Antiquities of the Jews — Book 16, Chapter 4

1. And now what happened during Antipater's absence augmented the honor
to which he had been promoted, and his apparent eminence above his
brethren; for he had made a great figure in Rome, because Herod had sent
recommendations of him to all his friends there; only he was grieved
that he was not at home, nor had proper opportunities of perpetually
calumniating his brethren; and his chief fear was, lest his father
should alter his mind, and entertain a more favorable opinion of the
sons of Mariamne; and as he had this in his mind, he did not desist from
his purpose, but continually sent from Rome any such stories as he hoped
might grieve and irritate his father against his brethren, under
pretense indeed of a deep concern for his preservation, but in truth
such as his malicious mind dictated, in order to purchase a greater hope
of the succession, which yet was already great in itself: and thus he
did till he had excited such a degree of anger in Herod, that he was
already become very ill-disposed towards the young men; but still while
he delayed to exercise so violent a disgust against them, and that he
might not either be too remiss or too rash, and so offend, he thought it
best to sail to Rome, and there accuse his sons before Cæsar, and not
indulge himself in any such crime as might be heinous enough to be
suspected of impiety. But as he was going up to Rome, it happened that
he made such haste as to meet with Cæsar at the city Aquilei 3 so when
he came to the speech of Cæsar, he asked for a time for hearing this
great cause, wherein he thought himself very miserable, and presented
his sons there, and accused them of their mad actions, and of their
attempts against him: That they were enemies to him; and by all the
means they were able, did their endeavors to show their hatred to their
own father, and would take away his life, and so obtain his kingdom,
after the most barbarous manner: that he had power from Cæsar to dispose
of it, not by necessity, but by choice, to him who shall exercise the
greatest piety towards him; while these my sons are not so desirous of
ruling, as they are, upon a disappointment thereof, to expose their own
life, if so be they may but deprive their father of his life; so wild
and polluted is their mind by time become, out of their hatred to him:
that whereas he had a long time borne this his misfortune, he was now
compelled to lay it before Cæsar, and to pollute his ears with such
language, while he himself wants to know what severity they have ever
suffered from him, or what hardships he hath ever laid upon them to make
them complain of him; and how they can think it just that he should not
be lord of that kingdom which he in a long time, and with great danger,
had gained, and not allow him to keep it and dispose of it to him who
should deserve best; and this, with other advantages, he proposes as a
reward for the piety of such a one as will hereafter imitate the care he
hath taken of it, and that such a one may gain so great a requital as
that is: and that it is an impious thing for them to pretend to meddle
with it beforehand; for he who hath ever the kingdom in his view, at the
same time reckons upon procuring the death of his father, because
otherwise he cannot come at the government: that as for himself, he had
hitherto given them all that he was able, and what was agreeable to such
as are subject to the royal authority, and the sons of a king; what
ornaments they wanted, with servants and delicate fare, and had married
them into the most illustrious families, the one [Aristobulus] to his
sister's daughter, but Alexander to the daughter of king Archelaus; and,
what was the greatest favor of all, when their crimes were so very bad,
and he had authority to punish them, yet had he not made use of it
against them, but had brought them before Cæsar, their common
benefactor, and had not used the severity which, either as a father who
had been impiously abused, or as a king who had been assaulted
treacherously, he might have done, but made them stand upon a level with
him in judgment: that, however, it was necessary that all this should
not be passed over without punishment, nor himself live in the greatest
fears; nay, that it was not for their own advantage to see the light of
the sun after what they have done, although they should escape at this
time, since they had done the vilest things, and would certainly suffer
the greatest punishments that ever were known among mankind.

2. These were the accusations which Herod laid with great vehemency
against his sons before Cæsar. Now the young men, both while he was
speaking, and chiefly at his concluding, wept, and were in confusion.
Now as to themselves, they knew in their own conscience they were
innocent; but because they were accused by their father, they were
sensible, as the truth was, that it was hard for them to make their
apology, since though they were at liberty to speak their minds freely
as the occasion required, and might with force and earnestness refute
the accusation, yet was it not now decent so to do. There was therefore
a difficulty how they should be able to speak; and tears, and at length
a deep groan, followed, while they were afraid, that if they said
nothing, they should seem to be in this difficulty from a consciousness
of guilt,—nor had they any defense ready, by reason of their youth, and
the disorder they were under; yet was not Cæsar unapprized, when he
looked upon them in the confusion they were in, that their delay to make
their defense did not arise from any consciousness of great enormities,
but from their unskilfulness and modesty. They were also commiserated by
those that were there in particular; and they moved their father's
affections in earnest till he had much ado to conceal them.

3. But when they saw there was a kind disposition arisen both in him and
in Cæsar, and that every one of the rest did either shed tears, or at
least did all grieve with them, the one of them, whose name was
Alexander, called to his father, and attempted to answer his accusation,
and said, "O father, the benevolence thou hast showed to us is evident,
even in this very judicial procedure, for hadst thou had any pernicious
intentions about us, thou hadst not produced us here before the common
savior of all, for it was in thy power, both as a king and as a father,
to punish the guilty; but by thus bringing us to Rome, and making Cæsar
himself a witness to what is done, thou intimatest that thou intendest
to save us; for no one that hath a design to slay a man will bring him
to the temples, and to the altars; yet are our circumstances still
worse, for we cannot endure to live ourselves any longer, if it be
believed that we have injured such a father; nay, perhaps it would be
worse for us to live with this suspicion upon us, that we have injured
him, than to die without such guilt. And if our open defense may be
taken to be true, we shall be happy, both in pacifying thee, and in
escaping the danger we are in; but if this calumny so prevails, it is
more than enough for us that we have seen the sun this day; which why
should we see, if this suspicion be fixed upon us? Now it is easy to say
of young men, that they desire to reign; and to say further, that this
evil proceeds from the case of our unhappy mother. This is abundantly
sufficient to produce our present misfortune out of the former; but
consider well, whether such an accusation does not suit all such young
men, and may not be said of them all promiscuously; for nothing can
hinder him that reigns, if he have children, and their mother be dead,
but the father may have a suspicion upon all his sons, as intending some
treachery to him; but a suspicion is not sufficient to prove such an
impious practice. Now let any man say, whether we have actually and
insolently attempted any such thing, whereby actions otherwise
incredible use to be made credible? Can any body prove that poison hath
been prepared? or prove a conspiracy of our equals, or the corruption of
servants, or letters written against thee? though indeed there are none
of those things but have sometimes been pretended by way of calumny,
when they were never done; for a royal family that is at variance with
itself is a terrible thing; and that which thou callest a reward of
piety often becomes, among very wicked men, such a foundation of hope,
as makes them leave no sort of mischief untried. Nor does any one lay
any wicked practices to our charge; but as to calumnies by hearsay, how
can he put an end to them, who will not hear what we have to say? Have
we talked with too great freedom? Yes; but not against thee, for that
would be unjust, but against those that never conceal any thing that is
spoken to them. Hath either of us lamented our mother? Yes; but not
because she is dead, but because she was evil spoken of by those that
had no reason so to do. Are we desirous of that dominion which we know
our father is possessed of? For what reason can we do so? If we already
have royal honors, as we have, should not we labor in vain? And if we
have them not, yet are not we in hopes of them? Or supposing that we had
killed thee, could we expect to obtain thy kingdom? while neither the
earth would let us tread upon it, nor the sea let us sail upon it, after
such an action as that; nay, the religion of all your subjects, and the
piety of the whole nation, would have prohibited parricides from
assuming the government, and from entering into that most holy temple
which was built by thee 4 But suppose we had made light of other
dangers, can any murderer go off unpunished while Cæsar is alive? We are
thy sons, and not so impious or so thoughtless as that comes to, though
perhaps more unfortunate than is convenient for thee. But in case thou
neither findest any causes of complaint, nor any treacherous designs,
what sufficient evidence hast thou to make such a wickedness of ours
credible? Our mother is dead indeed, but then what befell her might be
an instruction to us to caution, and not an incitement to wickedness. We
are willing to make a larger apology for ourselves; but actions never
done do not admit of discourse. Nay, we will make this agreement with
thee, and that before Cæsar, the lord of all, who is now a mediator
between us, If thou, O father, canst bring thyself, by the evidence of
truth, to have a mind free from suspicion concerning us let us live,
though even then we shall live in an unhappy way, for to be accused of
great acts of wickedness, though falsely, is a terrible thing; but if
thou hast any fear remaining, continue thou on in thy pious life, we
will give this reason for our own conduct; our life is not so desirable
to us as to desire to have it, if it tend to the harm of our father who
gave it us."

4. When Alexander had thus spoken, Cæsar, who did not before believe so
gross a calumny, was still more moved by it, and looked intently upon
Herod, and perceived he was a little confounded: the persons there
present were under an anxiety about the young men, and the fame that was
spread abroad made the king hated, for the very incredibility of the
calumny, and the commiseration of the flower of youth, the beauty of
body, which were in the young men, pleaded for assistance, and the more
so on this account, that Alexander had made their defense with dexterity
and prudence; nay, they did not themselves any longer continue in their
former countenances, which had been bedewed with tears, and cast
downwards to the ground, but now there arose in them hope of the best;
and the king himself appeared not to have had foundation enough to build
such an accusation upon, he having no real evidence wherewith to correct
them. Indeed he wanted some apology for making the accusation; but
Cæsar, after some delay, said, that although the young men were
thoroughly innocent of that for which they were calumniated, yet had
they been so far to blame, that they had not demeaned themselves towards
their father so as to prevent that suspicion which was spread abroad
concerning them. He also exhorted Herod to lay all such suspicions
aside, and to be reconciled to his sons; for that it was not just to
give any credit to such reports concerning his own children; and that
this repentance on both sides might still heal those breaches that had
happened between them, and might improve that their good-will to one
another, whereby those on both sides, excusing the rashness of their
suspicions, might resolve to bear a greater degree of affection towards
each other than they had before. After Cæsar had given them this
admonition, he beckoned to the young men. When therefore they were
disposed to fall down to make intercession to their father, he took them
up, and embraced them, as they were in tears, and took each of them
distinctly in his arms, till not one of those that were present, whether
free-man or slave, but was deeply affected with what they saw. 5

5. Then did they return thanks to Cæsar, and went away together; and
with them went Antipater, with an hypocritical pretense that he rejoiced
at this reconciliation. And in the last days they were with Cæsar, Herod
made him a present of three hundred talents, as he was then exhibiting
shows and largesses to the people of Rome; and Cæsar made him a present
of half the revenue of the copper mines in Cyprus, and committed the
care of the other half to him, and honored him with other gifts and
incomes; and as to his own kingdom, he left it in his own power to
appoint which of his sons he pleased for his successor, or to distribute
it in parts to every one, that the dignity might thereby come to them
all. And when Herod was disposed to make such a settlement immediately,
Cæsar said he would not give him leave to deprive himself, while he was
alive, of the power over his kingdom, or over his sons.

6. After this, Herod returned to Judea again. But during his absence no
small part of his dominion about Trachon had revolted, whom yet the
commanders he left there had vanquished, and compelled to a submission
again. Now as Herod was sailing with his sons, and was come over against
Cilicia, to [the island] Eleusa, which hath now changed its name for
Sebaste, he met with Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, who received him
kindly, as rejoicing that he was reconciled to his sons, and that the
accusation against Alexander, who had married his daughter, was at an
end. They also made one another such presents as it became kings to
make, From thence Herod came to Judea and to the temple, where he made a
speech to the people concerning what had been done in this his journey.
He also discoursed to them about Cæsar's kindness to him, and about as
many of the particulars he had done as he thought it for his advantage
other people should be acquainted with. At last he turned his speech to
the admonition of his sons; and exhorted those that lived at court, and
the multitude, to concord; and informed them that his sons were to reign
after him; Antipater first, and then Alexander and Aristobulus, the sons
of Mariamne: but he desired that at present they should all have regard
to himself, and esteem him king and lord of all, since he was not yet
hindered by old age, but was in that period of life when he must be the
most skillful in governing; and that he was not deficient in other arts
of management that might enable him to govern the kingdom well, and to
rule over his children also. He further told the rulers under him, and
the soldiery, that in case they would look upon him alone, their life
would be led in a peaceable manner, and they would make one another
happy. And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly. Which
speech was acceptable to the greatest part of the audience, but not so
to them all; for the contention among his sons, and the hopes he had
given them, occasioned thoughts and desires of innovations among them.