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1. By this time Herod had sailed out of Italy to Ptolemais, and
had gotten together no small army, both of strangers and of his
own countrymen, and marched through Galilee against Antignus.
Silo also, and Ventidius, came and assisted him, being persuaded
by Dellius, who was sent by Antony to assist in bringing back
Herod. Now for Ventidius, he was employed in composing the
disturbances that had been made in the cities by the means of the
Parthians; and for Silo, he was in Judea indeed, but corrupted by
Antigonus. However, as Herod went along his army increased every
day, and all Galilee, with some small exception, joined him; but
as he was to those that were in Masada, (for he was obliged to
endeavor to save those that were in that fortress now they were
besieged, because they were his relations,) Joppa was a
hinderance to him, for it was necessary for him to take that
place first, it being a city at variance with him, that no strong
hold might be left in his enemies' hands behind him when he
should go to Jerusalem. And when Silo made this a pretense for
rising up from Jerusalem, and was thereupon pursued by the Jews,
Herod fell upon them with a small body of men, and both put the
Jews to flight and saved Silo, when he was very poorly able to
defend himself; but when Herod had taken Joppa, he made haste to
set free those of his family that were in Masada. Now of the
people of the country, some joined him because of the friendship
they had had with his father, and some because of the splendid
appearance he made, and others by way of requital for the
benefits they had received from both of them; but the greatest
number came to him in hopes of getting somewhat from him
afterward, if he were once firmly settled in the kingdom.
2. Herod had now a strong army; and as he marched on, Antigonus
laid snares and ambushes in the passes and places most proper for
them; but in truth he thereby did little or no damage to the
enemy. So Herod received those of his family out of Masada, and
the fortress Ressa, and then went on for Jerusalem. The soldiery
also that was with Silo accompanied him all along, as did many of
the citizens, being afraid of his power; and as soon as he had
pitched his camp on the west side of the city, the soldiers that
were set to guard that part shot their arrows and threw their
darts at him; and when some sallied out in a crowd, and came to
fight hand to hand with the first ranks of Herod's army, he gave
orders that they should, in the first place, make proclamation
about the wall, that he came for the good of the people, and for
the preservation of the city, and not to bear any old grudge at
even his most open enemies, but ready to forget the offenses
which his greatest adversaries had done him. But Antigonus, by
way of reply to what Herod had caused to be proclaimed, and this
before the Romans, and before Silo also, said that they would not
do justly, if they gave the kingdom to Herod, who was no more
than a private man, and an Idumean, i.e. a half Jew, whereas
they ought to bestow it on one of the royal family, as their
custom was; for that in case they at present bear an ill-will to
him, and had resolved to deprive him of the kingdom, as having
received it from the Parthians, yet were there many others of his
family that might by their law take it, and these such as had no
way offended the Romans; and being of the sacerdotal family, it
would be an unworthy thing to put them by. Now while they said
thus one to another, and fell to reproaching one another on both
sides, Antigonus permitted his own men that were upon the wall to
defend themselves, who using their bows, and showing great
alacrity against their enemies, easily drove them away from the
towers.
3. And now it was that Silo discovered that he had taken bribes;
for he set a good number of his soldiers to complain aloud of the
want of provisions they were in, and to require money to buy them
food; and that it was fit to let them go into places proper for
winter quarters, since the places near the city were a desert, by
reason that Antigonus's soldiers had carried all away; so he set
the army upon removing, and endeavored to march away; but Herod
pressed Silo not to depart, and exhorted Silo's captains and
soldiers not to desert him, when Caesar, and Antony, and the
senate had sent him thither, for that he would provide them
plenty of all the things they wanted, and easily procure them a
great abundance of what they required; after which entreaty, he
immediately went out into the country, and left not the least
pretense to Silo for his departure; for he brought an unexpected
quantity of provisions, and sent to those friends of his who
inhabited about Samaria to bring down corn, and wine, and oil,
and cattle, and all other provisions, to Jericho, that those
might be no want of a supply for the soldiers for the time to
come. Antigonus was sensible of this, and sent presently over the
country such as might restrain and lie in ambush for those that
went out for provisions. So these men obeyed the orders of
Antigonus, and got together a great number of armed men about
Jericho, and sat upon the mountains, and watched those that
brought the provisions. However, Herod was not idle in the mean
time, for he took ten bands of soldiers, of whom five were of the
Romans, and five of the Jews, with some mercenaries among them,
and with some few horsemen, and came to Jericho; and as they
found the city deserted, but that five hundred of them had
settled themselves on the tops of the hills, with their wives and
children, those he took and sent away; but the Romans fell upon
the city, and plundered it, and found the houses full of all
sorts of good things. So the king left a garrison at Jericho, and
came back again, and sent the Roman army to take their winter
quarters in the countries that were come over to him, Judea, and
Galilee, and Samaria. And so much did Antigonus gain of Silo for
the bribes he gave him, that part of the army should be quartered
at Lydda, in order to please Antony. So the Romans laid their
weapons aside, and lived in plenty of all things.
4. But Herod was not pleased with lying still, but sent out his
brother Joseph against Idumea with two thousand armed footmen,
and four hundred horsemen, while he himself came to Samaria, and
left his mother and his other relations there, for they were
already gone out of Masada, and went into Galilee, to take
certain places which were held by the garrisons of Antigonus; and
he passed on to Sepphoris, as God sent a snow, while Antigonus's
garrisons withdrew themselves, and had great plenty of
provisions. He also went thence, and resolved to destroy those
robbers that dwelt in the caves, and did much mischief in the
country; so he sent a troop of horsemen, and three companies of
armed footmen, against them. They were very near to a village
called Arbela; and on the fortieth day after, he came himself
with his whole army: and as the enemy sallied out boldly upon
him, the left wing of his army gave way; but he appearing with a
body of men, put those to flight who were already conquerors, and
recalled his men that ran away. He also pressed upon his enemies,
and pursued them as far as the river Jordan, though they ran away
by different roads. So he brought over to him all Galilee,
excepting those that dwelt in the caves, and distributed money to
every one of his soldiers, giving them a hundred and fifty
drachmae apiece, and much more to their captains, and sent them
into winter quarters; at which time Silo came to him, and his
commanders with him, because Antigonus would not give them
provisions any longer, for he supplied them for no more than one
month; nay, he had sent to all the country about, and ordered
them to carry off the provisions that were there, and retire to
the mountains, that the Romans might have no provisions to live
upon, and so might perish by famine. But Herod committed the care
of that matter to Pheroras, his youngest brother, and ordered him
to repair Alexandrium also. Accordingly, he quickly made the
soldiers abound with great plenty of provisions, and rebuilt
Alexandrium, which had been before desolate.
5. About this time it was that Antony continued some time at
Athens, and that Ventidius, who was now in Syria, sent for Silo,
and commanded him to assist Herod, in the first place, to finish
the present war, and then to send for their confederates for the
war they were themselves engaged in; but as for Herod, he went in
haste against the robbers that were in the caves, and sent Silo
away to Ventidius, while he marched against them. These caves
were in mountains that were exceeding abrupt, and in their middle
were no other than precipices, with certain entrances into the
caves, and those caves were encompassed with sharp rocks, and in
these did the robbers lie concealed, with all their families
about them; but the king caused certain chests to be made, in
order to destroy them, and to be hung down, bound about with iron
chains, by an engine, from the top of the mountain, it being not
possible to get up to them, by reason of the sharp ascent of the
mountains, nor to creep down to them from above. Now these chests
were filled with armed men, who had long hooks in their hands, by
which they might pull out such as resisted them, and then tumble
them down, and kill them by so doing; but the letting the chests
down proved to be a matter of great danger, because of the vast
depth they were to be let down, although they had their
provisions in the chests themselves. But when the chests were let
down, and not one of those in the mouths of the caves durst come
near them, but lay still out of fear, some of the armed men girt
on their armor, and by both their hands took hold of the chain by
which the chests were let down, and went into the mouths of the
caves, because they fretted that such delay was made by the
robbers not daring to come out of the caves; and when they were
at any of those mouths, they first killed many of those that were
in the mouths with their darts, and afterwards pulled those to
them that resisted them with their hooks, and tumbled them down
the precipices, and afterwards went into the caves, and killed
many more, and then went into their chests again, and lay still
there; but, upon this, terror seized the rest, when they heard
the lamentations that were made, and they despaired of escaping.
However, when the night came on, that put an end to the whole
work; and as the king proclaimed pardon by a herald to such as
delivered themselves up to him, many accepted of the offer. The
same method of assault was made use of the next day; and they
went further, and got out in baskets to fight them, and fought
them at their doors, and sent fire among them, and set their
caves on fire, for there was a great deal of combustible matter
within them. Now there was one old man who was caught within one
of these caves, with seven children and a wife; these prayed him
to give them leave to go out, and yield themselves up to the
enemy; but he stood at the cave's mouth, and always slew that
child of his who went out, till he had destroyed them every one,
and after that he slew his wife, and cast their dead bodies down
the precipice, and himself after them, and so underwent death
rather than slavery: but before he did this, he greatly
reproached Herod with the meanness of his family, although he was
then king. Herod also saw what he was doing, and stretched out
his hand, and offered him all manner of security for his life; by
which means all these caves were at length subdued entirely.
6. And when the king had set Ptolemy over these parts of the
country as his general, he went to Samaria, with six hundred
horsemen, and three thousand armed footmen, as intending to fight
Antigonus. But still this command of the army did not succeed
well with Ptolemy, but those that had been troublesome to Galilee
before attacked him, and slew him; and when they had done this,
they fled among the lakes and places almost inaccessible laying
waste and plundering whatsoever they could come at in those
places. But Herod soon returned, and punished them for what they
had done; for some of these rebels he slew, and others of them,
who had fled to the strong holds he besieged, and both slew them,
and demolished their strong holds. And when he had thus put an
end to their rebellion, he laid a fine upon the cities of a
hundred talents.
7. In the mean time, Pacorus was fallen in a battle, and the
Parthians were defeated, when Ventidius sent Macheras to the
assistance of Herod, with two legions, and a thousand horsemen,
while Antony encouraged him to make haste. But Macheras, at the
instigation of Antigonus, without the approbation of Herod, as
being corrupted by money, went about to take a view of his
affairs; but Antigonus suspecting this intention of his coming,
did not admit him into the city, but kept him at a distance, with
throwing stones at him, and plainly showed what he himself meant.
But when Macheras was sensible that Herod had given him good
advice, and that he had made a mistake himself in not hearkening
to that advice, he retired to the city Emmaus; and what Jews he
met with he slew them, whether they were enemies or friends, out
of the rage he was in at what hardships he had undergone. The
king was provoked at this conduct of his, and went to Samaria,
and resolved to go to Antony about these affairs, and to inform
him that he stood in no need of such helpers, who did him more
mischief than they did his enemies; and that he was able of
himself to beat Antigonus. But Macheras followed him, and desired
that he would not go to Antony; or if he was resolved to go, that
he would join his brother Joseph with them, and let them fight
against Antigonus. So he was reconciled to Macheras, upon his
earnest entreaties. Accordingly, he left Joseph there with his
army, but charged him to run no hazards, nor to quarrel with
Macheras.
8. But for his own part, he made haste to Antony (who was then at
the siege of Samosata, a place upon Euphrates) with his troops,
both horsemen and footmen, to be auxiliaries to him. And when he
came to Antioch, and met there a great number of men gotten
together that were very desirous to go to Antony, but durst not
venture to go, out of fear, because the barbarians fell upon men
on the road, and slew many, so he encouraged them, and became
their conductor upon the road. Now when they were within two
days' march of Samosata, the barbarians had laid an ambush there
to disturb those that came to Antony, and where the woods made
the passes narrow, as they led to the plains, there they laid not
a few of their horsemen, who were to lie still until those
passengers were gone by into the wide place. Now as soon as the
first ranks were gone by, (for Herod brought on the rear,) those
that lay in ambush, who were about five hundred, fell upon them
on the sudden, and when they had put the foremost to flight, the
king came riding hard, with the forces that were about him, and
immediately drove back the enemy; by which means he made the
minds of his own men courageous, and imboldened them to go on,
insomuch that those who ran away before now returned back, and
the barbarians were slain on all sides. The king also went on
killing them, and recovered all the baggage, among which were a
great number of beasts for burden, and of slaves, and proceeded
on in his march; and whereas there were a great number of those
in the woods that attacked them, and were near the passage that
led into the plain, he made a sally upon these also with a strong
body of men, and put them to flight, and slew many of them, and
thereby rendered the way safe for those that came after; and
these called Herod their savior and protector.
9. And when he was near to Samosata, Antony sent out his army in
all their proper habiliments to meet him, in order to pay Herod
this respect, and because of the assistance he had given him; for
he had heard what attacks the barbarians had made upon him [in
Judea]. He also was very glad to see him there, as having been
made acquainted with the great actions he had performed upon the
road. So he entertained him very kindly, and could not but admire
his courage. Antony also embraced him as soon as he saw him, and
saluted him after a most affectionate manner, and gave him the
upper hand, as having himself lately made him a king; and in a
little time Antiochus delivered up the fortress, and on that
account this war was at an end; then Antony committed the rest to
Sosius, and gave him orders to assist Herod, and went himself to
Egypt. Accordingly, Sosius sent two legions before into Judea to
the assistance of Herod, and he followed himself with the body of
the army.
10. Now Joseph was already slain in Judea, in the manner
following: He forgot what charge his brother Herod had given him
when he went to Antony; and when he had pitched his camp among
the mountains, for Macheras had lent him five regiments, with
these he went hastily to Jericho, in :order to reap the corn
thereto belonging; and as the Roman regiments were but newly
raised, and were unskillful in war, for they were in great part
collected out of Syria, he was attacked by the enemy, and caught
in those places of difficulty, and was himself slain, as he was
fighting bravely, and the whole army was lost, for there were six
regiments slain. So when Antigonus had got possession of the dead
bodies, he cut off Joseph's head, although Pheroras his brother
would have redeemed it at the price of fifty talents. After which
defeat, the Galileans revolted from their commanders, and took
those of Herod's party, and drowned them in the lake, and a great
part of Judea was become seditious; but Macheras fortified the
place Gitta [in Samaria].
11. At this time messengers came to Herod, and informed him of
what had been done; and when he was come to Daphne by Antioch,
they told him of the ill fortune that had befallen his brother;
which yet he expected, from certain visions that appeared to him
in his dreams, which clearly foreshowed his brother's death. So
he hastened his march; and when he came to Mount Libanus, he
received about eight hundred of the men of that place, having
already with him also one Roman legion, and with these he came to
Ptolemais. He also marched thence by night with his army, and
proceeded along Galilee. Here it was that the enemy met him, and
fought him, and were beaten, and shut up in the same place of
strength whence they had sallied out the day before. So he
attacked the place in the morning; but by reason of a great storm
that was then very violent, he was able to do nothing, but drew
off his army into the neighboring villages; yet as soon as the
other legion that Antony sent him was come to his assistance,
those that were in garrison in the place were afraid, and
deserted it in the night time. Then did the king march hastily to
Jericho, intending to avenge himself on the enemy for the
slaughter of his brother; and when he had pitched his tents, he
made a feast for the principal commanders; and after this
collation was over, and he had dismissed his guests, he retired
to his own chamber; and here may one see what kindness God had
for the king, for the upper part of the house fell down when
nobody was in it, and so killed none, insomuch that all the
people believed that Herod was beloved of God, since he had
escaped such a great and surprising danger.
12. But the next day six thousand of the enemy came down from the
tops of the mountains to fight the Romans, which greatly
terrified them; and the soldiers that were in light armor came
near, and pelted the king's guards that were come out with darts
and stones, and one of them hit him on the side with a dart.
Antigonus also sent a commander against Samaria, whose name was
Pappus, with some forces, being desirous to show the enemy how
potent he was, and that he had men to spare in his war with them.
He sat down to oppose Macheras; but Herod, when he had taken five
cities, took such as were left in them, being about two thousand,
and slew them, and burnt the cities themselves, and then returned
to go against Pappus, who was encamped at a village called
Isanas; and there ran in to him many out of Jericho and Judea,
near to which places he was, and the enemy fell upon his men, so
stout were they at this time, and joined battle with them, but he
beat them in the fight; and in order to be revenged on them for
the slaughter of his brother, he pursued them sharply, and killed
them as they ran away; and as the houses were full of armed men,
and many of them ran as far as the tops of the houses, he
got them under his power, and pulled down the roofs of the
houses, and saw the lower rooms full of soldiers that were
caught, and lay all on a heap; so they threw stones down upon
them as they lay piled one upon another, and thereby killed them;
nor was there a more frightful spectacle in all the war than
this, where beyond the walls an immense multitude of dead men lay
heaped one upon another. This action it was which chiefly brake
the spirits of the enemy, who expected now what would come; for
there appeared a mighty number of people that came from places
far distant, that were now about the village, but then ran away;
and had it not been for the depth of winter, which then
restrained them, the king's army had presently gone to Jerusalem,
as being very courageous at this good success, and the whole work
had been done immediately; for Antigonus was already looking
about how he might fly away and leave the city.
13. At this time the king gave order that the soldiers should go
to supper, for it was late at night, while he went into a chamber
to use the bath, for he was very weary; and here it was that he
was in the greatest danger, which yet, by God's providence, he
escaped; for as he was naked, and had but one servant that
followed him, to be with him while he was bathing in an inner
room, certain of the enemy, who were in their armor, and had fled
thither, out of fear, were then in the place; and as he was
bathing, the first of them came out with his naked sword drawn,
and went out at the doors, and after him a second, and a third,
armed in like manner, and were under such a consternation, that
they did no hurt to the king, and thought themselves to have come
off very well ill suffering no harm themselves in their getting
out of the house. However, on the next day, he cut off the head
of Pappus, for he was already slain, and sent it to Pheroras, as
a punishment of what their brother had suffered by his means, for
he was the man that slew him with his own hand.
14. When the rigor of winter was over, Herod removed his army,
and came near to Jerusalem, and pitched his camp hard by the
city. Now this was the third year since he had been made king at
Rome; and as he removed his camp, and came near that part of the
wall where it could be most easily assaulted, he pitched that
camp before the temple, intending to make his attacks in the same
manner as did Pompey. So he encompassed the place with three
bulwarks, and erected towers, and employed a great many hands
about the work, and cut down the trees that were round about the
city; and when he had appointed proper persons to oversee the
works, even while the army lay before the city, he himself went
to Samaria, to complete his marriage, and to take to wife the
daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus; for he had
betrothed her already, as I have before related.
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