The Makers and Teachers of Judaism / From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great

by Charles Foster Kent

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:6a-8a] And when he observed that there was a city by the seaside that was much decayed, called Straton's Tower, and that the place, because of its fair situation, was capable of great improvements, through his love of honor he rebuilt it all of white stone and adorned it with magnificent palaces and in it showed his natural munificence. For all the seashore between Dora and Egypt (between which places the city is situated) had no good harbor, so that every one who sailed to Phoenicia from Egypt was obliged to toss about in the sea because of the south wind that threatened them. But the king by great expense and liberality overcame nature and built a harbor larger than was the Piraeus, and in its recesses built other deep roadsteads. He let down stones into one hundred and twenty-one feet of water. And when the part below the sea was filled up, he extended the wall which was already above the sea until it was two hundred feet long. The entrance to the harbor was on the north, because the north wind was there the most gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the harbor on each side were three colossi supported by pillars. And the houses, also built of white stone, were close to the harbor, and the narrow streets of the city led down to it, being built at equal distances from one another. And opposite the entrance of the harbor upon an elevation was the temple of Caesar Augustus, excellent both for beauty and size, and in it was a colossal statue of Caesar Augustus as big as the Olympian Zeus, which it was made to resemble, and a statue of Rome as big at that of Hera at Argos. And he dedicated the city to the province, and the harbor to those who sailed there. But the honor of founding the city he ascribed to Caesar Augustus and accordingly called it Caesarea. He also built other edifices, the amphitheater, the theater, and market-place in a manner worthy of that name.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:9a-10a] Herod was also a lover of his father, for he built as a memorial of his father a city in the finest plain that was in his kingdom [the lower Jordan valley], which had rivers and trees in abundance, and called it Antipatris. He also fortified a citadel that lay above Jericho and was very strong and handsome, and dedicated it to his mother, and called it Cypros. Moreover, he dedicated a tower at Jerusalem to his brother Phasaelus. He also built another city in the valley which leads north from Jericho and named it Phasaelis. As a memorial for himself he built a fortress upon a mountain toward Arabia and called it after himself Herodium.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:11a] And when he had built so much, he showed the greatness of his soul to many foreign cities. He built gymnasiums at Tripolis, Damascus, and Ptolemais. He built a wall around Byblus, and arcades, colonnades, temples, and market-places at Berytus and Tyre, and theaters at Sidon and Damascus. He also built an aqueduct for those Laodiceans, who lived by the seaside; and for the inhabitants of Ascalon he built baths and costly fountains, as also encircling colonnades that were admirable for their workmanship and size.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:1a, c-2b] Herod, however, began to be unhappy on account of his wife, of whom he was very fond. For when he attained the kingship, he divorced her whom he had married when he was a private person, a native of Jerusalem by the name of Doris, and married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus. Because of Mariamne disturbances arose in his family, and that very soon, but chiefly after his return from Rome. For the sake of his sons by Mariamne he banished Antipater, the son of Doris. After this he slew his wife's grandfather, Hyrcanus, when he returned to him out of Parthia, on suspicion of plotting against him. Now of the five children which Herod had by Mariamne two of them were daughters and three were sons. The youngest of these sons died while he was being educated at Rome, but the two elder sons he treated as princes because of their mother's honorable rank and because they had been born after he became king. But what was stronger than all this was the love he bore to Mariamne.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:2c-4] But Mariamne's hatred toward him was as great as his love for her. She, indeed, had a just cause for indignation for what he had done, while her freedom of speech was the result of his affection for her. So she openly reproached him for what he had done to her grandfather Hyrcanus and to her brother Aristobulus. For he had not spared this Aristobulus, though he was but a lad, for after he had given him the high priesthood at the age of seventeen, Herod caused him to be slain immediately after he had conferred that honor upon him; for when Aristobulus had put on the holy garments and had approached to the altar at a festival, the assembled multitude wept for joy. Thereupon the lad was sent by night to Jericho, and there in a swimming-pool at Herod's command was held under water by the Gauls until he was drowned. For these reasons Mariamne reproached Herod, and railed at his sister and his mother most abusively. He was dumb on account of his affection for her, but the women were vexed exceedingly at her and charged her with being false to him, for they thought that this would be most likely to arouse Herod's anger. When, therefore, he was about to take a journey abroad, he intrusted his wife to Joseph, his sister Salome's husband. He also gave him a secret injunction that, if Antony should slay him [Herod], Joseph should slay Mariamne. But Joseph without any evil intention and in order to demonstrate the king's love for his wife disclosed this secret to her. And when Herod came back, and when they talked together, he confirmed his love to her by many oaths and assured her that he had never loved any other woman as he had her. "To be sure," said she, "you proved your love to me by the injunctions you gave Joseph when you commanded him to kill me!" When Herod heard that this secret was discovered, he was like a distracted man, and said that Joseph would never have disclosed his injunction unless he had seduced her. Made insane by his passion and leaping out of bed, he ran about the palace in a wild manner. Meantime his sister Salome improved the opportunity for false accusations and to confirm the suspicion about Joseph. So in his ungovernable jealousy and rage Herod commanded both of them to be slain immediately. But as soon as his passion was over, he repented for what he had done; and indeed his passionate desire for Mariamne was so ardent that he could not think that she was dead, but in his distress he talked to her as if she were still alive.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 23:1a, d, 2a, c-3a] Now Mariamne's sons inherited their mother's hate; and when they considered the greatness of Herod's crime toward her, they were as suspicious of their father as of an enemy. This state of theirs increased as they grew to be men. And when Herod had been poisoned with calumnies against them, he recalled Antipater, his son by Doris, from exile as a defence against his other sons, and began to treat him in every way with more distinction than them. But these sons were not able to bear this change, for when they saw Antipater, who was the son of a private woman, advanced, the nobility of their own birth made them unable to restrain their indignation. For Antipater was already publicly named in his father's will as his successor. The two weapons which he employed against his brothers were flattery and calumny, whereby he brought matters privately to such a point that the king thought of putting his sons to death. So Herod dragged Alexander with him as far as Rome and charged him before Augustus with attempting to poison him, but Alexander very ably cleared himself of the calumnies laid against him and brought Augustus to the point of rejecting the accusation and of reconciling Herod to his sons at once. After this the king returned from Rome and seemed to have acquitted his sons of these charges, but still he was not without some suspicion of them, for Antipater, who was the cause of the hatred, accompanied them. But he did not openly show his enmity toward them, for he stood in awe of the one who had reconciled them. But the dissensions between the brothers still accompanied them, and the suspicions they had of one another grew worse.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b] Alexander and Aristobulus were much vexed that the privilege of the first-born was confirmed to Antipater, and Antipater was very angry because his brothers were to succeed him. Moreover, Salome incited Herod's cruelty against his sons, for Aristobulus was desirous of bringing her who was his mother-in-law and aunt into the same dangers as himself. So he sent to her to advise her to save herself, and told her that the king was preparing to put her to death. Then Salome came running to the king and informed him of the warning. Thereupon Herod could restrain himself no longer, but caused both of his sons to be bound, and kept them apart from one another, and speedily sent to Augustus written charges against them. Augustus was greatly troubled in regard to the young men, but he did not think he ought to take from a father the power over his sons. So he wrote back to him, and gave him full authority over his sons, and said he would do well to make an examination of the plot by means of a common council consisting of his own kinsmen and the governors of his province, and if his sons were found guilty to put them to death. With these directions Herod complied. Then he sent his sons to Sebaste and ordered them there to be strangled, and his orders being executed immediately, he commanded their bodies to be brought to the fortress of Alexandrium.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 28:1a, 29:2c] But an unconquerable hatred against Antipater rose up in the nation now that he had an indisputable title to the succession, because they well knew that he was the person who had contrived all the calumnies against his brothers. Later he secured permission by means of his Italian friends to go and live at Rome. For when they wrote that it was proper for Antipater to be sent to Augustus after some time, Herod made no delay but sent him with a splendid retinue and a large amount of money, and gave him his testament to carry in which Antipater was inscribed as king.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 30:5a, 31:1a] And after the death of Herod's brother Pheroras, the king devoted himself to examining his son Antipater's steward; and upon torturing him he learned that Antipater had sent for a potion of deadly poison for him from Egypt, and that the uncle of Antipater had received it from him and delivered it to Pheroras, for Antipater had charged him to destroy his father the king, while [Antipater] was at Rome, and so free him from the suspicion of doing it himself. Antipater's freedman was also brought to trial, and he was the concluding proof of Antipater's designs. This man came and brought another deadly potion of the poison of asps and of other serpents, that if the first potion did not accomplish its end, Pheroras and his wife might be armed with this also against the king.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 33:1, 7, 8a] Now Herod's illness became more and more severe because his various ailments attacked him in his old age and when he was in a melancholy state, for he was already almost seventy years of age and was depressed by the calamities that had happened to him in connection with his children, so that he had no pleasure in life even when he was in health. The fact that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, and he preferred to destroy him, not incidentally but by crushing him completely. When letters came from his ambassadors at Rome containing the information that Antipater was condemned to death, Herod for a little while was restored to cheerfulness; but presently being overcome by his pains, he endeavored to anticipate destiny, and this because he was weakened by want of food and by a convulsive cough. Accordingly he took an apple and asked for a knife, for he used to pare his apples before eating them. He then looked around to see that there was no one to hinder him and lifted up his right hand as if to stab himself. But Achiabus, his cousin, ran up to him and, holding his hand, hindered him from so doing. Immediately a great lamentation was raised in the palace, as if the king was dying, and as soon as Antipater heard that, he took courage and with joy in his looks besought his keepers for a sum of money to loose him and let him go. But the head keeper of the prison not only prevented that but also ran and told the king what his design was. Thereupon the king cried louder than his disease could well bear, and immediately sent some of his body-guards and had Antipater slain. He also gave orders to have him buried at Hyrcanium, and altered his testament again and therein made Archelaus, his eldest son, and the brother of Antipas, his successor, and made Antipas tetrarch. Herod, after surviving the death of his son only five days, died, having reigned thirty-four years, since he had obtained control of affairs; but it was thirty-seven years since he had been made king by the Romans.