Antiquities of the Jews — Book 15, Chapter 10

1. When Herod was engaged in such matters, and when he had already re-
edified Sebaste, [Samaria,] he resolved to send his sons Alexander and
Aristobulus to Rome, to enjoy the company of Cæsar; who, when they came
thither, lodged at the house of Pollio, 19 who was very fond of Herod's
friendship; and they had leave to lodge in Cæsar's own palace, for he
received these sons of Herod with all humanity, and gave Herod leave to
give his kingdom to which of his sons he pleased; and besides all this,
he bestowed on him Trachon, and Batanea, and Auranitis, which he gave
him on the occasion following: One Zenodorus 20 had hired what was
called the house of Lysanias, who, as he was not satisfied with its
revenues, became a partner with the robbers that inhabited the
Trachonites, and so procured himself a larger income; for the
inhabitants of those places lived in a mad way, and pillaged the country
of the Damascenes, while Zenodorus did not restrain them, but partook of
the prey they acquired. Now as the neighboring people were hereby great
sufferers, they complained to Varro, who was then president [of Syria],
and entreated him to write to Cæsar about this injustice of Zenodorus.
When these matters were laid before Cæsar, he wrote back to Varro to
destroy those nests of robbers, and to give the land to Herod, that so
by his care the neighboring countries might be no longer disturbed with
these doings of the Trachonites; for it was not an easy firing to
restrain them, since this way of robbery had been their usual practice,
and they had no other way to get their living, because they had neither
any city of their own, nor lands in their possession, but only some
receptacles and dens in the earth, and there they and their cattle lived
in common together. However, they had made contrivances to get pools of
water, and laid up corn in granaries for themselves, and were able to
make great resistance, by issuing out on the sudden against any that
attacked them; for the entrances of their caves were narrow, in which
but one could come in at a time, and the places within incredibly large,
and made very wide but the ground over their habitations was not very
high, but rather on a plain, while the rocks are altogether hard and
difficult to be entered upon, unless any one gets into the plain road by
the guidance of another, for these roads are not straight, but have
several revolutions. But when these men are hindered from their wicked
preying upon their neighbors, their custom is to prey one upon another,
insomuch that no sort of injustice comes amiss to them. But when Herod
had received this grant from Cæsar, and was come into this country, he
procured skillful guides, and put a stop to their wicked robberies, and
procured peace and quietness to the neighboring people.

2. Hereupon Zenodorus was grieved, in the first place, because his
principality was taken away from him; and still more so, because he
envied Herod, who had gotten it; So he went up to Rome to accuse him,
but returned back again without success. Now Agrippa was [about this
time] sent to succeed Cæsar in the government of the countries beyond
the Ionian Sea, upon whom Herod lighted when he was wintering about
Mitylene, for he had been his particular friend and companion, and then
returned into Judea again. However, some of the Gadarens came to
Agrippa, and accused Herod, whom he sent back bound to the king without
giving them the hearing. But still the Arabians, who of old bare ill-
will to Herod's government, were nettled, and at that time attempted to
raise a sedition in his dominions, and, as they thought, upon a more
justifiable occasion; for Zenodorus, despairing already of success as to
his own affairs, prevented [his enemies], by selling to those Arabians a
part of his principality, called Auranitis, for the value of fifty
talents; but as this was included in the donations of Cæsar, they
contested the point with Herod, as unjustly deprived of what they had
bought. Sometimes they did this by making incursions upon him, and
sometimes by attempting force against him, and sometimes by going to law
with him. Moreover, they persuaded the poorer soldiers to help them, and
were troublesome to him, out of a constant hope that they should reduce
the people to raise a sedition; in which designs those that are in the
most miserable circumstances of life are still the most earnest; and
although Herod had been a great while apprized of these attempts, yet
did not he indulge any severity to them, but by rational methods aimed
to mitigate things, as not willing to give any handle for tumults.

3. Now when Herod had already reigned seventeen years, Cæsar came into
Syria; at which time the greatest part of the inhabitants of Gadara
clamored against Herod, as one that was heavy in his injunctions, and
tyrannical. These reproaches they mainly ventured upon by the
encouragement of Zenodorus, who took his oath that he would never leave
Herod till he had procured that they should be severed from Herod's
kingdom, and joined to Cæsar's province. The Gadarens were induced
hereby, and made no small cry against him, and that the more boldly,
because those that had been delivered up by Agrippa were not punished by
Herod, who let them go, and did them no harm; for indeed he was the
principal man in the world who appeared almost inexorable in punishing
crimes in his own family, but very generous in remitting the offenses
that were committed elsewhere. And while they accused Herod of injuries,
and plunderings, and subversions of temples, he stood unconcerned, and
was ready to make his defense. However, Cæsar gave him his right hand,
and remitted nothing of his kindness to him, upon this disturbance by
the multitude; and indeed these things were alleged the first day, but
the hearing proceeded no further; for as the Gadarens saw the
inclination of Cæsar and of his assessors, and expected, as they had
reason to do, that they should be delivered up to the king, some of
them, out of a dread of the torments they might undergo, cut their own
throats in the night time, and some of them threw themselves down
precipices, and others of them cast themselves into the river, and
destroyed themselves of their own accord; which accidents seemed a
sufficient condemnation of the rashness and crimes they had been guilty
of; whereupon Cæsar made no longer delay, but cleared Herod from the
crimes he was accused of. Another happy accident there was, which was a
further great advantage to Herod at this time; for Zenodorus's belly
burst, and a great quantity of blood issued from him in his sickness,
and he thereby departed this life at Antioch in Syria; so Cæsar bestowed
his country, which was no small one, upon Herod; it lay between Trachon
and Galilee, and contained Ulatha, and Paneas, and the country round
about. He also made him one of the procurators of Syria, and commanded
that they should do every thing with his approbation; and, in short, he
arrived at that pitch of felicity, that whereas there were but two men
that governed the vast Roman empire, first Cæsar, and then Agrippa, who
was his principal favorite, Cæsar preferred no one to Herod besides
Agrippa, and Agrippa made no one his greater friend than Herod besides
Cæsar. And when he had acquired such freedom, he begged of Cæsar a
tetrarchy 21 for his brother Pheroras, while he did himself bestow upon
him a revenue of a hundred talents out of his own kingdom, that in case
he came to any harm himself, his brother might be in safety, and that
his sons might not have dominion over him. So when he had conducted
Cæsar to the sea, and was returned home, he built him a most beautiful
temple, of the whitest stone, in Zenodorus's country, near the place
called Panlure. This is a very fine cave in a mountain, under which
there is a great cavity in the earth, and the cavern is abrupt, and
prodigiously deep, and full of a still water; over it hangs a vast
mountain; and under the caverns arise the springs of the river Jordan.
Herod adorned this place, which was already a very remarkable one, still
further by the erection of this temple, which he dedicated to Cæsar.

4. At which time Herod released to his subjects the third part of their
taxes, under pretense indeed of relieving them, after the dearth they
had had; but the main reason was, to recover their good-will, which he
now wanted; for they were uneasy at him, because of the innovations he
had introduced in their practices, of the dissolution of their religion,
and of the disuse of their own customs; and the people every where
talked against him, like those that were still more provoked and
disturbed at his procedure; against which discontents he greatly guarded
himself, and took away the opportunities they might have to disturb him,
and enjoined them to be always at work; nor did he permit the citizens
either to meet together, or to walk or eat together, but watched every
thing they did, and when any were caught, they were severely punished;
and many there were who were brought to the citadel Hyrcania, both
openly and secretly, and were there put to death; and there were spies
set every where, both in the city and in the roads, who watched those
that met together; nay, it is reported that he did not himself neglect
this part of caution, but that he would oftentimes himself take the
habit of a private man, and mix among the multitude, in the night time,
and make trial what opinion they had of his government: and as for those
that could no way be reduced to acquiesce under his scheme of
government, he prosecuted them all manner of ways; but for the rest of
the multitude, he required that they should be obliged to take an oath
of fidelity to him, and at the same time compelled them to swear that
they would bear him good-will, and continue certainly so to do, in his
management of the government; and indeed a great part of them, either to
please him, or out of fear of him, yielded to what he required of them;
but for such as were of a more open and generous disposition, and had
indignation at the force he used to them, he by one means or other made
away, with them. He endeavored also to persuade Pollio the Pharisee, and
Satneas, and the greatest part of their scholars, to take the oath; but
these would neither submit so to do, nor were they punished together
with the rest, out of the reverence he bore to Pollio. The Essens also,
as we call a sect of ours, were excused from this imposition. These men
live the same kind of life as do those whom the Greeks call
Pythagoreans, concerning whom I shall discourse more fully elsewhere.
However, it is but fit to set down here the reasons wherefore Herod had
these Essens in such honor, and thought higher of them than their mortal
nature required; nor will this account be unsuitable to the nature of
this history, as it will show the opinion men had of these Essens.

5. Now there was one of these Essens, whose name was Manahem, who had
this testimony, that he not only conducted his life after an excellent
manner, but had the foreknowledge of future events given him by God
also. This man once saw Herod when he was a child, and going to school,
and saluted him as king of the Jews; but he, thinking that either he did
not know him, or that he was in jest, put him in mind that he was but a
private man; but Manahem smiled to himself, and clapped him on his
backside with his hand, and said, "However that be, thou wilt be king,
and wilt begin thy reign happily, for God finds thee worthy of it. And
do thou remember the blows that Manahem hath given thee, as being a
signal of the change of thy fortune. And truly this will be the best
reasoning for thee, that thou love justice [towards men], and piety
towards God, and clemency towards thy citizens; yet do I know how thy
whole conduct will be, that thou wilt not be such a one, for thou wilt
excel all men in happiness, and obtain an everlasting reputation, but
wilt forget piety and righteousness; and these crimes will not be
concealed from God, at the conclusion of thy life, when thou wilt find
that he will be mindful of them, and punish them for them." Now at that
time Herod did not at all attend to what Manahem said, as having no
hopes of such advancement; but a little afterward, when he was so
fortunate as to be advanced to the dignity of king, and was in the
height of his dominion, he sent for Manahem, and asked him how long he
should reign. Manahem did not tell him the full length of his reign;
wherefore, upon that silence of his, he asked him further, whether he
should reign ten years or not? He replied, "Yes, twenty, nay, thirty
years;" but did not assign the just determinate limit of his reign.
Herod was satisfied with these replies, and gave Manahem his hand, and
dismissed him; and from that time he continued to honor all the Essens.
We have thought it proper to relate these facts to our readers, how
strange soever they be, and to declare what hath happened among us,
because many of these Essens have, by their excellent virtue, been
thought worthy of this knowledge of Divine revelations.