|
1. But now came another accusation from the Jews against
Archelaus at Rome, which he was to answer to. It was made by
those ambassadors who, before the revolt, had come, by Varus's
permission, to plead for the liberty of their country; those that
came were fifty in number, but there were more than eight
thousand of the Jews at Rome who supported them. And when Caesar
had assembled a council of the principal Romans in Apollo's
temple, that was in the palace, (this was what he had himself
built and adorned, at a vast expense,) the multitude of the Jews
stood with the ambassadors, and on the other side stood
Archelaus, with his friends; but as for the kindred of Archelaus,
they stood on neither side; for to stand on Archelaus's side,
their hatred to him, and envy at him, would not give them leave,
while yet they were afraid to be seen by Caesar with his
accusers. Besides these, there were present Archelaus's brother
Philip, being sent thither beforehand, out of kindness by Varus,
for two reasons: the one was this, that he might be assisting to
Archelaus; and the other was this, that in case Caesar should
make a distribution of what Herod possessed among his posterity,
he might obtain some share of it.
2. And now, upon the permission that was given the accusers to
speak, they, in the first place, went over Herod's breaches of
their law, and said that be was not a king, but the most
barbarous of all tyrants, and that they had found him to be such
by the sufferings they underwent from him; that when a very great
number had been slain by him, those that were left had endured
such miseries, that they called those that were dead happy men;
that he had not only tortured the bodies of his subjects, but
entire cities, and had done much harm to the cities of his own
country, while he adorned those that belonged to foreigners; and
he shed the blood of Jews, in order to do kindnesses to those
people that were out of their bounds; that he had filled the
nation full of poverty, and of the greatest iniquity, instead of
that happiness and those laws which they had anciently enjoyed;
that, in short, the Jews had borne more calamities from Herod, in
a few years, than had their forefathers during all that interval
of time that had passed since they had come out of Babylon, and
returned home, in the reign of Xerxes that, however, the
nation was come to so low a condition, by being inured to
hardships, that they submitted to his successor of their own
accord, though he brought them into bitter slavery; that
accordingly they readily called Archelaus, though he was the son
of so great a tyrant, king, after the decease of his father, and
joined with him in mourning for the death of Herod, and in
wishing him good success in that his succession; while yet this
Archelaus, lest he should be in danger of not being thought the
genuine son of Herod, began his reign with the murder of three
thousand citizens; as if he had a mind to offer so many bloody
sacrifices to God for his government, and to fill the temple with
the like number of dead bodies at that festival: that, however,
those that were left after so many miseries, had just reason to
consider now at last the calamities they had undergone, and to
oppose themselves, like soldiers in war, to receive those stripes
upon their faces [but not upon their backs, as hitherto].
Whereupon they prayed that the Romans would have compassion upon
the [poor] remains of Judea, and not expose what was left of them
to such as barbarously tore them to pieces, and that they would
join their country to Syria, and administer the government by
their own commanders, whereby it would [soon] be demonstrated
that those who are now under the calumny of seditious persons,
and lovers of war, know how to bear governors that are set over
them, if they be but tolerable ones. So the Jews concluded their
accusation with this request. Then rose up Nicolaus, and confuted
the accusations which were brought against the kings, and himself
accused the Jewish nation, as hard to be ruled, and as naturally
disobedient to kings. He also reproached all those kinsmen of
Archelaus who had left him, and were gone over to his accusers.
3. So Caesar, after he had heard both sides, dissolved the
assembly for that time; but a few days afterward, he gave the one
half of Herod's kingdom to Archelaus, by the name of Ethnarch,
and promised to make him king also afterward, if he rendered
himself worthy of that dignity. But as to the other half, he
divided it into two tetrarchies, and gave them to two other sons
of Herod, the one of them to Philip, and the other to that
Antipas who contested the kingdom with Archelaus. Under this last
was Perea and Galilee, with a revenue of two hundred talents; but
Batanea, and Trachonitis, and Auranitis, and certain parts of
Zeno's house about Jamnia, with a revenue of a hundred talents,
were made subject to Philip; while Idumea, and all Judea, and
Samaria were parts of the ethnarchy of Archelaus, although
Samaria was eased of one quarter of its taxes, out of regard to
their not having revolted with the rest of the nation. He also
made subject to him the following cities, viz. Strato's Tower,
and Sebaste, and Joppa, and Jerusalem; but as to the Grecian
cities, Gaza, and Gadara, and Hippos, he cut them off from the
kingdom, and added them to Syria. Now the revenue of the country
that was given to Archelaus was four hundred talents. Salome
also, besides what the king had left her in his testaments, was
now made mistress of Jamnia, and Ashdod, and Phasaelis. Caesar
did moreover bestow upon her the royal palace of Ascalon; by all
which she got together a revenue of sixty talents; but he put her
house under the ethnarchy of Archelaus. And for the rest of
Herod's offspring, they received what was bequeathed to them in
his testaments; but, besides that, Caesar granted to Herod's two
virgin daughters five hundred thousand [drachmae] of silver, and
gave them in marriage to the sons of Pheroras: but after this
family distribution, he gave between them what had been
bequeathed to him by Herod, which was a thousand talents,
reserving to himself only some inconsiderable presents, in honor
of the deceased.
|
|