to mention the misfortunes of the deserters nor the punishments inflicted on the captives, as also how the temple was burnt against the consent of Caesar and how many sacred things that had been laid up in the temple were snatched out of the fire, the destruction also of the entire city with the signs and wonders that went before it and the taking the tyrants captives and the multitude of those that were made slaves and into what different misfortunes they were every one distributed. Moreover what the Romans did to the remains of the wall and how they demolished the strongholds that were in the country and how Titus went over the whole country and settled its affairs together with his return into Italy and his triumph. I have comprehended all these things in seven books and have left no occasion for complaint or accusation to such as have been acquainted with this war and I have written it down for the sake of those that love truth but not for those that please themselves with fictitious relations and I will begin my account of these things with what I call my first chapter. End of Preface Recording by Graham Redman Book 1, chapters 1 and 2 Containing the interval of 167 years from the taking of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Herod the Great Chapter 1 How the city Jerusalem was taken and the temple pillaged by Antiochus Epiphanes as also concerning the actions of the Maccabees Matthias and Judas and concerning the death of Judas At the same time that Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes had a quarrel with the sixth Ptolemy about his right to the whole country of Syria a great sedition fell among the men of power in Judea and they had a contention about obtaining the government while each of those that were of dignity could not endure to be subject to their equals. However, Onias, one of the high priests got the better and cast the sons of Tobias out of the city who fled to Antiochus and besought him to make use of them for his leaders and to make an expedition into Judea. The king being there too disposed beforehand complied with them and came upon the Jews with a great army and took their city by force and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months. But Onias, the high priest, fled to Ptolemy and received a place from him in the nomus of Heliopolis where he built a city resembling Jerusalem and a temple that was like its temple concerning which we shall speak more in its proper place hereafter. Footnote I see little difference in the several accounts in Josephus about the Egyptian temple Onian of which large complaints are made by his commentators. Onias, it seems, hoped to have made it very like that at Jerusalem and of the same dimensions and so he appears to have really done as far as he was able and thought proper. Of this temple see Antiquities B. 13 Chapter 3, sections 1 through 3 and Of the War B. 7 Chapter 10, section 8 and Footnote 2 Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city or with its pillage or with the great slaughter he had made there but being overcome with his violent passions and remembering what he had suffered during the siege he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country and to keep their infants uncircumcised and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar against which they all opposed themselves and the most approved among them were put to death. Bacchides also, who was sent to keep the fortresses having these wicked commands joined to his own natural barbarity indulged all sorts of the extremist wickedness and tormented the worthiest of the inhabitants man by man and threatened their city every day with open destruction till at length he provoked the poor sufferers by the extremity of his wicked doings to avenge themselves. 3 Accordingly Matthias, the son of Asimonius one of the priests who lived in a village called Modin armed himself together with his own family which had five sons of his in it and slew Bacchides with daggers and thereupon out of the fear of the many garrisons of the enemy he fled to the mountains and so many of the people followed him that he was encouraged to come down from the mountains and to give battle to Antiochus's generals when he beat them and drove them out of Judea. So he came to the government by this his success and became the prince of his own people by their own free consent and then died leaving the government to Judas, his eldest son. 4 Now Judas, supposing that Antiochus would not lie still gathered an army out of his own countrymen and was the first that made a league of friendship with the Romans and drove epiphanies out of the country when he had made a second expedition into it this by giving him a great defeat there and when he was warmed by this great success he made an assault upon the garrison that was in the city for it had not been cut off hitherto so he ejected them out of the upper city and drove the soldiers into the lower which part of the city was called the citadel he then got the temple under his power and cleansed the whole place and walled it round about and made new vessels for sacred administrations and brought them into the temple the former vessels had been profaned he also built another altar and began to offer the sacrifices and when the city had already received its sacred constitution again Antiochus died whose son Antiochus succeeded him in the kingdom and in his hatred to the Jews also 5 so this Antiochus got together 50,000 footmen and 5,000 horsemen and four score elephants and marched through Judea into the mountainous parts he then took Bethsura, which was a small city but at a place called Bethsacarus where the passage was narrow Judas met him with his army however before the forces joined battle Judas' brother Eliezer seeing the very highest of the elephants adorned with a large tower and with military trappings of gold to guard him and supposing that Antiochus himself was upon him he ran a great way before his own army and cutting his way through the enemy's troops he got up to the elephant yet he could not reach him who seemed to be the king by reason of his being so high but still he ran his weapon into the belly of the beast and brought him down upon himself and was crushed to death having done no more than attempted great things and showed that he preferred glory before life now he that governed the elephant was but a private man and had he proved to be Antiochus Eliezer had performed nothing more by this bold stroke than that it might appear he chose to die when he had the bare hope of thereby doing a glorious action nay this disappointment proved an omen to his brother Judas how the entire battle would end it is true that the Jews fought it out bravely for a long time but the king's forces being superior in number and having fortune on their side obtained the victory and when a great many of his men were slain Judas took the rest with him and fled to the toparchy of Gopna so Antiochus went to Jerusalem and stayed there but a few days for he wanted provisions and so he went his way he left indeed a garrison behind him such as he thought sufficient to keep the place but drew the rest of his army off to take their winter quarters in Syria six now after the king was departed Judas was not idle for as many of his own nation came to him so did he gather those that had escaped out of the battle together and gave battle again to Antiochus' generals that a village called Adassa and being too hard for his enemies in the battle and killing a great number of them he was at last himself slain also nor was it many days afterward that his brother John had a plot laid against him by Antiochus' party and was slain by them Chapter 2 concerning the successors of Judas who were Jonathan and Simon and John Hercanus 1. When Jonathan, who was Judas' brother succeeded him he behaved himself with great circumspection in other respects with relation to his own people and he corroborated his authority by preserving his friendship with the Romans he also made a league with Antiochus the son yet was not all this sufficient for his security for the tyrant trifo who was guardian to Antiochus' son laid a plot against him and besides that endeavored to take off his friends and caught Jonathan by a while he went to Tolmeus to Antiochus with a few persons in his company and put him in bonds and then made an expedition against the Jews but when he was afterward driven away by Simon who was Jonathan's brother and was enraged at his defeat he put Jonathan to death 2. However, Simon managed the public affairs after a courageous manner and took Gazara and Joppa and Jamnia which were cities in his neighborhood he also got the garrison under he was afterward an auxiliary to Antiochus against Trifo whom he besieged in Dora before he went on his expedition against the Medes yet could not he make the king ashamed of his ambition though he had assisted him in killing Trifo for it was not long ere Antiochus sent Sendebius his general with an army to lay waste to Judea and to subdue Simon yet he, though he is now in years conducted the war as if he were a much younger man he also sent his sons with a band of strong men against Antiochus while he took part of the army himself with him and fell upon him from another quarter he also laid a great many men in ambush in many places of the mountains and was superior in all his attacks upon them and when he had been conqueror after so glorious a manner he was made high priest and also freed the Jews from the dominion of the Macedonians after 170 years of the empire of Seleucus 3. This Simon also had a plot laid against him and was slain at a feast by his son-in-law Ptolemy who put his wife and two sons into prison and sent some persons to kill John who was also called Herkenus footnote why this John the son of Simon the high priest and governor of the Jews was called Herkenus Josephus nowhere informs us nor is he called other than John at the end of the first book of the Maccabees however, Sixtus Suensis when he gives us an epitome of the Greek version of the book here abridged by Josephus or of the chronicles of this John Herkenus then extant assures us that he was called Herkenus from his conquest of one of that time see authentic wreck part one page 207 but of this younger Antiochus see Dean Alturgis note here and footnote but when the young man was informed of their coming beforehand he made haste to get to the city with a very great confidence in the people there both on account of the memory of the glorious actions of his father and of the hatred they could not but bear to the injustice of Ptolemy Ptolemy also made an attempt to get into the city by another gate but was repelled by the people who had just then admitted of Herkenus so he retired presently to one of the fortresses that were about Jericho which was called Dagon now when Herkenus had received the high priesthood which his father had held before and had offered sacrifices to God he made great haste to attack Ptolemy that he might afford relief to his mother and brethren so he laid siege to the fortress and was superior to Ptolemy and other respects but was overcome by him as to the just affection he had for his relations for when Ptolemy was distressed he brought forth his mother and his brethren and set them upon the wall and beat them with rods in everybody's sight and threatened that unless he would go away immediately he would throw them down headlong at which sight Herkenus' commiseration and concern were too hard for his anger but his mother was not dismayed neither at the stripes she received nor at the death with which she was threatened but stretched out her hands and prayed her son not to be moved with the injuries that she suffered to spare the wretch since it was to her better to die by the means of Ptolemy than to live ever so long provided he might be punished for the injuries he'd done to their family now John's case was this when he considered the courage of his mother and heard her entreaty he said about his attacks but when he saw her beaten and torn to pieces with the stripes he grew feeble and was entirely overcome by his affections and as the siege was delayed by this means fear of rest came on upon which the Jews rest every seventh year as they do on every seventh day on this year therefore Ptolemy was freed from being besieged and slew the brethren of John with their mother and fled to Zeno which was also called Cotialis who is the tyrant of Philadelphia five and now Antiochus was so angry at what he had suffered from Simon that he made an expedition into Judea and sat down before Jerusalem and besieged Herkenes but Herkenes opened the sepulchre of David who was the richest of all kings since about three thousand talents in money and induced Antiochus by the promise of three thousand talents to raise the siege moreover he was the first of the Jews that had money enough and began to hire foreign axiliaries also six however at another time when Antiochus was gone upon an expedition against the Medes and so gave Herkenes an opportunity of being revenged upon him he immediately made an attack upon the cities of Syria what proved to be the case with them that he should find them empty of God troops so he took Medaba and Samya with the towns in their neighborhood as also Shechem and Girazim and besides these he subdued the nation of the Cuthians who dwelt round about that temple which was built in imitation of the temple at Jerusalem he also took a great many other cities of Idumia with Adourian and Marissa seven he also proceeded as far as Samaria where is now the city Sebast which was built by Herod the king and encompassed it all round with a wall and set his sons Aristobulus and Antigonus over the siege who pushed it on so hard that a famine so far prevailed within the city that they were forced to eat what never was esteemed food they also invited Antiochus who was called Sissinus to come to their assistance whereupon he got ready for the invasion but was beaten by Aristobulus and Antigonus and fled away from them so they returned back to Samaria and shut the multitude again within the wall and when they had taken the city they demolished it and made slaves of its inhabitants and as they had still great success in their undertakings they did not suffer their zeal to cool but marched with an army as far as Sithopolis and made an incursion upon it and laid waste all the country eight but then these successes of John and of his sons made them be envied and occasioned a sedition in the country and many there were who got together and would not be at rest till they break out into open war in which war they were beaten so John lived the rest of his life very happily and administered the government after a most extraordinary manner and this for 33 entire years together he died leaving five sons behind him he was certainly a very happy man and afforded no occasion to have any complaint made of fortune on his account he it was who alone had three of the most desirable things in the world the government of his nation and the high priesthood and the gift of prophecy for the deity conversed with him and he was not ignorant of anything that was to come afterward in so much that he foresaw and foretold that the sons would not continue masters of the government and it will highly deserve our narration to describe their catastrophe and how far inferior these men were to their father in felicity end of book 1 chapters 1 and 2 book 1 chapters 3 and 4 of the wars of the Jews this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information the wars of the Jews by Josephus translated by William Wiston book 1 chapters 3 and 4 chapter 3 how Aristobulus was the first that put a diadem about his head and after he had put his mother and brother to death died himself when he had reigned no more than a year 1 for after the death of their father the elder of them, Aristobulus changed the government into a kingdom and was the first that put a diadem upon his head 471 years and 3 months after our people came down into this country when they were set free from the Babylonian slavery now of his brethren he appeared to have an affection for Antigonus who was next to him and made him his equal but for the rest he bound them and put them in prison he also put his mother in bonds for her contesting the government with him for John had left her to be the governess of public affairs he also proceeded to that degree of barbarity as to cause her to be pined to death in prison 2 but vengeance circumvented him in the affair of his brother Antigonus, whom he loved and whom he made his partner in the kingdom for he slew him by the means of the columnies which ill men about the palace contrived against him at first indeed Aristobulus would not believe their reports partly out of the affection he had for his brother and partly because he thought that a great part of these tales were owing to the envy of their relators however, as Antigonus came once in a splendid manner from the army to that festival wherein our ancient custom is to make tabernacles for God it happened in those days that Aristobulus was sick and that at the conclusion of the feast Antigonus came up to it with his armed men about him and in the finest manner possible and that in a great measure to pray to God on the behalf of his brother now at this very time it was that these ill men came to the king and told him in what a pompous manner the armed men came and with what insolence Antigonus marched and that such his insolence was too great for a private person and that accordingly he was come with a great band of men to kill him for what he could not endure this bare enjoyment of all honor when it was in his power to take the kingdom himself 3 now Aristobulus by degrees and unwillingly gave credit to these accusations and accordingly he took care not to discover his suspicion openly though he provided to be secure against any accidents so he placed the guards of his body in a certain dark subterranean passage for he lay sick in a place called formerly the citadel though afterwards its name was changed to Antonia and he gave orders that if Antigonus came unarmed they should let him alone but if he came to him in his armor they should kill him he also sent home to let him know beforehand that he should come unarmed but upon this occasion the queen very cunningly contrived the matter with those that plotted his ruin for she persuaded those that were sent to conceal the king's message but to tell Antigonus how his brother had heard he had got a very the suit of armor made with fine martial ornaments in Galilee and because his present sickness hindered him from coming and seeing all that finery he very much desired to see him now in his armor because said he in a little time thou art going away from me 4 as soon as Antigonus heard this the good temper of his brother not allowing him to suspect any harm from him he came along with his armor on to show it to his brother when he was going along that dark passage which was called Stratos tower he was slain by the bodyguards and became an eminent instance how Columny destroys all good will and natural affection and how none of our good affections are strong enough to resist and be perpetually 5 and truly anyone would be surprised at Judas upon this occasion he was of the sect of the Essens and had never failed or deceived men in his predictions before now this man saw Antigonus as he was passing along by the temple and cried out to his acquaintance they were not a few who attended upon him as his scholars oh strange said he it is good for me to die now since truth is dead before me and somewhat that I have foretold heth proved false for this Antigonus is this day alive who ought to hair died this day and the place where he ought to be slain according to that fatal decree which is at the distance of six hundred furlongs from this place and yet four hours of this day are over already which point of time renders the prediction impossible to be filled and when the old man had said this he was dejected in his mind and so continued but in a little time news came that Antigonus was slain in a subterraneous passage which was itself also called Stratos Tower by the same name with that Caesarea which lay by the seaside and this ambiguity it was which caused the prophet's disorder 6. Hereupon Aristibulus repented of the great crime he had been guilty of and this gave occasion to the increase of his dissemper he also grew worse and worse and his soul was constantly disturbed at the thoughts of what he had done till his very bowels being torn to pieces by the intolerable grief he was under so threw up a great quantity of blood and as one of those servants that attended and carried out that blood he, by some supernatural providence slipped and fell down in the very place where Antigonus had been slain and so he spilled some of the murderer's blood upon the spots of the blood had been murdered which still appeared Hereupon a lamentable cry arose among the spectators as if the servant had spilled the blood on purpose in that place and as the king heard that cry he inquired what was the cause of it and while nobody dares to tell him he pressed them so much the more to let him know what was the matter so at length, when he had threatened them and forced them to speak out, they told whereupon he burst into tears and groaned and said so I perceive I am not like to escape the all seeing eye of God as to the great crimes I have committed but the vengeance of the blood of my kingsmen pursues me hastily O thou most impudent body how long wilt thou retain a soul that ought to die on account of the punishment that I have sought to suffer for a mother and a brother slain how long shall I myself spend my blood drop by drop let them take it all at once and let their ghosts no longer be disappointed by a few parcels of my bowels offered to them as soon as he had said these words he presently died when he had reigned no longer than a year Chapter 4 What actions were done by Alexander Janius who reigned 27 years 1 2 3 who appeared both elder and age and more moderate in his temper than the rest who, when he came to the government slew one of his brethren as affecting to govern himself but had the other of them in great esteem as loving a quiet life without meddling with public affairs 2 Now it happened that there was a battle between him and Ptolemy who is called Lathras In the city Asokis he indeed slew a great many of his enemies but the victory rather inclined to Ptolemy but when this Ptolemy was pursued by his mother Cleopatra and retired into Egypt Alexander besieged Gadara and took it he also did Amathas which was the strongest of all the fortresses that were about Jordan and therein were the most precious of all the possessions of Theodorus the son of Zeno whereupon Theodopus marched against him and took what belonged to himself as well as the king's baggage and slew ten thousand of the Jews however, Alexander recovered this blow and turned his force towards the maritime parts and took Raphia and Gaza with Anthodon Elso which was afterwards called Agrippius by King Herod 3 but when he had made slaves of the citizens of all these cities the nation of the Jews made an insurrection against him at a festival for at those feasts seditions are generally begun and it looked as if he should not be able to escape the plot they had laid for him and not his foreign axiliaries the Pesidians and Silicians assisted him for as to the Syrians he never admitted them among his mercenary troops on account of their innate enmity against the Jewish nation and when he had slain more than six thousand of the rebels he made an incursion into Arabia and when he had taken that country together with the Gileateries and Moabites he enjoined them to pay him tribute and return to Ariathus and as Theodorus was surprised that his great success he took the fortress and demolished it 4 however when he fought with Obotus King of the Arabians who had lain in ambush for him near Golan and a plot against him he lost his entire army which was crowded together in a deep valley and when he had made his escape to Jerusalem he provoked the multitude which hated him before to make an insurrection against him and this on account of the greatness of the calamity that he was under however he was then too hard for them and in the several battles that were fought on both sides he slew not fewer than fifty thousand of the Jews in the interval of six years yet he had no reason to rejoice in these victories since he did but consume his own kingdom till at length he left off fighting and endeavored to come to a composition with them by talking with his subjects but this mutability and irregularity of his conduct made them hate him still more and when he asked them why they so hated him and what he should do in order to appease them they said by killing himself for that it would be then all they could do to be reconciled to him who had done such tragical things to them with dead at the same time they invited Demetrius who was called Euceras to assist them and as he readily complied with the requests in hopes of great advantages and came with his army the Jews joined with those auxiliaries about Shechem yet did Alexander meet both these forces with one thousand horsemen and eight thousand mercenaries that were on foot he also had with them that part of the Jews which favored him to the number of ten thousand while the adverse party had three thousand horsemen and fourteen thousand footmen now before they joined battle the kings made proclamation and endeavored to draw off each other's soldiers and make them revolt while Demetrius hoped to induce Alexander's mercenaries to leave him and Alexander hoped to induce the Jews that were with Demetrius to leave him but since neither the Jews would leave off their rage nor the Greeks prove unfaithful they came to an engagement and to a close fight with their weapons in which battle Demetrius was the conqueror although Alexander's mercenaries showed the greatest exploits both in soul and body yet did the upshot of this battle prove different from what was expected as to both of them for neither did those that invited Demetrius to come to them continue firm to him though he was conqueror and six thousand Jews out of pity to the change of Alexander's condition when he was fled to the mountains came over to him yet could not Demetrius bear the turn of affairs but supposing that Alexander was already become a match for him again and that all the nation would at length run to him he left the country and went his way however the rest of the Jewish multitude did not lay aside their quarrels with him when the foreign auxiliaries were gone but they had a perpetual war with Alexander until he had slain the greatest part of them and driven the rest into the city Bernasilis and when he had demolished that city he carried the captives to Jerusalem Nay his rage was grown so extravagant that his barbarity proceeded to the degree of impiety for when he had ordered 800 to be hung upon crosses in the midst of the city he had the throats of their wives and children cut before their eyes and these executions he saw as he was drinking and lying down with his concubines upon which so deep a surprise seized on the people that eight thousand of his opposers fled away the very next night while Judea whose flight was only terminated by Alexander's death so at last, though not too late and with great difficulty he, by such actions, procured quiet to his kingdom and left off fighting anymore 7. Yet did that Antiochus who is also called Dionysius became an origin of troubles again this man was the brother of Demetrius and the last of the race of the celliusidae footnote Alexander calls this Antiochus the last of the celliusidae although there remained still a shadow of another king of that family Antiochus Asiaticus, or Comaginus who reigned, or rather lay hid til Pompey quite turned him out as Dean Aldridge here notes from Appian and Justin and footnote Alexander was afraid of him when he was marching against the Arabians so he cut a deep trench between Antipatris which was near the mountains he also erected a high wall before the trench and built wooden towers in order to hinder any sudden approaches but still he was not able to exclude Antiochus for he burnt the towers and filled up the trenches and marched on with his army and as he looked upon taking his revenge on Alexander for endeavoring to stop him as a thing of less consequence he marched directly against the Arabians whose king retired into such parts of the country as were fittest for engaging the enemy and then on the sudden made his horse turn back which were in number 10,000 and fell upon Antiochus's army while they were in disorder and a terrible battle ensued Antiochus's troops so long as he was alive fought it out although a mighty slaughter was made among them by the Arabians but when he fell for he was in the forefront in the utmost danger in rallying his troops they all gave ground and the greatest part of his army were destroyed by the action or the flight and for the rest who fled to the village of Cana it happened that they were all consumed by want of necessaries a few only accepted 8. About this time it was that the people of Damascus out of their hatred to Ptolemy the son of Menhans invited a retus to take the government and made him king of Zellasiria this man also made an expedition against Judea and beat Alexander in battle but afterwards retired by mutual agreement but Alexander when he had taken Pella marched to Gerasa again out of his covetous desire he had of the Odorus's possessions and when he had built a triple wall about the garrison he took the place by force he also demolished Golan and Seleucia and what was called the valley of Antiochus besides which he took the strong fortress of Gamala and stripped Demetrius who was governor therein on account of the many crimes laid to his charge and then returned into Judea after he had been there three whole years in this expedition and now he was kindly received of the nation because of the good success he had so when he was at rest from war he fell into distemper for he was afflicted with a quarten agus and suppose that by exercising himself again in martial affairs he should get rid of this distemper but by making such expeditions at unseasonable times and forcing his body to undergo greater hardships than it was able to bear he brought himself to his end he died therefore in the midst of his troubles after he had reigned seven and twenty years end of book one chapters three and four book one chapters five and six of the wars of the Jews this is a Librivox recording all Librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org The Wars of the Jews by Josephus translated by William Weston book one chapters five and six chapter five Alexandra reigns nine years during which time the Pharisees were the real rulers of the nation one now Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra his wife and depended upon it that the Jews would now very readily submit to her she had been very averse to such cruelty as he had treated them with and had opposed his violation of their laws and had thereby got the goodwill of the people nor was he mistaken as to his expectations for this woman kept the dominion by the opinion that the people had of her piety for she chiefly studied the ancient customs of her country and cast those men out of the government that offended against their holy laws and as she had two sons by Alexander she made her kindness the elder high priest on account of his age as also besides that on account of his inactive temper no way disposing him to disturb the public but she retained the younger Aristobulus with her as a private person by reason of the warmth of his temper two and now the Pharisees joined themselves to her to assist her in the government there are a certain sect of the Jews that appear more religious than others and seem to interpret the laws more accurately though Alexander harkened to them to an extraordinary degree as being herself a woman of great piety towards God but these Pharisees artfully insinuated themselves into her favor by little and little and became themselves the real administrators of the public affairs they banished and reduced whom they pleased they bound and loosed men at their pleasure footnote Matthew 16 19 18 18 here we have the oldest and most authentic Jewish exposition of binding and loosing for punishing or absolving men not for declaring actions lawful or unlawful as some more modern Jews and Christians vainly pretend and footnote and to say all at once they had the enjoyment of the royal authority whilst the expenses and the difficulties of it belong to Alexandra she was a sagacious woman in the management of great affairs and intent always upon gathering soldiers together so that she increased the army the one half and procured a great body of foreign troops till her own nation became not only very powerful at home but terrible also to foreign potentates while she governed other people and the Pharisees governed her three accordingly they themselves slew Diogenes a person of figure and one that had been a friend to Alexander and accused him as having assisted the king with his advice for crucifying the 800 men before mentioned they also prevailed with Alexandra to put to death the rest of the house who had irritated him against them now she was so superstitious as to comply with their desires and accordingly they slew whom they pleased themselves but the principle of those that were in danger fled to Aristobulus who persuaded his mother to spare the men on account of their dignity but to expel them out of the city and to be innocent so they were suffered to go unpunished and were dispersed all over the country but when Alexandra sent out her army to Damascus under pretense that Ptolemy was always oppressing that city she got possession of it nor did it make any considerable resistance she also prevailed with Tigranes king of Armenia who lay with his troops about Tolmaeus and besieged Cleopatra footnote Strabo relates that this Selene Cleopatra was besieged by Tigranes not in Tolmaeus as here but after she had left Syria in Seleucia a citadel in Mesopotamia and adds that when he had kept her a while in prison he put her to death Dean Aldridge supposes here that Strabo contradicts Josephus which does not appear to me for although Josephus says both here and in the antiquities that Tigranes besieged her now in Tolmaeus and that he took the city as the antiquities inform us yet does he know where intimate that he now took the queen herself so that both the narrations of Strabo and Josephus may still be true now withstanding end footnote by agreements and presents to go away accordingly Tigranes soon arose from the siege by reason of those domestic tumults which happened upon Locullus's expedition into Armenia four and Alexandra fell sick and Aristobulus, her younger son took hold of this opportunity with his domestics of which he had a great many who were all of them his friends on account of the warmth of their youth and got possession of all the fortresses he also used the sums of money he found in them to get together a number of mercenary soldiers and made himself king and besides this upon Hercannus's complaint to his mother she compassionate his case with his wife and sons under restraint in Antonia which was a fortress that joined to the north part of the temple it was, as I have already said of old called the Citadel but afterwards got the name of Antonia when Antony was lord of the east just as the other cities Sebastus and Agrippius had their names changed and these given them from Sebastus and Agrippa but Alexandra died before she could punish Aristobulus for his disinheriting his brother after she had reigned nine years chapter 6 when Hercannus who was Alexander's heir receded from his claim to the crown Aristobulus is made king and afterward the same Hercannus by the means of Antipater is brought back by Abutus at last Pompey is made the arbitrator of the dispute between the brothers one now Hercannus was heir to the kingdom and to him did his mother commit it before she died but Aristobulus was superior to him he was more and magnanimity and when there was a battle between them to decide the dispute about the kingdom near Jericho the greatest part deserted Hercannus and went over to Aristobulus but Hercannus with those of his party who stayed with him fled to Antonia and got into his power the hostages that might he for his preservation which were Aristobulus's wife with her children but they came to an agreement Aristobulus should be king and Hercannus should resign that up but retain all the rest of his dignities as being the king's brother here upon they were reconciled to each other in the temple and embraced one another in a very kind manner while the people stood round about them they also changed their houses while Aristobulus went to the royal palace and Hercannus retired to the house of Aristobulus 2 now those other people who had that variance with Aristobulus were afraid upon his unexpected obtaining the government and especially this concerned antipater and especially this concerned antipater whom Aristobulus hated of old footnote that this antipater the father of Herod the Great was an idumean as Josephus affirms here see the note on antiquities b. 14 15 as Harpercamp supposes and partly Spanheim also that the Latin is here and truest that Pompey did him Hercannus as he would have done the others from Aristobulus although his remarkable abstinence from the 2000 talents that were in the Jewish temple when he took it a little afterward will to Greek all which agree he did not take them end footnote he was by birth an idumean and one of the principal of that nation his ancestors and riches and other authority to him belonging he also persuaded Hercannus to fly to Eritus the king of Arabia and to lay claim to the kingdom as also he persuaded Eritus to receive Hercannus and to bring him back to his kingdom he also cast great reproaches upon Aristobulus as to his morals and gave great commendations to Hercannus and exhorted Eritus to receive him and told him how becoming a filing it would be for him so great a kingdom to afford his assistance to such as are injured alleging that Hercannus was treated unjustly by being deprived of that dominion which belong to him by the prerogative of his birth and when he had predisposed them both to do what he would have them he took Hercannus by night and ran away from the city and continuing his flight with great swiftness he escaped to the place called Petra which is the royal seat of the king of Arabia where he put Hercannus into Eritus's hand and by discoursing much with him and gaining upon him with many presence he prevailed with him to give him an army that might restore him to his kingdom this army consisted of 50,000 foot men and horsemen against which Aristobulus was not able to make resistance but was deserted in his first onset and was driven to Jerusalem he also had been taken at first by force if Scarus the Roman general had not come and seasonably interposed himself and raised the siege this Scarus was sentenced to Syria from Armenia by Pompey the Great when he fought against Tigranes so Scarus came to Damascus which had been lately taken by Metellus and Lolenus and caused them to leave the place and upon his hearing how the affairs of Judea stood he made hastes thither as to a certain booty 3 as soon therefore as he was come into the country there came ambassadors from both the brothers each of them desiring his assistance but Aristobulus's 300 talents had more weight with him than the justice of the cause which some, when Scarus had received he sent a herald to Herkenes and the Arabians and threatened them with the resentment of the Romans and of Pompey unless they would raise the siege so Eretis was terrified and retired out of Judea to Philadelphia as did Scarus return to Damascus again nor was Aristobulus satisfied with escaping out of his brothers hands but gathered all his forces together and pursued his enemies and fought them at a place called Papyron and slew about 6000 of them and together with them Antipater's brother Faleon 4 when Herkenes and Antipater were thus deprived of their hopes from the Arabians they transferred the same to their adversaries and because Pompey had passed through Syria and was come to Damascus they fled to him for assistance and without any bribes they made the same equitable pleas that they had used to Eretis and besought him to hate the violent behavior of Aristobulus and to bestow the kingdom on him to whom it justly belonged both on account of his good character and on account of his superiority and age however neither was Aristobulus wanting to himself in this case as relying on the bribes that Scarus had received he was also there himself and adorned himself after a manor the most agreeable to royalty that he was able but he soon thought it beneath him to come in such a servile manner and could not endure to serve his own ends in a way so much more abject than he was used to so he departed from Diospolis 5 at this his behavior Pompey had great indignation Herkenes also and his friends made great intercessions to Pompey so he took not only from his Roman forces but many of his Syrian auxiliaries and marched against Aristobulus but when he had passed by Pella and Sithopolis and was come to Korea where you enter into the country of Judea when you go up to it through the Mediterranean parts he heard that Aristobulus was fled to Alexandria which is a stronghold fortified with the utmost magnificence and situated upon a high mountain and he sent to him and commanded him to come down and his inclination was to try his fortune in a battle since he was called in such an imperious manner rather than to comply with that call however he saw the multitude were in great fear and his friends exhorted him to consider what power of the Romans was and how it was irresistible so he complied with their advice and came down to Pompey and when he had made a long apology for himself and for the justness of his cause in taking the government he returned to the fortress and when his brother invited him again to plead his cause he came down and spake about the justice of it and then went away without any hindrance from Pompey so he was between hope and fear and when he came down it was to prevail with Pompey to allow him the government entirely and when he went up to the citadel it was that he might not appear to debase himself too low however Pompey commanded him to give up his fortified places and forced him to write to every one of their governors to yield them up they having had this charge given them to obey no letters but what were of his own handwriting accordingly he did what he was ordered to do but he had still an indignation at what was done and retired to Jerusalem and prepared to fight with Pompey 6. but Pompey did not give him time to make any preparations for a siege but followed him at his heels he was also obliged to make haste in his attempt by the death of Mithridides of which he was informed about Jericho now here is the most fruitful country of Judea which bears a vast number of palm trees besides the balsam tree whose sprouts they cut with sharp stones and at the incisions they gathered the juice which drops down like tears so Pompey pitched his camp in that place one night and then hasted away the next morning to Jerusalem but Aristobulus was so affrighted at his approach that he came and met him by way of supplication he also promised him money and that he would deliver up both himself and the city into his disposal and thereby mitigated the anger of Pompey yet did not he perform any of the conditions he had agreed to for Aristobulus's party would not so much as admit Gabinius into the city who was sent to receive the money that he had promised End of Book 1, Chapters 5 and 6 One At this treatment Pompey was very angry and took Aristobulus into custody and when he was come to the city he looked about where he might make his attack for he saw the walls were so firm that it would be hard to overcome them and that the valley before the walls was terrible and that the temple which was within the valley was itself encompassed by a very strong wall in so much that if the city were taken that temple would be a second place of refuge for the enemy to retire to 2 Now as he was long and deliberating about this matter a sedition arose among the people within the city Aristobulus's party being willing to fight and to set their king at liberty while the party of Herkenes were for opening the gates to Pompey and the dread people were in occasioned these last to be a very numerous party when they looked upon the excellent order the Roman soldiers were in so Aristobulus's party was worsted and retired into the temple and cut off the communication between the temple and the city by breaking down the bridge that joined them together and prepared to make an opposition to the yet most but as the others had received the Romans into the city and to delivered up the palace to him Pompey sent Piso one of his great officers into that palace with an army who distributed a garrison about the city because he could not persuade any one of those that had fled to the temple to come to terms of accommodation he then disposed all things that were round about them so as might favor their attacks as having Herkenes's party very ready to afford them both counsel and assistance 3 but Pompey himself filled up the ditch that was oil the north side of the temple and the entire valley also the army itself being obliged to carry the materials for that purpose and indeed it was a hard thing to fill up that valley by reason of its immense depth especially as the Jews used all the means possible to repel them from their superior situation nor had the Romans succeeded in their endeavors had not Pompey taken notice of the seventh days on which the Jews abstained from all sorts of work on a religious account and raised his bank but restrained his soldiers from fighting on those days for the Jews only acted defensively on Sabbath days but as soon as Pompey had filled up the valley he erected high towers upon the bank and brought those engines which they had fetched from tire near to the wall and tried to batter it down and the slingers of stones beat off those that stood above them and drove them away they made very great resistance and were indeed extraordinary both for largeness and magnificence 4 now here it was that upon the many hardships which the Romans underwent Pompey could not but admire not only at the other instances of the Jews' fortitude but especially that they did not at all intermit their religious services even when they were encompassed with darts on all sides for as if the city were in full peace their daily sacrifices and purifications at every branch of their religious worship was still performed to God with the utmost exactness nor indeed when the temple was actually taken and they were every day slain about the altar did they leave off the instances of their divine worship that were appointed by their law for it was in the third month of the siege before the Romans could even with great difficulty overthrow one of the towers and get into the temple now he that first of all ventured to get over the wall was Faustus Cornelius the son of Scylla and next after him were two centurions Furius and Fabius and every one of these was followed by a cohort of his own who encompassed the Jews on all sides and slew them some of them as they were running for shelter to the temple and others as they for a while fought in their own defense they had many of the priests even when they saw their enemies assailing them with swords in their hands without any disturbance go on with their divine worship and were slain while they were offering their drink offerings and burning their incense as preferring the duties about their worship to God before their own preservation the greatest part of them were slain by their own countrymen of the adverse faction and an innumerable multitude threw themselves down the precipices nay some there were distracted among the insuperable difficulties they were under that they set fire to the buildings that were near to the wall and were burnt together with them now of the Jews were slain twelve thousand but of the Romans very few were slain but a greater number was wounded six but there was nothing that affected the nation so much in the calamities that they were then under as that their holy place which had been hitherto seen by none should be laid open to strangers for Pompey and those that were about him went into the temple itself footnote thus says Tacitus C.N. Popelna first of all subdued the Jews and went into their temple by right of conquest nor did he touch any of its riches as has been observed on the parallel place of the antiquities B.14 chapter 4 section 4 out of Cicero himself whether it was not lawful for any to enter but the high priest and saw what was reposited therein the candlestick with its lamps and the table and the pouring vessels and the sensors all made entirely of gold as also a great quantity of spices heaped together with two thousand talents of sacred money yet did not he touch that money nor anything else that was there reposited but he commanded the ministers about the temple and then he married next day after he had taken it to cleanse it and to perform their accustomed sacrifices moreover he made Herkenes high priest as one that not only in other respects had showed great alacrity on his side during the siege but as he had been the means of hindering the multitude that was in the country from fighting for Aristobulus which they were otherwise very ready to have done by which means he acted the part of a good general and reconciled the people to him moreover by benevolence than by terror now among the captives Aristobulus' father-in-law was taken who was also his uncle so those that were the most guilty he punished with thecalathlon but rewarded Faustus and those with him that had fought so bravely with glorious presence and laid a tribute upon the country and upon Jerusalem itself 7 he also took away from the nation which he had formerly taken and that belonged to Celesyria and made them subject to him that he was at that time appointed to be the Roman president there and reduced Judea within its proper bounds he also rebuilt Gadara footnote the coin of this Gadara still extant with its date from this era is a certain evidence of this it's rebuilding by Pompey as Spanheim here assures us and footnote in order to gratify one Demetrius who was of Gadara and was one of his own freedmen he also made other cities free from their dominion that lay in the midst of the country such I mean as they had not demolished before that time Hippos and Sithopolis as also Pella and Samaria and Marissa and besides these Ashdod and Jamia and Arathusa and in like manner dealt he with the maritime cities Gaza and Japa and Dora and that which was anciently called Stratos Tower but was afterward rebuilt with the most magnificent edifices and had its name changed to Celesyria by King Herod all which he restored to their own citizens and put them under the province of Syria which province together with Judea and the countries as far as Egypt and Euphrates he committed to Scaris as their governor and gave him two legions to support him while he made all the haste he could himself to go through Celesyria in his way to Rome having Aristobulus and his children along with him as his captives they were two daughters and two sons the one of which sons Alexander ran away as he was going but the younger Antigonus with his sisters was carried to Rome Chapter 8 the son of Aristobulus who ran away from Pompeii makes Hercanus but being overcome by Gabinius he delivers up the fortresses to him after this Aristobulus escapes from Rome and gathers an army together but being beaten by the Romans he is brought back to Rome with other things relating to Gabinius Crassus and Cassius 1 in the meantime Scaris made an expedition into Arabia but was stopped by the difficulty of the places about Petra he laid waste the country about Pella though even there he was under great hardship for his army was afflicted with famine in order to supply which want Hercanus afforded him some assistance and sent him provisions by the means of Antipater whom also Scaris sent to Eritus as one well acquainted with him to induce him to pay him money to buy his peace the king of Arabia complied with the proposal and gave him 300 talents upon which Scaris drew his army out of Arabia footnote take the like attestation to the truth of this submission of Eritus king of Arabia to Scaris the Roman general in the words of Dean Eldridge hence says he is derived that old and famous denarius belonging to the Emelian family represented in Haverkamp's edition wherein Eritus appears in a posture of supplication and taking hold of a camel's bridle with his left hand and with his right hand in the branch of the frankincense tree with this inscription M. Scaris XSC and beneath Rex Eritus and footnote two, but as for Alexander that son of Aristobulus who ran away from Pompey in some time he got a considerable band of men together and lay heavy upon Hercanus and overran Judea and was likely to overturn him quickly and indeed he had come to Jerusalem and had ventured to rebuild its wall that was thrown down by Pompey headnotkebinius who was sent a successor to Scaris into Syria showed his bravery as in many other points so in making an expedition against Alexander who as he was afraid that he would attack him so he got together a large army composed of 10,000 armed footmen and 1500 horsemen he also built walls about proper places alexandrium and Hercanian and Macorus that lay upon the mountains of Arabia three however, Gubinius sent before him Marcus Antonius and followed himself with his whole army but for the select body of soldiers that were about Antipater and another body of Jews under the command of Malicus and Pythalaus these joined themselves to those captains that were about Marcus Antonius and met Alexander to which body came Oubinius with his main army soon afterward and as Alexander was not able to sustain the charge of the enemy's forces now they were joined he retired but when he was come near to Jerusalem he was forced to fight and lost 6,000 men in the battle 3,000 of which fell down dead and 3,000 were taken alive so he fled with the remainder to alexandrium now when Gubinius was come to alexandrium because he found a great many there and camped he tried by promising them to pardon for their former offenses to induce them to come over to him before it came to a fight but when they would hearken to no terms of accommodation he slew a great number of them and shot up a great number of them in the citadel now Marcus Antonius their leader signalized himself in this battle who as he always showed great courage so did he never show it so much as now but Gubinius leaving forces to take the citadel went away himself and settled the cities that had not been demolished and rebuilt those that had been destroyed accordingly upon his injunctions the following cities were restored Scythopolis and Samaria and Anthodon and Apollonia and Jamia and Raphia and Mariasa and Adorius and Gamala and Ashtad and many others while a great number of men readily ran to each of them and became their inhabitants and Gubinius had taken care of these cities he returned to Alexandria and pressed on the siege so when Alexander dispaired of ever obtaining the government he sent ambassadors to him and prayed him to forgive what he had offended him in and gave up to him the remaining fortresses Hyrcanium and Macarus as he put Alexandria into his hands afterwards all which Gubinius demolished at the persuasion of Alexander's mother that they might not be receptacles of men in a second war she was now there in order to mollify Gubinius out of her concern for her relations that were captives at Rome which were her husband and her other children after this Gubinius brought Hyrcanus to Jerusalem and committed the care of the temple to him but ordained the other political government to be by an aristocracy he also parted the whole nation into five conventions assigning one portion to Jerusalem another to Gadara belonging to Amathas a fourth to Jericho and to the fifth division was allotted Ciferous a city of Galilee so the people were glad to be thus freed from monarchial government and were governed for the future by all aristocracy six yet did Aristobulus afford another foundation for new disturbances he fled away from Rome and got together again many of the Jews that were desirous of a change such as he had borne an affection to him of old and when he had taken Alexandrium in the first place he attempted to build a wall about it but as soon as Gubinius had sent an army against him under Ciscuria and Antonius and Servilius he was aware of it and retreated to Macorus and as for the unprofitable multitude he dismissed them and only marched on with those that were armed being to the number of 8000 among whom was Pytholeus who had been the lieutenant at Jerusalem but deserted to Aristobulus with a thousand of his men so the Romans followed him and when it came to a battle Aristobulus's party for a long time fought courageously but at length they were overborn by the Romans and of them 5000 fell down dead and about 2000 fled to a certain little hill but the thousand that remained with Aristobulus break through the Roman army and marched together to Macorus and when the king had lodged the first night upon its ruins he was in hopes of raising another army so the Romans would but cease a while accordingly he fortified that stronghold though it was done after a poor manner but the Romans falling upon him he resisted even beyond his abilities for two days and then was taken and brought a prisoner to Gabinius with Antigonus his son who had fled away together with him from Rome and from Gabinius he was carried to Rome again wherefore the senate put him under confinement but returned his children back to Judea because Gabinius informed them by letters that he had promised Aristobulus' mother to do so for her delivering the fortress is up to him 7 but now as Gabinius was marching to the war against the Parthians he was hindered by Ptolemy whom upon his return from Euphrates he brought back into Egypt making use of Hercanness and Antipater to provide everything that was necessary for the expedition for Antipater furnished him with money and weapons and corn and auxiliaries which were prevailed with the Jews that were there and guarded the avenues at Pelusium to let them pass but now upon Gabinius' absence the other part of Syria was in motion and Alexander the son of Aristobulus brought the Jews to Rivolt again accordingly he got together a very great army and set about killing all the Romans that were in the country here upon Gabinius was afraid for he was come back already out of Egypt quickly by these tumults and sent Antipater who prevailed with some of the Revolters to be quiet however 30,000 still continued with Alexander who was himself eager to fight also accordingly Gabinius went out to fight when the Jews met him and as the battle was fought near Mount Tabor 10,000 of them were slain and the rest of the multitude dispersed themselves and fled away so Gabinius came to Jerusalem and settled the government as Antipater would have it thence he marched and fought and beat the Nabateans as for Mithridites and Orsenes who fled out of Parthen he sent them away privately but gave it out among the soldiers that they had run away 8, in the meantime Crassus came as successor to Gabinius in Syria he took away all the rest of the gold belonging to the temporal of Jerusalem in order to furnish himself for his expedition against the Parthians he also took away the 2,000 talents which Pompey had not touched but when he had passed over Euphrates he perished himself and his army with him concerning which affairs this is not a proper time to speak more largely 9, but now Cassius after Crassus put a stop to the Parthians who were marching in order to enter Syria Cassius had fled into that province and when he had taken possession of the same he made a hasty march into Judea and, upon his taking Terachiae he carried 30,000 Jews into slavery he also slew Pytholeus who had supported the seditious followers of Aristobulus and it was Antipater who advised him to do so now this Antipater married a wife of an eminent family among the Arabisus whose name was Cyprus and had four sons born to him by her Veselus and Herod who was afterwards king Joseph and Fauroris and he had a daughter whose name was Salom now as he made himself friends among the men of power everywhere by the kind offices he did them and the hospitable manner that he treated them so did he contract the greatest friendship with the king of Arabia by marrying his relation in so much that when he made war with Aristobulus he sent and entrusted his children with him so when Cassius had forced Alexander to come to terms and to be quiet he returned to Euphrates in order to prevent the Parthians from repassing it concerning which matter we shall speak elsewhere footnote this citation is now wanting and footnote end of book one chapters seven and eight book one chapters nine and ten of the wars of the Jews this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the wars of the Jews by Josephus translated by William Wiston book one chapters nine and ten chapter nine Aristobulus is taken off by Pompey's friends as is his son Alexander by Sipio Antipater cultivates a friendship with Caesar after Pompey's death he also performs great actions in that war wherein he assisted Mithridides one so upon the flight of Pompey and of the senate beyond the Ionian sea Caesar got Rome and the empire under his power and released Aristobulus from his bonds he also committed two legions to him and sent him in haste into Syria as hoping that by his means he should easily conquer that country and the parts adjoining to Judea but Envy prevented any effect of Aristobulus's alacrity and the hopes of Caesar for he was taken off by poison given him by those of Pompey's party and for a long while he had not so much as a burial vouch saved him in his own country but his dead body lay above ground preserved in honey until it was sent to the Jews by Antony in order to be buried in the royal sepulchres two his son Alexander also was beheaded by Sipio at Antioch and that by the command of Pompey and upon an accusation laid against him before his tribunal for the mischiefs he had done to the Romans but Ptolemy, the son of Menius who was then ruler of Chelsus under Libanus took his brethren to him by sending his son Philippio for them to Ascalon who took Antigonus as well as his sisters away from Aristobulus's wife and brought them to his father and falling in love with the youngest daughter he married her and was afterwards slain by his father on her account for Ptolemy himself, after he had slain his son, married her whose name was Alexandra on the count of which marriage he took the greater care of her brother and sister three now after Pompey was dead Antipater changed sides and cultivated a friendship with Caesar and since mythridities of Pergamos with the forces he led against Egypt was excluded from the avenues about Pelusium and was forced to stay at Ascalon he persuaded the Arabians among whom he had lived to assist him and came himself to him at the head of three thousand armed men he also encouraged the men of power in Syria to come to his assistance as also to the inhabitants of Libanus Ptolemy and Jamblicus and another Ptolemy by which means the cities of that country came readily into this war in so much that mythridities ventured now independence upon the additional strength that he had gotten by Antipater to march forward to Pelusium and when they refused him a passage through it he besieged the city in the attack of which place Antipater principally signalized himself for he brought down that part of the wall which was over against him and leaped first of all into the city with the men that were about him four thus was Pelusium taken as they were marching on those Egyptian Jews that inhabited the country called the country of Anayis stopped them then did Antipater not only persuade them not to stop them but to afford provisions for their army on which account even the people about Memphis could not fight against them but of their own accord joined mythridities whereupon he went round about Delta and fought the rest of the Egyptians at a place called the Jews camp when he was in danger in the battle with all his right wing Antipater wheeled about and came along the bank of the river to him for he had beaten those that opposed him as he led the left wing after which success he fell upon those that pursued mythridities and slew a great many of them and pursued the remainder so far that he took their camp while he lost no more than four score of his own men as mythridities lost during the pursuit that was made after him about 800 he was also himself saved unexpectedly and became an unreproachable witness to Caesar of the great actions of Antipater five whereupon Caesar encouraged Antipater to undertake other hazardous enterprises for him and that by giving him great commendations and hopes of reward in all which enterprises he readily exposed himself to many dangers and became a most courageous warrior and had many wounds almost all over his body as demonstrations of his valor and when Caesar had settled the affairs of Egypt and was returning into Syria again he gave him the privilege of a Roman citizen and freed him from taxes and rendered him an object of admiration by the honors and marks of friendship he bestowed upon him on this account it was that he also confirmed hirkeness in the High Priesthood CHAPTER X Caesar makes Antipater procurator of Judea as does Antipater appoint Fasilius to be governor of Jerusalem and Herod governor of Galilee who in some time was called to answer for himself before the Sanhedrin where he is acquitted Sextus Caesar is treacherously killed by Bassus and is succeeded by Marcus 1 about this time it was that Antigonus the son of Aristobulus came to Caesar and became in a surprising manner the occasion of Antipater's further advancement for whereas he ought to have lamented that his father appeared to have been poisoned on account of his quarrels with Pompey and to have complained of Scipio's barbarity towards his brother and not to mix any invidious passion when he was suing for mercy besides those things he came before Caesar and accused Hirkeness and Antipater how they had driven him and his brethren entirely out of their native country and had acted in a great many instances unjustly and extravagantly with relation to their nation and that as to the assistance they had sent him into Egypt it was not done out of goodwill to him but out of the fear they were in from former quarrels and in order to gain pardon for their friendship to his enemy Pompey 2 Hirupon Antipater threw away his garments and showed the multitude of the wounds he had and said that as to his goodwill to Caesar he had no occasion to say a word because his body cried aloud though he said nothing himself that he wondered at Antigonus' boldness while he was himself no other than the son of an enemy to the Romans and of a fugitive and had it by inheritance from his father to be fond of innovations and seditions that he should undertake to accuse other men before the Roman governor and endeavour to gain some advantages to himself when he sought to be contented that he was suffered to live for that the reason of his desire of governing public affairs was not so much because he was in want of it but because if he could once obtain the same he might stir up a sedition among the Jews and use what he should gain from the Romans to the disservice of those that gave it him 3 When Caesar heard this he declared Hirconus to be the most worthy of the high priesthood and gave leave to Antipater to choose what authority he pleased but he left the determination of such dignity to him that bestowed the dignity upon him although he was constituted procurator of all Judea and obtained leave moreover to rebuild those walls of his country that had been thrown down Footnote, what is here noted by Hudson and Spanheim that this grant of leave to rebuild the walls of the cities of Judea was made by Julius Caesar not as here to Antipater but to Hirconus has hardly an appearance of a contradiction Antipater being now perhaps considered only as Hirconus' deputy and minister although he afterwards made him a cipher of Hirconus and under great decency of behavior to him took the real authority to himself and footnote These honorary grants Caesar sent orders to have engraved in the capital that they might stand there as indications of his own justice and of the virtue of Antipater 4 but as soon as Antipater had conducted Caesar out of Syria he returned to Judea and the first thing he did was to rebuild that wall of his own country Jerusalem which Pompeii had overthrown and then to go over the country and to quiet the tumult that were there in where he partly threatened and partly advised everyone and told them that in case they would submit to Hirconus they would live happily and peaceably and enjoy what they possessed and that with universal peace and quietness but that in case they hearkened to such as had some frigid hopes by raising new troubles to get themselves some gain they should then find him to be their lord instead of their procurator and find Hirconus to be a tyrant instead of a king and both the Romans and Caesar to be their enemies instead of rulers for that they would not suffer him to be removed from the government whom they had made their governor and at the same time that he said this he settled the affairs of the country by himself because he saw that Hirconus was inactive and not fit to manage the affairs of the kingdom so he constituted his eldest son Veseles, governor of Jerusalem and of the parts about it he also sent his next son, Herod who was very young footnote, or 25 years of age many writers of the Roman history give an account of this murder of sexist Caesar and of the war of Opamia upon that occasion they are cited indeed Aljush's note and footnote with equal authority into Galilee 5. Now Herod was an active man and soon found proper materials for his active spirit to work upon and therefore he found that Hezekaius, the head of the robbers ran over the neighboring parts of Syria with a great band of men he caught him and slew him and many more of the robbers with him which exploit was chiefly grateful to the Syrians in so much that hymns were sung in Herod's commendation both in the villages and in the cities as having procured their quietness and having preserved what they possessed to them on which occasion he became acquainted with sexist Caesar a kinsman of the great Caesar and president of Syria a just emulation of his glorious actions excited faceless also to imitate him accordingly he procured the good will of the inhabitants of Jerusalem by his own management of the city affairs and did not abuse his power in any disagreeable manner he came to pass that the nation paid antipoder the respects that were due only to a king and the honors they all yielded him were equal to the honors due to an absolute lord yet did he not abate any part of that good will or fidelity which he owed to Herkenes however he found it impossible to escape envy in such his prosperity six however he found it impossible to escape envy in such his prosperity for the glory of these young men affected even Herkenes himself already privately though he said nothing of it to anybody but what he principally was grieved at was the great actions of Herod and that so many messengers came one before another and informed him of the great reputation he got in all his undertakings there were also many people in the royal palace itself who inflamed his envy at him those I mean who were obstructed by the prudence either of the young men or of antipoder these men said that by committing the public affairs to the management of antipoder and of his sons he sat down with nothing but the bare name of a king without any of its authority and they asked him how long he would so far mistake himself as to breed up kings against his own interest for that they did not now conceal the government of affairs any longer but were plainly lords of the nation and had thrust him out of his authority that this was the case when Herod slew so many men without his giving any command to do it either by word of mouth or by his letter or this in contradiction to the law of the Jews who therefore in case he be not a king but a private man still ought to come to his trial and answer it to him and to the laws of his country which do not permit anyone to be killed till he hath been condemned in judgment 7. Now Herkenes was by degrees inflamed with these discourses and at length could bear no longer but he summoned Herod to take his trial accordingly by his father's advice and as soon as the affairs of Galilee would give him leave he came up to Jerusalem when he had first placed garrisons in Galilee however he came with a sufficient body of soldiers so many indeed that he might not appear to have with him an army able to overthrow Herkenes's government nor yet so few as to expose him to the insults of those that envied him however Sextus Caesar was in fear for the young man lest he should be taken by his enemies and brought to punishment so he sent some to denounce expressly to Herkenes that he should acquit Herod of the capital charge against him who acquitted him accordingly as being otherwise inclined also so to do for he loved Herod but Herod supposing that he had escaped punishment without the consent of the king retired to Sextus to Damascus and got everything ready in order not to obey him if he should summon him again whereupon those that were evil disposed irritated Herkenes and told him that Herod was gone away in anger and was prepared to make war upon him and as the king believed what they said he knew not what to do since he saw his antagonist was stronger than he was himself and now since Herod was made general of Colosseria and Samaria by Sextus Caesar he was formidable not only from the good will which the nation bore him but by the power he himself had in so much that Herkenes fell into the utmost degree of terror and expected he would presently march against him with his army nine nor was he mistaken in the conjecture he made out of the anger he bear him with the accusation in a public court and led it to Jerusalem in order to throw Herkenes down from his kingdom and this he had soon done unless his father and brother had gone out together and broken the force of his fury and this by exhorting him to carry his revenge no further than to threatening and to frighting but to spare the king under whom he had been advanced to such a degree of power and that he ought not to be so much provoked at his being tried as to forget to be thankful that he was acquitted nor so long to think upon what was of the melancholy nature as to be ungrateful for his deliverance and if we ought to reckon that God is the arbitrator of success in war an unjust cause is of more disadvantage than an army can be of advantage and that therefore he ought not to be entirely confident of success in a case where he is to fight against his king his supporter and one that had often been his benefactor and that had never been severe to him any otherwise than as he had harkened to evil counselors and this no further than by bringing a shadow of injustice upon him so Herod was prevailed upon by these arguments and suppose what he had already done was sufficient for his future hopes and that he had enough shown his power to the nation 10. In the meantime there was a disturbance among the Romans about Epamiah and a civil war occasioned by the treacherous slaughter of Sextus Caesar by Cecilius Bassus which he perpetrated out of his goodwill to Pompeii he also took the authority over his forces but as the rest of Caesar's commanders attacked Bassus with their whole army in order to punish him for the murder of Caesar and Tippeter also sent them assistance by his sons both on account of him that was murdered and on account of that Caesar who was still alive both of which were their friends and as this war grew to be of considerable length Marcus came out of Italy as successor to Sextus End of Book 1, chapters 9 and 10 Chapter 11 Herod is made procurator of all Syria Malachus is afraid of him and takes Tippeter off by poison whereupon the tribunes of the soldiers are prevailed with to kill him 1. There was at this time a mighty war raised among the Romans upon the sudden and treacherous slaughter of Caesar by Cassius and Brutus after he had held the government for three years and seven months Footnote In the Antiquities the duration of the reign of Julius Caesar is three years, six months but here, three years, seven months beginning nightly, says Dean Aldrich from his second dictatorship it is probable the real duration might be three years and between six and seven months End Footnote Upon this murder there were very great agitations and the great men were mightily at difference one with another and everyone betook himself to that party where they had the greatest hopes of their own of advancing themselves Accordingly, Cassius came into Syria in order to receive the forces that were at Apemia where he procured a reconciliation between Bassus and Marcus and the legions which were at difference with him So he raised the siege of Apemia and took upon him the command of the army and went about exacting tribute of the cities and demanding their money to such a degree as they were not able to bear Two So he gave command that the Jews should bring in seven hundred talents where upon Antipater out of his dread of Cassius's threats parted the raising of the sum among his sons and among others of his acquaintance and to be done immediately and among them he required one Malacos, who was at enmity with him to do his part also which necessity forced him to do Now Herod in the first place mitigated the passion of Cassius by bringing his share out of Galilee which was a hundred talents on which account he was in the highest favour with him and when he reproached the rest for being Tomory he was angry at the cities themselves So he made slaves of Goffner and Emmaus and two others of less note Nay, he proceeded as if he would kill Malacos because he had not made greater haste in exacting his tribute but Antipater prevented the ruin of this man and of the other cities and got into Cassius's favour by bringing in a hundred talents immediately Footnote It appears evidently by Josephus's accounts both here and in his antiquities that this Cassius, one of Caesar's murderers was a bit of oppressor and exacter of tribute in Judea These seven hundred talents amounted to about three hundred talents to about three hundred thousand pounds sterling and are about half the yearly revenues of King Herod afterwards It also appears that Galilee then paid no more than one hundred talents or the seventh part of the entire sum to be levied in all the country and Footnote Three, however when Cassius was gone Malacos forgot the kindness that Antipater had done him and laid frequent plots against him that had saved him to get him out of the way who was an obstacle to his wicked practices But Antipater was so much afraid of the power and cunning of the man that he went beyond Jordan in order to get an army to guard himself against his treacherous designs But when Malacos was caught in his plot he put upon Antipater's sons by his impudence for he so he deluded Persellius who was the guardian of Jerusalem and Herod who was entrusted with the weapons of war and this by a great many excuses and oaths and persuaded them to procure his reconciliation to his father Thus he was preserved again by Antipater who dissuaded Malacos, the then president of Syria from his resolution of killing Malacos on account of his attempts for innovation Four Upon the war between Cassius and Brutus on one side against the young Caesar Augustus and Antony on the other Cassius and Malacos got together an army out of Syria and because Herod was likely to have a great share in providing necessaries they then made him procurator of all Syria and gave him an army of foot and horse Cassius promised him also that after the war was over he would make him king of Judea But it so happened that the power and hopes of his son became the cause of his perdition for as Malacos was afraid of this he corrupted one of the king's cup bears and poisoned Potion to Antipater so he became a sacrifice to Malacos' wickedness and died at a feast He was a man in other respects active in the management of affairs and one that recovered the government to Harkannus and preserved it in his hands However Malacos when he was suspected of poisoning Antipater and when the multitude was angry with him for it denied it and made the people guilty he also prepared to make a greater figure and raised soldiers for he did not suppose that Herod would be quiet who indeed came upon him with an army presently in order to avenge his father's death but upon hearing the advice of his brother Parcellius, not to punish him in an open manner lest the multitude would fall into a sedition he admitted of Malacos' apology and professed that he cleared him of that suspicion for his funeral for his father so Herod went to Sumeria which was then in a tumult and settled the city in peace after which at the Pentecost Festival he returned to Jerusalem having his armed men with him here upon Harkannus at the request of Malacos who feared his reproach forbade them to introduce foreigners to mix themselves with people of the country while they were purifying themselves but Herod despised the pretence and him that gave that command and came in by night upon which Malacos came to him and bewailed Antipater Herod also made him believe he admitted of his lamentations as real although he had much adieu to restrain his passion at him however he did himself bewail the murder of his father in his letters to Cassius who on other accounts also hated Malacos Cassius sent him word back that he should avenge his father's death upon him and privately gave orders to the tribunes that were under him that they should assist Herod in a righteous action he was about seven and because upon the taking of Laodicea by Cassius the men of power were gotten together from all quarters with presence of crowns in their hands Herod allotted this time for the punishment of Malacos when Malacos suspected that and was at Tyre he resolved to withdraw his son privately from among the Tyrians who was a hostage there while he got ready to fly away into Judea the despair he was in of escaping excited him to think of greater things for he hoped that he should raise the nation to a revolt from the Romans while Cassius was busy about the war against Antony and that he should easily depose Hercanus and get the crown for himself Eight but fate laughed at the hopes he had for Herod foresaw what he was so zealous about and invited both Hercanus and him to supper but calling one of the principal servants that stood by him to him he sent him out as though it were to get things ready for supper but in reality to give notice beforehand about the plot that was laid against him accordingly they called to mind what Orders Cassius had given them and went out of the city with their swords in their hands upon the seashore where they encompassed Malacos round about and killed him with many wounds upon which Hercanus was immediately affrighted till he swooned away and fell down at the surprise he was in and it was with difficulty that he was recovered when he asked who it was that killed Malacos and when one of the tribunes replied that it was done by the command of Cassius then said he Cassius has saved both me and my country by cutting off one that was laying plots against them both whether he spake according to his own sentiments or whether his fear was such that he was obliged to commend the action by saying so is uncertain however by this method Herod inflicted punishment upon Malacos Chapter 12 Phaselius is too hard for Felix Herod also overcomes Antigonus in battle and the Jews accuse both Herod and Phaselius but Antonius acquits them and makes them tetrarchs 1. When Cassius was gone out of Syria another sedition arose at Jerusalem wherein Felix assaulted Phaselius with an army that he might revenge the death of Malacos upon Herod by falling upon his brother Now Herod happened then to be with Fabius the governor of Damascus and as he was going to his brother's assistance he was detained by sickness in the meantime Phaselius was by himself too hard for Felix and reproached her canus on account of his ingratitude both for what assistance he had afforded Malacos and for overlooking Malacos's brother when he possessed himself of the fortress for he had gotten a great many of them already and among them the strongest of them all Masada 2. However nothing could be sufficient for him against the force of Herod who as soon as he was recovered took the other fortresses again and drove him out of Masada in the posture of a supplicant he also drove away Marian the tyrant of the Tyrians out of Galilee when he had already possessed himself of three fortified places but as to those Tyrians whom he had caught he preserved them all alive nay, some of them he gave presents to and so sent them away and thereby procured good will to himself from the city and hatred to the tyrant Marian had indeed obtained that tyrannical power of Cassius who set tyrants over all Syria Footnote Here we see that Cassius set tyrants over all Syria so that his assisting to destroy Caesar does not seem to have proceeded from his true zeal for public liberty but from a desire to be a tyrant himself End Footnote and out of hatred to Herod it was that he assisted Antigonus the son of Aristopulus and principally on Fabius's account whom Antigonus had made his assistant by money and had him accordingly on his side when he made his descent but it was Ptolemy the kinsman of Antigonus that supplied all that he wanted Three When Herod had fought against these in the avenues of Judea he was conqueror in the battle and drove away Antigonus and returned to Jerusalem beloved by everybody for the glorious action he had done for those who did not before favour him did join themselves to him now because of his marriage into the family of Hercannus for as he had formally married a wife and a country of no ignoble blood who was called Doris of whom he begat Antipater so did he now marry Amni the daughter of Alexander the son of Aristopulus and the granddaughter of Hercannus and was become thereby a relation of the king Four But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi and Caesar was gone to Italy and Antony to Asia amongst the rest of the cities which sent Caesar the great men of the Jews came also and accused Facelius and Herod that they kept the government by force and that Hercannus had no more than an honourable name Herod appeared ready to answer this accusation and having made Antony his friend by the large sums of money which he gave him he brought him to such a temper as not to hear the other speak against him and thus did they part at this time Five However after this there came a hundred of the principal men among the Jews to Daphne by Antioch to Antony who was already in love with Cleopatra to the degree of slavery These Jews put those men that were the most potent both in dignity and eloquence foremost and accused the brethren Footnote, Facelius and Herod end footnote But Masala opposed them and defended his brethren and that while Hercannus stood by him on account of his relation to them When Antony had heard both sides he asked Hercannus which party was the fittest to govern who replied that Herod and his party were the fittest Antony was glad of that answer for he had been formally treated in a hospitable and obliging manner by his father Antipater when he marched into Judea with Gabinius so he constituted the brethren tetrarchs and committed to them the government of Judea Six The ambassadors had indignation at this procedure Antony took fifteen of them and put them into custody whom he was also going to kill presently and the rest he drove away with disgrace on which occasions a still greater tumult arose at Jerusalem so they sent again a thousand ambassadors to Tyre where Antony now abode as he was marching to Jerusalem Upon those men who made a clamour he sent out the governor of Tyre and ordered him to punish all that he could catch of them and to settle those in the administration whom he had made tetrarchs Seven But before this Herod and Hercanus went out upon the seashore and earnestly desired of these ambassadors that they would neither bring ruin upon themselves nor war upon their native country by their rash contentions and when they grew still more outrageous Antony sent out armed men and slew a great many and wounded more of them of whom those that were slain were buried by Hercanus as were the wounded put under the care of physicians by him yet would not those that had escaped be quite still but put the affairs of the city into such disorder and so provoked Antony that he slew those whom he had in bonds also End of Book 1, Chapters 11 and 12