COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE JEWISH HISTORY, &c. of Amathus, beyond Jordan, the strongest fortress in all | to conceal his death until the capture of the fortress, those parts, he was surprised and defeated, with the loss and then, on their triumphant return to Jerusalem, he of ten thousand men, by the prince of Philadelphia, recommended her to convene the heads of the Phariwhose treasures were deposited there, and sent back sees, and offer to be guided by their counsels in the with loss and disgrace to Jerusalem. This was highly administration of the kingdom; and to lay his dead gratifying to the faction of the Pharisees, who alienated body before them, and resign it wholly to their disthe affections of the people, and stirred up a bloody in-cretion, whether to treat it with ignominy, in revenge testine war against him during the greater part of his for all the evils they had suffered from him, or otherturbulent reign. wise; adding, that if she followed this advice, she would not only procure him an honourable funeral, but security for herself and her children. And the event justified the prediction: for his funeral obsequies were more splendid than those of any of his predecessors; and Alexandra, according to his will, was quietly established in the government, B. C. 78. This first broke out B. C. 95, in the eleventh year of his reign. Having entered the temple at Jerusalem, to officiate as high priest in the feast of tabernacles, he was insulted by the populace, and pelted with citrons while he was offering sacrifices upon the great altar; to which they added opprobrious language, intimating him to be unworthy of that sacred office. This so enraged him, that he fell upon them with his guards, and slew six thousand of them. And to prevent the like insult, he enclosed the priest's court, which contained the altar and sanctuary, with a wooden partition, excluding the approach of the people; and for the safety of his person, he employed a guard of six thousand foreign mercenaries, and endeavoured by severity, and the terrour of his executions, to allay the storm that had been raised against him by the adverse faction; but he could not quell it by such methods. And three years after, in consequence of a great defeat he received from Obodas, an Arabian king, in Gaulonitis, on the eastern side of the lake of Gennesareth, the Jews broke out into open rebellion for six years, in which, though he repeatedly defeated them, he could not subdue their refractory spirit. Wearied at length with punishing and destroying his people, he sought an accommodation, and offered to grant them any reasonable conditions they chose. With one voice they desired him to cut his throat, for they could be at peace with him on no other terms; and told him that, considering the great mischiefs he had done them, it were well that they could be reconciled to him even in his grave. They then sent for succours to Demetrius Eucharus, king of Damascus, who brought a powerful army to their assistance, and overthrew Alexander, with the loss of all his Greek mercenaries to a man, B.C. 89; and he would have been utterly ruined, had not six thousand of the Jews themselves, compassionating his distress, revolted from the Syrians, and joined him. Being a man of most undaunted spirit, and possessing great resources in himself, he continued the war with his own people after the departure of the Syrians, and at length he defeated them with great slaughter, and shut up the remainder in Bethome, which he besieged and took the year after, B. C. 86. On this occasion he was guilty of a most barbarous act of cruelty, which got him the appellation of Thracidas, or the "Thracian." He brought eight hundred of the prisoners to Jerusalem, and there crucified them all in one day, and put their wives and children to death before their faces, as they hung dying on the crosses; while he, his wives and concubines, were feasting in view of the horrid scene, to glut their eyes with the spectacle! After this, Alexander had no more disturbance; the rebels who survived flying the country; after he had destroyed about fifty thousand of them in the course of the war. After this, he spent three years in recovering fortresses, which had revolted during the civil war, and extended his conquests beyond Jordan. He returned to Jerusalem victorious, B. C. 82, and gave himself up to luxury and drunkenness: this brought on a quartan ague, under which he languished for three years, and at length died at the siege of Ragaba, beyond Jordan, in the country of the Gerasenes. In his last moments he advised Alexandra his queen And now the Pharisees, having gotten the upper hand in the state, released the prisoners, and recalled the exiles of their party, and being strengthened by this accession, they demanded justice against the advisers of the crucifixion of the eight hundred; which, in fact, involved all the adherents of the late king. They began with Diogenes, a chief confidant of Alexander, and having cut him off, proceeded to the most obnoxious of the royalists; the queen, much against her will, acquiescing in their vindictive measures, for fear of involving the country again in a civil war; and submitting to a less evil, in order to avoid a greater. Alexandra had two sons: the elder, Hyrcanus, who was of a quiet, indolent temper, she appointed high priest; but the younger, Aristobulus, inherited his father's spirit, and highly disapproved of his mother's proceedings. In the seventh year of her reign, B.C. 72, he came to her at the head of the royalists, seeing no end of the prosecutions, and proposed, either that they should go into voluntary exile, or else that they might be dispersed through the several garrisons of the kingdom, in order to avoid the fury of their enemies. The queen agreed to the latter proposal, and put them in possession of the fortresses, except Hyrcania, Alexandrium, and Machæra, where she kept her treasures. Next year she sent Aristobulus with an army to attack Ptolemy Mennæus at Damascus; but he returned without doing any thing memorable in the expedition; only making use of this opportunity to secure the army to his interest. The following year, B. C. 70, she was threatened with a formidable invasion by Tigranes, king of Armenia; to whom the Syrians, harassed by the perpetual competitions of the different royal families for the crown, had voluntarily surrendered it, B. C. 84, and put themselves under his protection. From this danger she was relieved by the Roman invasion of Armenia, which took place shortly before her death next year, B. C. 69. After her death Hyrcanus the second took possession of the throne, B. C. 69: but he reigned only three months; being forced to surrender the crown and pontificate to his brother Aristobulus, under whose protection he willingly agreed to lead a private life. But Antipater, the father of Herod the Great, an Idumean, who had been appointed by Alexander Jannæus and his wife Alexandra governour of that entire province, instigated Hyrcanus to fly for refuge to Aretas, king of the Arabs, under the pretence that his brother meant to put him to death. By this prince Hyrcanus was brought back to Jerusalem with an army of fifty thousand men ; where, being joined by the Jews of his own party, he compelled Aristobulus to take refuge in the temple mount, and besieged him there. During their competition for power, the two brothers attempted to gain to their side the Roman generals, who commanded in Syria; first, Scaurus, who had been sent thither by Pompey, and afterwards Pompey himself: COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE JEWISH HISTORY, &c. who, having decided in favour of Hyrcanus, and having gotten possession of the person of Aristobulus, marched with his whole army to Jerusalem; and being admitted into the city and palace by the faction of Hyrcanus, besieged the adherents of his brother in the temple mount; and, after three months' siege, took it by assault, B. C. 63. On this occasion Pompey was guilty of violating the sanctity of the temple. For, not content with viewing the outer court, he with his principal officers, by a sacrilegious curiosity, entered into the inner sanctuary, or Holy of Holies. And here, it has been remarked, his prosperity ended. . He was ever after unsuccessful in all his undertakings, as if to punish him for this act of sacrilege against the Lord. And this the Jews resented more than their sufferings. However, he spared the sacred treasury, in which there were above two thousand talents, besides the sacred utensils and other articles of great value, and left them for the sacred uses to which they had been devoted. The next day he restored Hyrcanus to the pontificate, and made him prince of the country, and tributary to the Romans, but forbade him to wear a crown; and dismantled the walls of Jerusalem. And he took with him Aristobulus, and his two sons, Alexander and Antigonus, and two of his daughters, to grace his triumph at Rome. The reign of Hyrcanus, however, was disastrous throughout. While Pompey was returning to Rome, Alexander, the elder son of Aristobulus, escaped on the way; and, returning to Judea, created fresh disturbances: but was suppressed B. C. 57, by Mark Antony, who had been sent to the relief of Hyrcanus, by Gabinius, president of Syria. To please the Jews, Gabinius at this time made a change in the government of Judea, from regal to aristocratical. Hitherto the administration of publick affairs had been managed under the prince, by the two Sanhedrims, or councils, or courts of justice; the lesser, consisting of twenty-three persons, was instituted in every city; each of these lesser was subject to the jurisdiction and control of the great Sanhedrim of seventytwo members, sitting at Jerusalem. Gabinius suppressed both, and in their room appointed five independent tribunals at Jerusalem, Jericho, Gadara, Amathas, and Sephoris; and invested each with power to administer summary justice to all the inhabitants within their respective districts. This threw the whole power into the hands of the nobles of the land, who presided in these courts, leaving to Hyrcanus only the name of prince. But ten years after, Julius Cesar, on his passing through Syria, after the Alexandrian war, in gratitude for the effectual assistance he had received from Antipater, the general of Hyrcanus, reinstated Hyrcanus in the principality, restored the ancient form of government, and appointed Antipater procurator of Syria and Judea. Gabinius was succeeded in the government of Syria by Crassus, B. C. 54; who, to make preparations for the Parthian war, plundered the temple at Jerusalem of all the treasures which Pompey had respected, and carried off to the amount of about two millions sterling. But this sacrilegious plunder proved the prelude to his ruin. For the following year he was defeated by the Parthians with great slaughter; and himself and his son killed. Aristobulus, having escaped from Rome with his younger son Antigonus, excited fresh disturbances in Judea, but was defeated; and at length poisoned by Pompey's party, B.C. 49. And Alexander his son, having raised forces to assist him, was taken and put to death by orders of Pompey. Two years after Antigonus, the surviving son, applied to Julius Cesar to be restored to his father's principality; but Cesar, from regard to Antipater, rejected his petition, B.C. 47. Antipater had now great credit with the Romans, and influence at home, and in fact governed Hyrcanus; he appointed Phasaelus, his eldest son, to be governour of Jerusalem; and Herod, his second, governour of Galilee; and took a progress with Hyrcanus through Judea, to settle the affairs of the kingdom. Herod having exerted himself with great spirit and activity in clearing his province of robbers, or banditti, and put Hezekiah their leader, and several of his associates, to death, by his own authority, without any formal trial, excited the envy and jealousy of several of the leading Jews; who forced Hyrcanus to summon him to appear before the Sanhedrim to answer for his conduct. Herod attended the summons, and came clothed in purple, and with a numerous retinue, and brought a letter from Sextus Cesar, then president of Syria, to Hyrcanus, with express orders to acquit him, under pain of incurring his highest displeasure, which Hyrcanus was sufficiently inclined to do without this mandate. All this, however, so intimidated his accusers and the Sanhedrim, that they all sat silent; until Sameas, a man of great wisdom and integrity, had at length the courage to arraign him, not only for the crime imputed to him, but also for his arrogance and presumption in daring to appear before them, not as a criminal, but as their superiour. And he predicted, that this Herod, whom they now iniquitously spared, would execute the just judgment of God upon them all, which afterwards came to pass; for Herod afterwards put Hvrcanus and the whole Sanhedrim to death, except Pollio and Sameas, whom he spared for recommending the surrender of the city to Herod and Sosius; because the crimes of the people were such that they could not escape him." On this occasion, however, Hyrcanus, seeing the Sanhedrim provoked against Herod, adjourned the court till next day, and advised him to fly from the city that night, which he did, to Damascus; and was with difficulty dissuaded by his father and brother from marching with an army to Jerusalem, to avenge the insult he had received, in being summoned to clear himself before the Sanhedrim. After Julius Cesar's return from the African war, Hyrcanus sent an embassy to him, for permission to repair the walls and fortifications of Jerusalem. Cesar not only granted this request, which Antipater immediately executed; but by a decree, confirmed Hyrcanus in his prerogatives of high priest and ethnarch; and remitted the annual tribute to be paid to the Romans every seventh or sabbatical year; and granted such further privileges and immunities to the Jews, throughout the empire, that they could hardly be said to feel the weight of the Roman yoke. But this happy state was of short continuance. After the death of Cesar, Cassius seized the province of Syria, on which he levied heavy contributions. He assessed Judea in seven hundred talents, of which Antipater commissioned his two sons, Phasaelus and Herod, to raise one half; and Malichus, a Jew, one of the principal supporters of Hyrcanus, the remainder: who would have been put to death by Cassius for his dilatoriness, had not Hyrcanus redeemed him with a hundred talents out of his own coffers. Malichus, and the heads of the Jewish nation, jealous that an Idumean should govern the state, soon after caused Antipater to be poisoned: but he was in turn assassinated by a party of the Roman garrison at Tyre, at Herod's instigation. COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE JEWISH HISTORY, &c. B. C. 42, fresh troubles broke out in Judea, between the faction of Malichus, who had gained Hyrcanus and the Roman commander Felix to their side, and the two sons of Antipater. To reconcile these differences, a marriage was set on foot between Herod and Miriam, or Mariamne, the beautiful and accomplished granddaughter of the high priest. But the adverse faction soon found another head in Antigonus, the younger son of Aristobulus; and under pretence of restoring him to his father's throne, raised new disturbances in the state. The next year, B. C. 41, when Antony was at Daphne, near Antioch, a deputation of a hundred of the principal Jews came to complain against the sons of Antipater. Antony gave them a hearing, and asked Hyrcanus, then present, whom he thought the fittest to conduct the administration of affairs under them? To which he replied, the two brothers; induced probably by the contract of marriage between Herod and his granddaughter. Whereupon Antony, who was well disposed towards them before, made them both tetrarchs, committed the affairs of Judea to their administration, imprisoned fifteen of the deputies, and would have put them to death, had not Herod saved them by his intercession. Still not baffled, they renewed their complaints to him against the two brothers at Tyre, in a body of a thousand deputies. But Antony, considering this as an insult, and a tumult, ordered his soldiers to disperse them, who slew several, and wounded more. But Herod soon had to encounter a more dangerous storm. B. C. 40, the Parthian general Pacorus was induced to undertake the restoration of Antigonus to his father's kingdom. Being unable to prevail by force, he had recourse to fraud; and treacherously seized Phasaelus and Hyrcanus: but Herod, having timely intelligence, fled to Massada, the strongest fortress in the country. Hereupon the Parthians, having plundered the country, made Antigonus king, and delivered up to him Hyrcanus and Phasaelus. The latter, knowing that his death was determined on, dashed out his brains against the walls of his prison. Antigonus spared his aged uncle's life, but barbarously cut off his ears, to incapacitate him from being any longer high priest, and then sent him into exile to Seleucia in Babylonia. In this emergency Herod sailed to Italy, to implore the assistance of Antony and the Romans, to place Aristobulus, the brother of his espoused Mariamne, on the throne of Judea. This youth was the son of Alexandra, the daughter of Hyrcanus, by Alexander, the eldest son of Aristobulus; so that he united the titles of both brothers to the crown: proposing nothing further for himself, than to govern the country under Aristobulus, in the same manner as under Hyrcanus. But Antony chose to make Herod himself king, in reward of his past services, and for the promise of a great sum of money; and by his interest with Octavian, procured from the senate, contrary to their usual policy, a decree to that effect, in the course of that same year, B. C. 40. Herod made such despatch, that he returned to Judea before the end of the year, and raising forces of every kind, foreigners as well as Jews, relieved his friends at Massada, who had been closely besieged all the while by Antigonus. : Next year, B. C. 39, Herod carried on the war against Antigonus with various success; but towards the end of it obtained a signal victory over him. The following year, B. C. 38, he besieged Jerusalem and during the siege consummated his marriage with Mariamne, hoping that this affinity with the Asmonean family would conciliate the people to his government. Returning to the siege, he took the city by storm in the year B.C. 37, with the assistance of a Roman army, which plundered the city, and massacred the inhabitants without mercy. Antigonus, having surrendered himself, was sent in chains to Antony at Antioch; who, not long after, was prevailed upon, by the solicitations of Herod, and a large sum of money, to execute him, like a common malefactor, by the rods and axe of the lictor; intending, by this ignominious death, to which the Romans never before had subjected any crowned head, to lessen the attachment of the Jews to the Asmonean family; who, during his lifetime, could not, in general, be prevailed on to acknowledge Herod as king, by any tortures. Such was the end of the Asmonean dynasty, after it had subsisted one hundred and twenty-six years. “A noble and illustrious house," says Josephus, "distinguished by their descent, by the dignity of the pontificate, and by the great exploits of their ancestors for the nation." To secure himself on the throne, Herod the Great began his reign by cutting off the heads of the Asmonean party; and among them, all the members of the Sanhedrim, except two; who alone had recommended the surrender of the city to Herod. In the room of Antigonus, he appointed Ananelus, an obscure priest of the pontifical family, residing among the Jews of Babylonia, to be high priest, B. C. 36. But next year, on the solicitation of Mariamne and her mother Alexandra, who complained to Cleopatra queen of Egypt, and began to engage Antony to interfere, he deposed Ananelus, and appointed Aristobulus, the brother of Mariamne, the rightful successor to the pontificate, then a youth of only seventeen years. Ålexandra upon this endeavoured to procure the crown also for her son; but being detected by Herod, was confined to the palace. She then formed a plot for escaping to Egypt with her son; but Herod seized them both on the road, and out of an affected clemency, pardoned both, because he dared not punish either; determined, however, to rid himself of such a dangerous competitor, whenever a convenient opportunity should offer. And the attachment of the multitude was soon publickly shewn to the young prince; for at the ensuing feast of tabernacles, he discharged the functions of the high priest with so much grace and dignity, and the beauty of his person was so set off by the splendour of the pontifical robes, that he charmed the whole assembly, and every tongue was loud in his praises. This raised the tyrant's jealousy to such a pitch, that he could not brook any further delay, but immediately after the festival was over, took him down to an entertainment at Jericho; and after dinner, several of Herod's attendants bathing in a pond, he was persuaded to bathe also, and was dipped, and held by them so long under water, that he was drowned. Herod expressed the greatest grief at this unfortunate accident, as he affected to consider it, and interred him with great pomp. But every one saw through his hypocrisy, and none more clearly than Alexandra, who was inconsolable, and could not have survived her loss, but for the desire of revenge. Accordingly, she acquainted Cleopatra with the treacherous murder of her son, and engaged her so effectually in her interest, that she never ceased importuning Antony to call Herod to an account. Antony therefore cited Herod to appear before him in Syria, next year, B.C. 34. But Herod, by fair words and large presents, so mollified Antony, that nothing could be done against him. This prosecution, however, gave rise to another tragedy in Herod's family. For when Herod was summoned to appear before Antony, apprehensive of the event, he left directions with his uncle Joseph, who had married his sister Salome, to put Mariamne, his beloved wife, to death, if he should be condemned; fearing lest COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE JEWISH HISTORY, &c. Antony, who admired her even upon the fame of her beauty, might take her to himself, after his death. But Joseph imprudently divulged the secret to Mariamne, which exceedingly offended her and her mother Alexandra; and the latter plotted to fly for protection to a Roman legion, stationed near the city. Upon Herod's return, his sister Salome, the firebrand of her family, disclosed to him all that had happened, and malignantly accused her own husband Joseph of too great familiarity with Mariamne, ready to sacrifice him to her hatred of the latter; who being a woman of high birth, and still higher spirit, looked down on Salome as her inferiour, and treated her with contempt: an offence not to be forgiven by a haughty and revengeful woman. Herod, though struck with jealousy, restrained himself through love to Mariamne, and questioned her in private about the charge. But she vindicated herself so fully, with all the persuasiveness of conscious innocence, that the king was satisfied, and asked her pardon for listening to such injurious reports; and assuring her of his love, pressed her to return it; but she resentfully remarked, that his conduct did not correspond with his professions, for that "if he loved her, how could he order her to be put to death, though innocent, in case Antony should determine against him?" This imprudent declaration rekindled his jealousy, and convinced him that the charge was true; he flung her from his arms, ordered Joseph to be put to death without admitting him into his presence; and though his love at this time restrained his rage against Mariamne, he put her mother Alexandra into custody, as the cause of all these mischiefs. In the year B. C. 32, Herod was commissioned by Antony, at the desire of Cleopatra, to invade Malchus, king of Arabia Petrea, who withheld from her the tribute which he had paid for a part of his territory adjoining Egypt. But being treacherously deserted by Cleopatra's general, he was overthrown with great slaughter, and hardly escaped himself with the remnant of his army. But the following year, having defeated the Arabians in two successive engagements, he compelled them to sue for peace; which he granted on his own terms, and returned in triumph to Jerusalem, having reduced the Arabians under his dominion. After the battle of Actium, B.C. 31, Herod in vain attempted to support the cause of Antony: he thought it time therefore to look to himself, and to make his peace with Augustus on the best terms he could. Apprehensive however that he might be deposed, and Hyrcanus restored to his throne, he pretended that the poor old prince had held a treasonable correspondence with Malchus, king of Arabia, and caused him to be beheaded, after he had passed his eightieth year. Of all the atrocious cruelties of Herod, this was marked with the highest perfidy, ingratitude, and breach of hospitality. Hyrcanus had lived in exile, for some time, in Seleucia, where he was treated with the highest respect by the king of Parthia, and honoured as their king by the Jews of Babylonia, and of the Parthian empire, who composed a body altogether more numerous and wealthy than those of Judea, and supplied him with a maintenance suitable to his rank and dignity. But on hearing of the death of Antigonus, and advancement of Herod to the throne of Judea, his love of his country prompted him to return home, and put himself under the protection of Herod, who owed to him the rise of all his fortunes, his affinity with the royal family, and even his life, when arraigned before the Sanhedrim. Herod also was anxious for his coming, in order to have him in his power, that he might, by his death, prevent his restoration to the throne, in case of a reverse of fortune. He therefore not only importuned Hyrcanus to come, but sent an embassy to Phraates, king of Parthia, to solicit his permission. Contrary, therefore, to the advice of all his friends, Hyrcanus returned to Jerusalem, in the second year of Herod's reign; who treated him with all seeming respect; until his wicked policy tempted him to cut off his king and his benefactor, six years after. Herod's next care, before he went to make his peace with Augustus, was to secure his own family and treasures, in case he should be unsuccessful. His mother, sister, wives, and children he placed in the strong fortress of Massada, under the care of his brother Pheroras. But Mariamne and her mother Alexandra he left in Alexandrium, under the care of Sohemus, a trusty Idumean, with orders to put them to death, if Augustus should treat him harshly, and then endeavour to secure the crown for his children. Augustus however gave him a most favourable recep tion: and not only restored him his diadem, which on entering he had laid aside, but afterwards enlarged his dominions, and always treated him with more distinction and regard than any of the tributary kings of the Roman empire. Herod however was most unhappy at home. The affections of Mariamne were still further alienated from him by the discovery of his last directions to Sohemus. She received him on his return home with sadness and coldness; and thus raised his displeasure, which she failed not to aggravate by her reserve and haughtiness. Whilst he was fluctuating between love and resentment for a year, she brought matters to a crisis, by refusing one day his proffered love, and upbraiding him with the murder of her father (or grandfather, Hyrcanus,) and of her brother. Enraged at this, and spurred on by the false accusations of Salome, he put her confidential chamberlain to the torture, who declared that her hatred towards him proceeded from what Sohemus had told her. This instantly excited his jealousy of Sohemus, who he concluded must have been too intimate with her, for that otherwise he would not have betrayed the secret. He ordered him to be immediately seized, and put to death: he also caused Mariamne to be tried, and condemned, by intimidated judges; and at the instigation of his sister Salome, fearing he might relent, executed immediately, under the alarming suggestion, that if her life was spared, it might excite a public commotion. While she was leading to execution, her unworthy mother Alexandra, fearing to be involved in her doom, met her on the way; reproached her with ingratitude to her husband, adding that she was justly punished; and even dared to pull her by the hair. But Mariamne, without uttering a word, bore it with dignified composure, ashamed of her mother's baseness; and without changing colour, submitted to death, retaining her nobleness of mind even to the last. Alexandra did not long escape; for when Herod fell sick next year, B. C. 28, oppressed with the most poignant grief and remorse for the injured Mariamne's death; she laid a plot for seizing the government, but it was disclosed to Herod by the officers whose fidelity she endeavoured to corrupt, and he instantly ordered her to be put to death. Herod was still harassed with domestick troubles. His turbulent sister Salome, having fallen out with her second husband, Costobarus the Idumean, B. C. 25, accused him to Herod of plotting with several of the Asmonean party. Herod put them all to death; but he was nevertheless disturbed with tumults and conspiracies during the remainder of his reign. To secure himself the better, he built several strong cities and fortresses in the land. He also built a strong COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE JEWISH HISTORY, &c. and magnificent palace for himself on mount Sion. But his greatest and noblest work was the rebuilding of the temple, which had gone greatly out of repair by length of time, and had also been materially injured by the civil wars. The year after the foundation was laid, Herod went to Rome to visit Augustus, and to see his two sons by Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus, who had been educated there for three years past, under the immediate inspection of the emperour himself, who had them lodged in the royal palace. He was received with great honour and kindness by Augustus, and took back his sons, whose education was now complete, to Judea; and soon after married the elder to Glaphyra, the daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, and the younger to Berenice, the daughter of Salome, his sister. But the wicked Salome, notwithstanding her close affinity, envied the young princes their merited popularity, fearing also that she might suffer for having advised their mother Mariamne's death; and she never ceased to calumniate them both to Herod, until at length his jealousy got the better of his paternal affection. For she was so base, as to alienate her own daughter's affections from her husband, and prevail on her to betray his confidential conversations, respecting the king's cruelty and ill treatment; which she reported, with aggravations, to Herod. To check the pride and insolence of Mariamne's sons, who certainly were not sufficiently guarded in their conversation respecting their father; three years after their return, Herod brought to court, B. C. 13, his eldest son, Antipater, whom he had by his first wife Doris, when he was in a private station, and whom he had divorced on his marriage with Mariamne. But this measure only provoked them to greater discontents, and more intemperate language than before. Of which Antipater, who was no less artful and malicious, than ambitious, failed not to avail himself; and took care to have them constantly reported to his father by his own emissaries; while he openly espoused their cause, and endeavoured to excuse them from the charges, so as to persuade the old king that he was no less attached to his brothers than to his father and at length he prevailed on Herod to recommend him to Augustus as his successor, and obtain the emperour's permission to leave the crown to him, in the first instance, and afterwards to the sons of Mariamne, B. C. 11. Josephus gives a full detail of all the various plots that were laid by Antipater and his wicked associates, Salome, the sister, and Pheroras, the brother to Herod, to compass the destruction of the unfortunate princes, which they at length accomplished, by a false charge that they intended to poison their father; and Herod, in his rage, at last ordered them both to be strangled at Sebaste, after he had accused, and got them to be condemned to death, in a council held at Berytus, before Saturninus and Volumnius, governours of Syria, B. C. 6. By the death of these two unfortunate brothers, the noble family of the Asmoneans became utterly extinct; and this disastrous period, marked by civil wars, and domestick treasons and massacres, was brought to a conclusion, according to prophecy, about the birth of John the Baptist, Mal. iv. 5, 6. THE END OF VOL. II. LONDON: GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. |