Antiquities of the Jews — Book 15, Chapter 3

1. So king Herod immediately took the high priesthood away from
Ananelus, who, as we said before, was not of this country, but one of
those Jews that had been carried captive beyond Euphrates; for there
were not a few ten thousands of this people that had been carried
captives, and dwelt about Babylonia, whence Ananelus came. He was one of
the stock of the high priests 4 and had been of old a particular friend
of Herod; and when he was first made king, he conferred that dignity
upon him, and now put him out of it again, in order to quiet the
troubles in his family, though what he did was plainly unlawful, for at
no other time [of old] was any one that had once been in that dignity
deprived of it. It was Antiochus Epiphanes who first brake that law, and
deprived Jesus, and made his brother Onias high priest in his stead.
Aristobulus was the second that did so, and took that dignity from his
brother [Hyrcanus]; and this Herod was the third, who took that high
office away [from Ananelus], and gave it to this young man, Aristobulus,
in his stead.

2. And now Herod seemed to have healed the divisions in his family; yet
was he not without suspicion, as is frequently the case, of people
seeming to be reconciled to one another, but thought that, as Alexandra
had already made attempts tending to innovations, so did he fear that
she would go on therein, if she found a fit opportunity for so doing; so
he gave a command that she should dwell in the palace, and meddle with
no public affairs. Her guards also were so careful, that nothing she did
in private life every day was concealed. All these hardships put her out
of patience, by little and little and she began to hate Herod; for as
she had the pride of a woman to the utmost degree, she had great
indignation at this suspicious guard that was about her, as desirous
rather to undergo any thing that could befall her, than to be deprived
of her liberty of speech, and, under the notion of an honorary guard, to
live in a state of slavery and terror. She therefore sent to Cleopatra,
and made a long complaint of the circumstances she was in, and entreated
her to do her utmost for her assistance. Cleopatra hereupon advised her
to take her son with her, and come away immediately to her into Egypt.
This advice pleased her; and she had this contrivance for getting away:
She got two coffins made, as if they were to carry away two dead bodies
and put herself into one, and her son into the other and gave orders to
such of her servants as knew of her intentions to carry them away in the
night time. Now their road was to be thence to the sea-side and there
was a ship ready to carry them into Egypt. Now Aesop, one of her
servants, happened to fall upon Sabion, one of her friends, and spake of
this matter to him, as thinking he had known of it before. When Sabion
knew this, [who had formerly been an enemy of Herod, and been esteemed
one of those that laid snares for and gave the poison to [his father]
Antipater,] he expected that this discovery would change Herod's hatred
into kindness; so he told the king of this private stratagem of
Alexandra: whereupon be suffered her to proceed to the execution of her
project, and caught her in the very fact; but still he passed by her
offense; and though he had a great mind to do it, he durst not inflict
any thing that was severe upon her, for he knew that Cleopatra would not
bear that he should have her accused, on account of her hatred to him;
but made a show as if it were rather the generosity of his soul, and his
great moderation, that made him forgive them. However, he fully proposed
to himself to put this young man out of the way, by one means or other;
but he thought he might in probability be better concealed in doing it,
if he did it not presently, nor immediately after what had lately
happened.

3. And now, upon the approach of the feast of tabernacles, which is a
festival very much observed among us, he let those days pass over, and
both he and the rest of the people were therein very merry; yet did the
envy which at this time arose in him cause him to make haste to do what
he was about, and provoke him to it; for when this youth Aristobulus,
who was now in the seventeenth year of his age, went up to the altar,
according to the law, to offer the sacrifices, and this with the
ornaments of his high priesthood, and when he performed the sacred
offices, 5 he seemed to be exceedingly comely, and taller than men
usually were at that age, and to exhibit in his countenance a great deal
of that high family he was sprung from,—a warm zeal and affection
towards him appeared among the people, and the memory of the actions of
his grandfather Aristobulus was fresh in their minds; and their
affections got so far the mastery of them, that they could not forbear
to show their inclinations to him. They at once rejoiced and were
confounded, and mingled with good wishes their joyful acclamations which
they made to him, till the good-will of the multitude was made too
evident; and they more rashly proclaimed the happiness they had received
from his family than was fit under a monarchy to have done. Upon all
this, Herod resolved to complete what he had intended against the young
man. When therefore the festival was over, and he was feasting at
Jericho 6 with Alexandra, who entertained them there, he was then very
pleasant with the young man, and drew him into a lonely place, and at
the same time played with him in a juvenile and ludicrous manner. Now
the nature of that place was hotter than ordinary; so they went out in a
body, and of a sudden, and in a vein of madness; and as they stood by
the fish-ponds, of which there were large ones about the house, they
went to cool themselves [by bathing], because it was in the midst of a
hot day. At first they were only spectators of Herod's servants and
acquaintance as they were swimming; but after a while, the young man, at
the instigation of Herod, went into the water among them, while such of
Herod's acquaintance, as he had appointed to do it, dipped him as he was
swimming, and plunged him under water, in the dark of the evening, as if
it had been done in sport only; nor did they desist till he was entirely
suffocated. And thus was Aristobulus murdered, having lived no more in
all than eighteen years, 7 and kept the high priesthood one year only;
which high priesthood Ananelus now recovered again.

4. When this sad accident was told the women, their joy was soon changed
to lamentation, at the sight of the dead body that lay before them, and
their sorrow was immoderate. The city also [of Jerusalem], upon the
spreading of this news, were in very great grief, every family looking
on this calamity as if it had not belonged to another, but that one of
themselves was slain. But Alexandra was more deeply affected, upon her
knowledge that he had been destroyed [on purpose]. Her sorrow was
greater than that of others, by her knowing how the murder was
committed; but she was under the necessity of bearing up under it, out
of her prospect of a greater mischief that might otherwise follow; and
she oftentimes came to an inclination to kill herself with her own hand,
but still she restrained herself, in hopes she might live long enough to
revenge the unjust murder thus privately committed; nay, she further
resolved to endeavor to live longer, and to give no occasion to think
she suspected that her son was slain on purpose, and supposed that she
might thereby be in a capacity of revenging it at a proper opportunity.
Thus did she restrain herself, that she might not be noted for
entertaining any such suspicion. However, Herod endeavored that none
abroad should believe that the child's death was caused by any design of
his; and for this purpose he did not only use the ordinary signs of
sorrow, but fell into tears also, and exhibited a real confusion of
soul; and perhaps his affections were overcome on this occasion, when he
saw the child's countenance so young and so beautiful, although his
death was supposed to tend to his own security. So far at least this
grief served as to make some apology for him; and as for his funeral,
that he took care should be very magnificent, by making great
preparation for a sepulcher to lay his body in, and providing a great
quantity of spices, and burying many ornaments together with him, till
the very women, who were in such deep sorrow, were astonished at it, and
received in this way some consolation.

5. However, no such things could overcome Alexandra's grief; but the
remembrance of this miserable case made her sorrow, both deep and
obstinate. Accordingly, she wrote an account of this treacherous scene
to Cleopatra, and how her son was murdered; but Cleopatra, as she had
formerly been desirous to give her what satisfaction she could, and
commiserating Alexandra's misfortunes, made the case her own, and would
not let Antony be quiet, but excited him to punish the child's murder;
for that it was an unworthy thing that Herod, who had been by him made
king of a kingdom that no way belonged to him, should be guilty of such
horrid crimes against those that were of the royal blood in reality.
Antony was persuaded by these arguments; and when he came to Laodicea,
he sent and commanded Herod to come and make his defense, as to what he
had done to Aristobulus, for that such a treacherous design was not well
done, if he had any hand in it. Herod was now in fear, both of the
accusation, and of Cleopatra's ill-will to him, which was such that she
was ever endeavoring to make Antony hate him. He therefore determined to
obey his summons, for he had no possible way to avoid it. So he left his
uncle Joseph procurator for his government, and for the public affairs,
and gave him a private charge, that if Antony should kill him, he also
should kill Mariamne immediately; for that he had a tender affection for
this his wife, and was afraid of the injury that should be offered him,
if, after his death, she, for her beauty, should be engaged to some
other man: but his intimation was nothing but this at the bottom, that
Antony had fallen in love with her, when he had formerly heard somewhat
of her beauty. So when Herod had given Joseph this charge, and had
indeed no sure hopes of escaping with his life, he went away to Antony.

6. But as Joseph was administering the public affairs of the kingdom,
and for that reason was very frequently with Mariamne, both because his
business required it, and because of the respects he ought to pay to the
queen, he frequently let himself into discourses about Herod's kindness,
and great affection towards her; and when the women, especially
Alexandra, used to turn his discourses into feminine raillery, Joseph
was so over-desirous to demonstrate the kings inclinations, that he
proceeded so far as to mention the charge he had received, and thence
drew his demonstration, that Herod was not able to live without her; and
that if he should come to any ill end, he could not endure a separation
from her, even after he was dead. Thus spake Joseph. But the women, as
was natural, did not take this to be an instance of Herod's strong
affection for them, but of his severe usage of them, that they could not
escape destruction, nor a tyrannical death, even when he was dead
himself. And this saying [of Joseph] was a foundation for the women's
severe suspicions about him afterwards.

7. At this time a report went about the city Jerusalem among Herod's
enemies, that Antony had tortured Herod, and put him to death. This
report, as is natural, disturbed those that were about the palace, but
chiefly the women; upon which Alexandra endeavored to persuade Joseph to
go out of the palace, and fly away with them to the ensigns of the Roman
legion, which then lay encamped about the city, as a guard to the
kingdom, under the command of Julius; for that by this means, if any
disturbance should happen about the palace, they should be in greater
security, as having the Romans favorable to them; and that besides, they
hoped to obtain the highest authority, if Antony did but once see
Mariamne, by whose means they should recover the kingdom, and want
nothing which was reasonable for them to hope for, because of their
royal extraction.

8. But as they were in the midst of these deliberations, letters were
brought from Herod about all his affairs, and proved contrary to the
report, and of what they before expected; for when he was come to
Antony, he soon recovered his interest with him, by the presents he made
him, which he had brought with him from Jerusalem; and he soon induced
him, upon discoursing with him, to leave off his indignation at him, so
that Cleopatra's persuasions had less force than the arguments and
presents he brought to regain his friendship; for Antony said that it
was not good to require an account of a king, as to the affairs of his
government, for at this rate he could be no king at all, but that those
who had given him that authority ought to permit him to make use of it.
He also said the same things to Cleopatra, that it would be best for her
not busily to meddle with the acts of the king's government. Herod wrote
an account of these things, and enlarged upon the other honors which he
had received from Antony; how he sat by him at his hearing causes, and
took his diet with him every day, and that he enjoyed those favors from
him, notwithstanding the reproaches that Cleopatra so severely laid
against him, who having a great desire of his country, and earnestly
entreating Antony that the kingdom might be given to her, labored with
her utmost diligence to have him out of the way; but that he still found
Antony just to him, and had no longer any apprehensions of hard
treatment from him; and that he was soon upon his return, with a firmer
additional assurance of his favor to him, in his reigning and managing
public affairs; and that there was no longer any hope for Cleopatra's
covetous temper, since Antony had given her Celesyria instead of what
she had desired; by which means he had at once pacified her, and got
clear of the entreaties which she made him to have Judea bestowed upon
her.

9. When these letters were brought, the women left off their attempt for
flying to the Romans, which they thought of while Herod was supposed to
be dead; yet was not that purpose of theirs a secret; but when the king
had conducted Antony on his way against the Partnians, he returned to
Judea, when both his sister Salome and his mother informed him of
Alexandra's intentions. Salome also added somewhat further against
Joseph, though it was no more than a calumny, that he had often had
criminal conversation with Mariamne. The reason of her saying so was
this, that she for a long time bare her ill-will; for when they had
differences with one another, Mariamne took great freedoms, and
reproached the rest for the meanness of their birth. But Herod, whose
affection to Mariamne was always very warm, was presently disturbed at
this, and could not bear the torments of jealousy, but was still
restrained from doing any rash thing to her by the love he had for her;
yet did his vehement affection and jealousy together make him ask
Mariamne by herself about this matter of Joseph; but she denied it upon
her oath, and said all that an innocent woman could possibly say in her
own defense; so that by little and little the king was prevailed upon to
drop the suspicion, and left off his anger at her; and being overcome
with his passion for his wife, he made an apology to her for having
seemed to believe what he had heard about her, and returned her a great
many acknowledgments of her modest behavior, and professed the
extraordinary affection and kindness he had for her, till at last, as is
usual between lovers, they both fell into tears, and embraced one
another with a most tender affection. But as the king gave more and more
assurances of his belief of her fidelity, and endeavored to draw her to
a like confidence in him, Mariamne said, "Yet was not that command thou
gavest, that if any harm came to thee from Antony, I, who had been no
occasion of it, should perish with thee, a sign of thy love to me?" When
these words were fallen from her, the king was shocked at them, and
presently let her go out of his arms, and cried out, and tore his hair
with his own hands, and said, that "now he had an evident demonstration
that Joseph had had criminal conversation" with his wife; for that he
would never have uttered what he had told him alone by himself, unless
there had been such a great familiarity and firm confidence between
them. And while he was in this passion he had like to have killed his
wife; but being still overborne by his love to her, he restrained this
his passion, though not without a lasting grief and disquietness of
mind. However, he gave order to slay Joseph, without permitting him to
come into his sight; and as for Alexandra, he bound her, and kept her in
custody, as the cause of all this mischief.