Antiquities of the Jews — Book 16, Chapter 11

Alexandrium.

So Cæsar was now reconciled to Herod, and wrote thus to him: That he was
grieved for him on account of his sons; and that in case they had been
guilty of any profane and insolent crimes against him, it would behoove
him to punish them as parricides, for which he gave him power
accordingly; but if they had only contrived to fly away, he would have
him give them an admonition, and not proceed to extremity with them. He
also advised him to get an assembly together, and to appoint some place
near Berytus, 14 which is a city belonging to the Romans, and to take
the presidents of Syria, and Archelaus king of Cappadocia, and as many
more as he thought to be illustrious for their friendship to him, and
the dignities they were in, and determine what should be done by their
approbation. These were the directions that Cæsar gave him. Accordingly
Herod, when the letter was brought to him, was immediately very glad of
Cæsar's reconciliation to him, and very glad also that he had a complete
authority given him over his sons. And it strangely came about, that
whereas before, in his adversity, though he had indeed showed himself
severe, yet had he not been very rash nor hasty in procuring the
destruction of his sons; he now, in his prosperity, took advantage of
this change for the better, and the freedom he now had, to exercise his
hatred against them after an unheard of manner; he therefore sent and
called as many as he thought fit to this assembly, excepting Archelaus;
for as for him, he either hated him, so that he would not invite him, or
he thought he would be an obstacle to his designs.

2. When the presidents, and the rest that belonged to the cities, were
come to Berytus, he kept his sons in a certain village belonging to
Sidon, called Platana, but near to this city, that if they were called,
he might produce them, for he did not think fit to bring them before the
assembly: and when there were one hundred and fifty assessors present,
Herod came by himself alone, and accused his sons, and that in such a
way as if it were not a melancholy accusation, and not made but out of
necessity, and upon the misfortunes he was under; indeed, in such a way
as was very indecent for a father to accuse his sons, for he was very
vehement and disordered when he came to the demonstration of the crime
they were accused of, and gave the greatest signs of passion and
barbarity: nor would he suffer the assessors to consider of the weight
of the evidence, but asserted them to be true by his own authority,
after a manner most indecent in a father against his sons, and read
himself what they themselves had written, wherein there was no
confession of any plots or contrivances against him, but only how they
had contrived to fly away, and containing withal certain reproaches
against him, on account of the ill-will he bare them; and when he came
to those reproaches, he cried out most of all, and exaggerated what they
said, as if they had confessed the design against him, and took his oath
that he had rather lose his life than hear such reproachful words. At
last he said that he had sufficient authority, both by nature and by
Cæsar's grant to him, [to do what he thought fit]. He also added an
allegation of a law of their country, which enjoined this: That if
parents laid their hands on the head of him that was accused, the
standers by were obliged to cast stones at him, and thereby to slay him;
which though he were ready to do in his own country and kingdom, yet did
he wait for their determination; and yet they came thither not so much
as judges, to condemn them for such manifest designs against him,
whereby he had almost perished by his sons' means, but as persons that
had an opportunity of showing their detestation of such practices, and
declaring how unworthy a thing it must be in any, even the most remote,
to pass over such treacherous designs [without punishment].

3. When the king had said this, and the young men had not been produced
to make any defense for themselves, the assessors perceived there was no
room for equity and reconciliation, so they confirmed his authority. And
in the first place, Saturninus, a person that had been consul, and one
of great dignity, pronounced his sentence, but with great moderation and
trouble; and said that he condemned Herod's sons, but did not think they
should be put to death. He had sons of his own, and to put one's son to
death is a greater misfortune than any other that could befall him by
their means. After him Saturninus's sons, for he had three sons that
followed him, and were his legates, pronounced the same sentence with
their father. On the contrary, Volumnius's sentence was to inflict death
on such as had been so impiously undutiful to their father; and the
greatest part of the rest said the same, insomuch that the conclusion
seemed to be, that the young men were condemned to die. Immediately
after this Herod came away from thence, and took his sons to Tyre, where
Nicolaus met him in his voyage from Rome; of whom he inquired, after he
had related to him what had passed at Berytus, what his sentiments were
about his sons, and what his friends at Rome thought of that matter. His
answer was, "That what they had determined to do to thee was impious,
and that thou oughtest to keep them in prison; and if thou thinkest any
thing further necessary, thou mayst indeed so punish them, that thou
mayst not appear to indulge thy anger more than to govern thyself by
judgment; but if thou inclinest to the milder side, thou mayst absolve
them, lest perhaps thy misfortunes be rendered incurable; and this is
the opinion of the greatest part of thy friends at Rome also." Whereupon
Herod was silent, and in great thoughtfulness, and bid Nicolaus sail
along with him.

4. Now as they came to Cæsarea, every body was there talking of Herod's
sons, and the kingdom was in suspense, and the people in great
expectation of what would become of them; for a terrible fear seized
upon all men, lest the ancient disorders of the family should come to a
sad conclusion, and they were in great trouble about their sufferings;
nor was it without danger to say any rash thing about this matter, nor
even to hear another saying it, but men's pity was forced to be shut up
in themselves, which rendered the excess of their sorrow very irksome,
but very silent yet was there an old soldier of Herod's, whose name was
Tero, who had a son of the same age with Alexander, and his friend, who
was so very free as openly to speak out what others silently thought
about that matter; and was forced to cry out often among the multitude,
and said, in the most unguarded manner, that truth was perished, and
justice taken away from men, while lies and ill-will prevailed, and
brought such a mist before public affairs, that the offenders were not
able to see the greatest mischiefs that can befall men. And as he was so
bold, he seemed not to have kept himself out of danger, by speaking so
freely; but the reasonableness of what he said moved men to regard him
as having behaved himself with great manhood, and this at a proper time
also, for which reason every one heard what he said with pleasure; and
although they first took care of their own safety by keeping silent
themselves, yet did they kindly receive the great freedom he took; for
the expectation they were in of so great an affliction, put a force upon
them to speak of Tero whatsoever they pleased.

5. This man had thrust himself into the king's presence with the
greatest freedom, and desired to speak with him by himself alone, which
the king permitted him to do, where he said this: "Since I am not able,
O king, to bear up under so great a concern as I am under, I have
preferred the use of this bold liberty that I now take, which may be for
thy advantage, if thou mind to get any profit by it, before my own
safety. Whither is thy understanding gone, and left thy soul empty?
Whither is that extraordinary sagacity of thine gone whereby thou hast
performed so many and such glorious-actions? Whence comes this solitude,
and desertion of thy friends and relations? Of which I cannot but
determine that they are neither thy friends nor relations, while they
overlook such horrid wickedness in thy once happy kingdom. Dost not thou
perceive what is doing? Wilt thou slay these two young men, born of thy
queen, who are accomplished with every virtue in the highest degree, and
leave thyself destitute in thy old age, but exposed to one son, who hath
very ill managed the hopes thou hast given him,' and to relations, whose
death thou hast so often resolved on thyself? Dost not thou take notice,
that the very silence of the multitude at once sees the crime, and
abhors the fact? The whole army and the officers have commiseration on
the poor unhappy youths, and hatred to those that are the actors in this
matter." These words the king heard, and for some time with good temper.
But what can one say? When Tero plainly touched upon the bad behavior
and perfidiousness of his domestics, he was moved at it; but Tero went
on further, and by degrees used an unbounded military freedom of speech,
nor was he so well disciplined as to accommodate himself to the time. So
Herod was greatly disturbed, and seeming to be rather reproached by this
speech, than to be hearing what was for his advantage, while he learned
thereby that both the soldiers abhorred the thing he was about, and the
officers had indignation at it, he gave order that all whom Tero had
named, and Tero himself, should be bound and kept in prison.

6. When this was over, one Trypho, who was the king's barber, took the
opportunity, and came and told the king, that Tero would often have
persuaded him, when he trimmed him with a razor, to cut his throat, for
that by this means he should be among the chief of Alexander's friends,
and receive great rewards from him. When he had said this, the king gave
order that Tero, and his son, and the barber should be tortured, which
was done accordingly; but while Tero bore up himself, his son seeing his
father already in a sad case, and had no hope of deliverance, and
perceiving what would be the consequence of his terrible sufferings,
said, that if the king would free him and his father from these torments
for what he should say, he would tell the truth. And when the king had
given his word to do so, he said that there was an agreement made, that
Tero should lay violent hands on the king, because it was easy for him
to come when he was alone; and that if, when he had done the thing, he
should suffer death for it, as was not unlikely, it would be an act of
generosity done in favor of Alexander. This was what Tero's son said,
and thereby freed his father from the distress he was in; but uncertain
it is whether he had been thus forced to speak what was true, or whether
it were a contrivance of his, in order to procure his own and his
father's deliverance from their miseries.

7. As for Herod, if he had before any doubt about the slaughter of his
sons, there was now no longer any room left in his soul for it; but he
had banished away whatsoever might afford him the least suggestion of
reasoning better about this matter, so he already made haste to bring
his purpose to a conclusion. He also brought out three hundred of the
officers that were under an accusation, as also Tero and his son, and
the barber that accused them before an assembly, and brought an
accusation against them all; whom the multitude stoned with whatsoever
came to hand, and thereby slew them. Alexander also and Aristobulus were
brought to Sebaste, by their father's command, and there strangled; but
their dead bodies were in the night time carried to Alexandrium, where
their uncle by the mother's side, and the greatest part of their
ancestors, had been deposited.

8. 15 And now perhaps it may not seem unreasonable to some, that such an
inveterate hatred might increase so much [on both sides], as to proceed
further, and overcome nature; but it may justly deserve consideration,
whether it be to be laid to the charge of the young men, that they gave
such an occasion to their father's anger, and led him to do what he did,
and by going on long in the same way put things past remedy, and brought
him to use them so unmercifully; or whether it be to be laid to the
father's charge, that he was so hard-hearted, and so very tender in the
desire of government, and of other things that would tend to his glory,
that tae would take no one into a partnership with him, that so
whatsoever he would have done himself might continue immovable; or,
indeed, whether fortune have not greater power than all prudent
reasonings; whence we are persuaded that human actions are thereby
determined beforehand by an inevitable necessity, and we call her Fate,
because there is nothing which is not done by her; wherefore I suppose
it will be sufficient to compare this notion with that other, which
attribute somewhat to ourselves, and renders men not unaccountable for
the different conducts of their lives, which notion is no other than the
philosophical determination of our ancient law. Accordingly, of the two
other causes of this sad event, any body may lay the blame on the young
men, who acted by youthful vanity, and pride of their royal birth, that
they should bear to hear the calumnies that were raised against their
father, while certainly they were not equitable judges of the actions of
his life, but ill-natured in suspecting, and intemperate in speaking of
it, and on both accounts easily caught by those that observed them, and
revealed them to gain favor; yet cannot their father be thought worthy
excuse, as to that horrid impiety which he was guilty of about them,
while he ventured, without any certain evidence of their treacherous
designs against him, and without any proofs that they had made
preparations for such attempt, to kill his own sons, who were of very
comely bodies, and the great darlings of other men, and no way deficient
in their conduct, whether it were in hunting, or in warlike exercises,
or in speaking upon occasional topics of discourse; for in all these
they were skillful, and especially Alexander, who was the eldest; for
certainly it had been sufficient, even though he had condemned them, to
have kept them alive in bonds, or to let them live at a distance from
his dominions in banishment, while he was surrounded by the Roman
forces, which were a strong security to him, whose help would prevent
his suffering any thing by a sudden onset, or by open force; but for him
to kill them on the sudden, in order to gratify a passion that governed
him, was a demonstration of insufferable impiety. He also was guilty of
so great a crime in his older age; nor will the delays that he made, and
the length of time in which the thing was done, plead at all for his
excuse; for when a man is on a sudden amazed, and in commotion of mind,
and then commits a wicked action, although this be a heavy crime, yet is
it a thing that frequently happens; but to do it upon deliberation, and
after frequent attempts, and as frequent puttings-off, to undertake it
at last, and accomplish it, was the action of a murderous mind, and such
as was not easily moved from that which is evil. And this temper he
showed in what he did afterward, when he did not spare those that seemed
to be the best beloved of his friends that were left, wherein, though
the justice of the punishment caused those that perished to be the less
pitied, yet was the barbarity of the man here equal, in that he did not
abstain from their slaughter also. But of those persons we shall have
occasion to discourse more hereafter.

FOOTNOTES

1 (return) [ We may here observe the ancient practice of the Jews, of
dedicating the sabbath day, not to idleness, but to the learning their
sacred rites and religious customs, and to the meditation on the law of
Moses; the like to which we meet with elsewhere in Josephus also against
Apion, B. I. sect. 22.]

2 (return) [ This interval of ten years for the duration of Marcus
Agrippa's government in Asia seems to be true, and agreeable to the
Roman history. See Usher's Annals at A.M. 3392.]

3 (return) [ Although Herod met Augustus at Aquilei, yet was this
accusation of his sons deferred till they came to Rome, as sect. 3
assures us, and as we are particularly informed in the History of the
War, B. I. ch. 23. sect. 3; though what he here says belonged distinctly
to Alexander, the elder brother, I mean his being brought to Rome, is
here justly extended to both the brothers, and that not only in our
copies, but in that of Zonaras also; nor is there reason to doubt but
they were both at this solemn hearing by Augustus, although the defense
was made by Alexander alone, who was the eldest brother, and one that
could speak very well.]

4 (return) [ Since some prejudiced men have indulged a wild suspicion,
as we have supposed already, Antiq. B. XV. ch. 11. sect. 7, that
Josephus's history of Herod's rebuilding the temple is no better than a
fable, it may not be amiss to take notice of this occasional clause in
the speech of Alexander before his father Herod, in his and his
brother's vindication, which mentions the temple as known by every body
to have been built by Herod.]

5 (return) [ See John 2:20. See also another speech of Herod's own to
the young men that pulled down his golden eagle from the front of the
temple, where he takes notice how the building of the temple cost him a
vast sum; and that the Asamoneans, in those one hundred and twenty-five
years they held the government, were not able to perform so great a
work, to the honor of God, as this was, Antiq. B. XVII. ch. 6. sect. 3.]

6 (return) [ Dr. Hudson here gives us the words of Suetonius concerning
this Nicopolis, when Augustus rebuilt it: "And that the memory of the
victory at Actium might be celebrated the more afterward, he built
Nicopolis at Actium, and appointed public shows to be there exhibited
every fifth year." In August, sect. 18.]

7 (return) [ Augustus here calls Julius Cæsar his father, though by
birth he was only his uncle, on account of his adoption by him. See the
same Antiq. B. XIV. ch. 14. sect. 4.]

8 (return) [ This is authentic evidence that the Jews, in the days of
Augustus, began to prepare for the celebration of the sabbath at the
ninth hour on Friday, as the tradition of the elders did, it seems, then
require of them.]

9 (return) [ The remaining part of this chapter is remarkable, as justly
distinguishing natural justice, religion, and morality, from positive
institutions in all countries, and evidently preferring the former
before the latter, as did the true prophets of God always under the Old
Testament, and Christ and his New; whence Josephus seems to have been at
this time nearer Christianity than were the Scribes and Pharisees of his
age; who, as we know from the New Testament, were entirely of a
different opinion and practice.]

10 (return) [ It is here worth our observation, how careful Josephus was
as to the discovery of truth in Herod's history, since he would not
follow Nicolaus of Damascus himself, so great an historian, where there
was great reason to suspect that he flattered Herod; which impartiality
in history Josephus here solemnly pro fesses, and of which impartiality
he has given more demonstrations than almost any historian whomsoever;
but as to Herod's taking great wealth out of David's sepulcher, though I
cannot prove it, yet do I strongly suspect it from this very history.]

11 (return) [ These joint presidents of Syria, Saturninus and Volumnius,
were not perhaps of equal authority, but the latter like a procurator
under the former, as the very learned Noris and Pagi, and with them Dr.
Hudson, determine.]

12 (return) [ This Aretas was now become so established a name for the
kings of Arabia, [at Petra and Damascus,] that when the crown came to
this Aeneas, he changed his name to Aretas, as Havercamp here justly
observes. See Antiq. B. XIII. ch. 15. sect, 2.]

13 (return) [ This oath, by the fortune of Cæsar, was put to Polycarp, a
bishop of Smyrna, by the Roman governor, to try whether he were a
Christian, as they were then esteemed who refused to swear that oath.
Martyr. Polycarp, sect. 9.]

14 (return) [ What Josephus relates Augustus to have here said, that
Berytus was a city belonging to the Romans, is confirmed by Spanheim's
notes here: "It was," says he, "a colony placed there by Augustus.
Whence Ulpian, De Gens. bel. L. T. XV. The colony of Berytus was
rendered famous by the benefits of Cæsar; and thence it is that, among
the coins of Augustus, we meet with some having this inscription: The
happy colony of Augustus at Berytua."]

15 (return) [ The reader is here to note, that this eighth section is
entirely wanting in the old Latin version, as Spanheim truly observes;
nor is there any other reason for it, I suppose, than the great
difficulty of an exact translation.]