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1. Now the day following the king assembled a court of his
kinsmen and friends, and called in Antipater's friends also.
Herod himself, with Varus, were the presidents; and Herod called
for all the witnesses, and ordered them to be brought in; among
whom some of the domestic servants of Antipater's mother were
brought in also, who had but a little while before been caught,
as they were carrying the following letter from her to her son:
"Since all those things have been already discovered to thy
father, do not thou come to him, unless thou canst procure some
assistance from Caesar." When this and the other witnesses were
introduced, Antipater came in, and falling on his face before his
father's feet, he said, "Father, I beseech thee, do not condemn
me beforehand, but let thy ears be unbiassed, and attend to my
defense; for if thou wilt give me leave, I will demonstrate that
I am innocent."
2. Hereupon Herod cried out to him to hold his peace, and spake
thus to Varus: "I cannot but think that thou, Varus, and every
other upright judge, will determine that Antipater is a vile
wretch. I am also afraid that thou wilt abhor my ill fortune, and
judge me also myself worthy of all sorts of calamity for
begetting such children; while yet I ought rather to be pitied,
who have been so affectionate a father to such wretched sons; for
when I had settled the kingdom on my former sons, even when they
were young, and when, besides the charges of their education at
Rome, I had made them the friends of Caesar, and made them envied
by other kings, I found them plotting against me. These have been
put to death, and that, in great measure, for the sake of
Antipater; for as he was then young, and appointed to be my
successor, I took care chiefly to secure him from danger: but
this profligate wild beast, when he had been over and above
satiated with that patience which I showed him, he made use of
that abundance I had given him against myself; for I seemed to
him to live too long, and he was very uneasy at the old age I was
arrived at; nor could he stay any longer, but would be a king by
parricide. And justly I am served by him for bringing him back
out of the country to court, when he was of no esteem before, and
for thrusting out those sons of mine that were born of the queen,
and for making him a successor to my dominions. I confess to
thee, O Varus, the great folly I was guilty for I provoked those
sons of mine to act against me, and cut off their just
expectations for the sake of Antipater; and indeed what kindness
did I do them; that could equal what I have done to Antipater? to
I have, in a manner, yielded up my royal while I am alive, and
whom I have openly named for the successor to my dominions in my
testament, and given him a yearly revenue of his own of fifty
talents, and supplied him with money to an extravagant degree out
of my own revenue; and' when he was about to sail to Rome, I gave
him three talents, and recommended him, and him alone of all my
children, to Caesar, as his father's deliverer. Now what crimes
were those other sons of mine guilty of like these of Antipater?
and what evidence was there brought against them so strong as
there is to demonstrate this son to have plotted against me? Yet
does this parricide presume to speak for himself, and hopes to
obscure the truth by his cunning tricks. Thou, O Varus, must
guard thyself against him; for I know the wild beast, and I
foresee how plausibly he will talk, and his counterfeit
lamentation. This was he who exhorted me to have a care of
Alexander when he was alive, and not to intrust my body with all
men! This was he who came to my very bed, and looked about lest
any one should lay snares for me! This was he who took care of my
sleep, and secured me from fear of danger, who comforted me under
the trouble I was in upon the slaughter of my sons, and looked to
see what affection my surviving brethren bore me! This was my
protector, and the guardian of my body! And when I call to mind,
O Varus, his craftiness upon every occasion, and his art of
dissembling, I can hardly believe that I am still alive, and I
wonder how I have escaped such a deep plotter of mischief.
However, since some fate or other makes my house desolate, and
perpetually raises up those that are dearest to me against me, I
will, with tears, lament my hard fortune, and privately groan
under my lonesome condition; yet am I resolved that no one who
thirsts after my blood shall escape punishment, although the
evidence should extend itself to all my sons."
3. Upon Herod's saying this, he was interrupted by the confusion
he was in; but ordered Nicolaus, one of his friends, to produce
the evidence against Antipater. But in the mean time Antipater
lifted up his head, (for he lay on the ground before his father's
feet,) and cried out aloud, "Thou, O father, hast made my apology
for me; for how can I be a parricide, whom thou thyself
confessest to have always had for thy guardian? Thou callest my
filial affection prodigious lies and hypocrisy! how then could it
be that I, who was so subtle in other matters, should here be so
mad as not to understand that it was not easy that he who
committed so horrid a crime should be concealed from men, but
impossible that he should be concealed from the Judge of heaven,
who sees all things, and is present every where? or did not I
know what end my brethren came to, on whom God inflicted so great
a punishment for their evil designs against thee? And indeed what
was there that could possibly provoke me against thee? Could the
hope of being king do it? I was a king already. Could I suspect
hatred from thee? No. Was not I beloved by thee? And what other
fear could I have? Nay, by preserving thee safe, I was a terror
to others. Did I want money? No; for who was able to expend so
much as myself? Indeed, father, had I been the most execrable of
all mankind, and had I had the soul of the most cruel wild beast,
must I not have been overcome with the benefits thou hadst
bestowed upon me? whom, as thou thyself sayest, thou broughtest
[into the palace]; whom thou didst prefer before so many of thy
sons; whom thou madest a king in thine own lifetime, and, by the
vast magnitude of the other advantages thou bestowedst on me,
thou madest me an object of envy. O miserable man! that thou
shouldst undergo this bitter absence, and thereby afford a great
opportunity for envy to arise against thee, and a long space for
such as were laying designs against thee! Yet was I absent,
father, on thy affairs, that Sylleus might not treat thee with
contempt in thine old age. Rome is a witness to my filial
affection, and so is Caesar, the ruler of the habitable earth,
who oftentimes called me Philopater. Take here the letters
he hath sent thee, they are more to be believed than the
calumnies raised here; these letters are my only apology; these I
use as the demonstration of that natural affection I have to
thee. Remember that it was against my own choice that I sailed
[to Rome], as knowing the latent hatred that was in the kingdom
against me. It was thou, O father, however unwillingly, who hast
been my ruin, by forcing me to allow time for calumnies against
me, and envy at me. However, I am come hither, and am ready to
hear the evidence there is against me. If I be a parricide, I
have passed by land and by sea, without suffering any misfortune
on either of them: but this method of trial is no advantage to
me; for it seems, O father, that I am already condemned, both
before God and before thee; and as I am already condemned, I beg
that thou wilt not believe the others that have been tortured,
but let fire be brought to torment me; let the racks march
through my bowels; have no regard to any lamentations that this
polluted body can make; for if I be a parricide, I ought not to
die without torture." Thus did Antipater cry out with lamentation
and weeping, and moved all the rest, and Varus in particular, to
commiserate his case. Herod was the only person whose passion was
too strong to permit him to weep, as knowing that the testimonies
against him were true.
4. And now it was that, at the king's command, Nicolaus, when he
had premised a great deal about the craftiness of Antipater, and
had prevented the effects of their commiseration to him,
afterwards brought in a bitter and large accusation against him,
ascribing all the wickedness that had been in the kingdom to him,
and especially the murder of his brethren; and demonstrated that
they had perished by the calumnies he had raised against them. He
also said that he had laid designs against them that were still
alive, as if they were laying plots for the succession; and (said
he) how can it be supposed that he who prepared poison for his
father should abstain from mischief as to his brethren? He then
proceeded to convict him of the attempt to poison Herod, and gave
an account in order of the several discoveries that had been
made; and had great indignation as to the affair of Pheroras,
because Antipater had been for making him murder his brother, and
had corrupted those that were dearest to the king, and filled the
whole palace with wickedness; and when he had insisted on many
other accusations, and the proofs for them, he left off.
5. Then Varus bid Antipater make his defense; but he lay along in
silence, and said no more but this, "God is my witness that I am
entirely innocent." So Varus asked for the potion, and gave it to
be drunk by a condemned malefactor, who was then in prison, who
died upon the spot. So Varus, when he had had a very private
discourse with Herod, and had written an account of this assembly
to Caesar, went away, after a day's stay. The king also bound
Antipater, and sent away to inform Caesar of his misfortunes.
6. Now after this it was discovered that Antipater had laid a
plot against Salome also; for one of Antiphilus's domestic
servants came, and brought letters from Rome, from a maid-servant
of Julia, [Caesar's wife,] whose name was Acme. By her a message
was sent to the king, that she had found a letter written by
Salome, among Julia's papers, and had sent it to him privately,
out of her good-will to him. This letter of Salome contained the
most bitter reproaches of the king, and the highest accusations
against him. Antipater had forged this letter, and had corrupted
Acme, and persuaded her to send it to Herod. This was proved by
her letter to Antipater, for thus did this woman write to him:
"As thou desirest, I have written a letter to thy father, and
have sent that letter, and am persuaded that the king will not
spare his sister when he reads it. Thou wilt do well to remember
what thou hast promised when all is accomplished."
7. When this epistle was discovered, and what the epistle forged
against Salome contained, a suspicion came into the king's mind,
that perhaps the letters against Alexander were also forged: he
was moreover greatly disturbed, and in a passion, because he had
almost slain his sister on Antipater's account. He did no longer
delay therefore to bring him to punishment for all his crimes;
yet when he was eagerly pursuing Antipater, he was restrained by
a severe distemper he fell into. However, he sent all account to
Caesar about Acme, and the contrivances against Salome; he sent
also for his testament, and altered it, and therein made Antipas
king, as taking no care of Archclaus and Philip, because
Antipater had blasted their reputations with him; but he
bequeathed to Caesar, besides other presents that he gave him, a
thousand talents; as also to his wife, and children, and friends,
and freed-men about five hundred: he also bequeathed to all
others a great quantity of land, and of money, and showed his
respects to Salome his sister, by giving her most splendid gifts.
And this was what was contained in his testament, as it was now
altered.
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