FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS
JEWISH ANTIQUITIES
Book 16

¹The king was busily administering his entire realm and keen to put a stop to the injustice of criminals around the city and country. He made a law apart from our original laws, condemning house-breakers to exile from his kingdom, a punishment that was not only very severe upon the offenders, but also was alien to the customs of our ancestors. ²To put them into slavery to foreigners who did not live by Jewish customs, so they had to obey the commands of such people, was an offence against our religious tradition, rather than just a penalty for wrongdoing. ³Such a penalty was avoided in our original laws, which require the thief to restore fourfold, and if he does not have the amount, he must be sold, but not to foreigners, nor so as to be in perpetual slavery, for he must be released after six years. ⁴But this severe and illegal punishment seemed a kind of insolence. To introduce such a penalty rashly and without regard to his subjects, was the act of a tyrant and not of a king. ⁵Like Herod's other actions, this penalty he brought in became a part of his guilt and aroused hatred against him.

⁶Meanwhile he sailed to Italy, eager to meet with Caesar and to see his sons who lived in Rome, and Caesar was not only very pleasant to him in other respects, but also returned his sons to take home with him, having completed their studies. ⁷As soon as the young men had come from Italy, the people wanted to see them and they became celebrities among all, enhanced with great blessings of fortune and having the features of persons of royal dignity. ⁸Soon they were envied by Salome, the king's sister and those who had spread lies against Mariamne, suspecting that once these came to rule, they themselves would be punished for the harm they had done to their mother. ⁹This fear became a motive to spread allegations about them, so they alleged that the youths abhorred their father's company, since he had put their mother to death, and it would be an impiety to converse with their mother's murderer. ¹⁰By spreading such stories, which indeed were based on fact but were only surmises at the time, they could do them harm and turn Herod away from his previous favour toward his sons. They did not say these things to him directly, but spread such rumours among the rest of the people. When such words came back to Herod, he was induced to hate them, something which his affection in the long term could not overcome. ¹¹For the present, the king could let his natural paternal affection over-rule the suspicions and allegations heaped upon his sons. So he showed them due respect and married them to wives as soon as they were of the right age for it. To Aristobulus he gave in marriage Berenice, Salome's daughter, and to Alexander, Glaphyra, the daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia.

¹²After dealing with these matters and learning that Marcus Agrippa had sailed again from Italy to Asia, he hurried to him and wished him to come to visit his kingdom and enjoy what was due to him by his friend and former guest . ¹³Under strong persuasion he agreed and came to Judea, and Herod spared no efforts to please him in his newly founded cities and showing him his building works and entertaining him and his friends with all the best and finest sorts of foods, both in Sebaste and around the port he had built at Caesarea, and in the fortresses of Alexandreion and Herodium and Hyrcania, which he had refurbished at huge expense. ¹⁴He brought him also to the city of Jerusalem, where all the people met him in festive clothing and welcomed him with acclamations. Agrippa offered a hecatomb sacrifice to God, and gave a feast for the population, who were no fewer than in the greatest of cities. ¹⁵He enjoyed his stay with them for many days and would willingly have stayed longer but for the time of year, since at the approach of winter he thought it unsafe to postpone his unavoidable return voyage to Ionia.

¹⁶So when Herod had honoured him and the main people with him with many gifts, he sailed away but in the springtime king Herod, after wintering in his own dominions, hurried to him again, knowing he was planning a campaign to the Bosphorus. ¹⁷After sailing past Rhodes and Cos, he touched at Lesbos, thinking to catch up with Agrippa there, but a north wind prevented his ships from landing. ¹⁸Instead he stayed for many days at Chios where he kindly treated many who came to him and captivated them with royal gifts. He noticed how the portico of the city, destroyed in the Mithridatic war, had fallen down and because of its size and beauty was not easy to rebuild. ¹⁹He provided enough money to do so and more than sufficient to complete the building, and ordered them not to ignore the portico but to quickly rebuild it, so that the city might regain its proper appearance. ²⁰When the high winds ceased, he sailed to Mytilene and from there to Byzantium, and on hearing that Agrippa had sailed beyond the Cyanean rocks, he hurried on with all speed. ²¹When he caught up with him near Sinope in Pontus, the sailors were surprised and pleased to see him, and many friendly greetings were exchanged, so that Agrippa thought it the greatest possible sign of the king's favour and goodwill toward him that he had made so long a voyage to come to his help, setting his needs above his own concerns and even above the administration of his own realm. ²²Herod meant everything to him in this campaign and was a great help in civil affairs and in advising him on particular matters. He was also a pleasant companion in times of relaxation and shared with him every way, loyal in time of trouble and respectful amid his pleasures. ²³When Agrippa's mission in Pontus was accomplished, they decided not to return by sea, but passed through Paphlagonia and Cappadocia and from there journeyed across great Phrygia as far as Ephesus and then they sailed from Ephesus to Samos. ²⁴The king bestowed many benefits on every city he came to, according to their need. Whether they needed money or an intercessor he was not found wanting. The former he supplied from his own revenues and whenever anyone sought a favour, he interceded with Agrippa so effectively that none of the petitioners were refused. ²⁵The latter was well disposed and most generous and ready to grant any requests that were useful to the petitioners and not to the detriment of others. The king's influence was strong in moving him to good deeds, although Agrippa himself was also quick enough to do so on his own. ²⁶He managed to reconcile him with the people of Ilium, and paid the money owed to Caesar's agents by the people of Chios and eased their taxes, and helped all others according to their requests.

²⁷Then when they were in Ionia, a large crowd of Jews living in those cities came to them and taking advantage of the freedom of speech now afforded them, set out the wrongs they suffered in not being allowed to follow their own laws and having to go to court on their holy days because of the malice of the magistrates. ²⁸They told of how the money they used to set aside for Jerusalem was taken from them and how they were forced into the army and to take part in ceremonies that made them spend their sacred money, whereas the Romans had freed them of such burdens and had always let them live by their own laws. ²⁹After this complaint, the king asked Agrippa to hear their cause and assigned one of his friends, Nicolaus, to plead on behalf of their rights. ³⁰When Agrippa had called as assessors the leading Romans and any kings and officers who were present, Nicolaus stood up and spoke on behalf of the Jews, as follows:

³¹"Great Agrippa, all people in need must have recourse to those with the power to set them free from whatever oppresses them, and so the suppliants approach you with assurance, ³²Just as they have obtained your favour in the past as often as they sought it, now they ask that you, the donors, will ensure that only what you have granted may not be taken from them, favours which you alone have power to grant but have been taken away by people no greater than ourselves, who are subjects like ourselves. ³³If we have been granted great favours, it is to our credit to have been deemed worthy of them, and if the favours were only minor it would be shameful for the donors not to renew them. ³⁴It is clear that those who are thwarting and mistreating the Jews are wronging both our people, by not accepting as good those whom their leaders have honoured in this way, and the donors themselves, by seeking to undermine favours already granted. ³⁵If one should ask them which of two things they would choose to abandon, their lives or their ancestral customs, solemnities, sacrifices and the festivals they celebrate in honour of those they deem to be gods, I know full well they would choose to suffer everything rather than do away with any of their heritage. ³⁶Indeed, many of them have rather chosen to go to war in defence of them, rather than transgress them. A sign of the well-being which all of mankind now enjoys on account of you is that we are each allowed to worship and live as required by our own heritage. ³⁷But though they do not wish to be so treated themselves, they try to make others subject, as if it were not as impious to set aside the religious practice of others as to neglect to show fidelity toward one’s own gods. ³⁸Furthermore, is there any people or city or human community to whom your rule and patronage and Roman power does not appear as the greatest of blessings? Would anyone seek to minimize the benefits it has brought? ³⁹No one, not even a madman! No one is ruled out from sharing in these blessings, both public and private, and any who deny what you have granted cannot be sure that all you have given them may be taken from them. ⁴⁰These favours you have brought cannot be prized highly enough, for if they compare the ancient kingdoms to your present rule, besides the many aspects of prosperity this government has brought, the main thing is that they no longer live as slaves, but as free people. ⁴¹What we seek, even if we seem to be doing very well, need not be envied, for if we are flourishing on account of you it is shared by others. All we want is to guard our religious heritage without hindrance, a privilege for which we should not be envied, as it benefits those who allow it. ⁴²If the Divinity is pleased to be honoured, He must be pleased with those who allow this honour. None of our customs are inhuman, but all of them tend to piety and tend to preserve justice. ⁴³We do not conceal the teachings by which we rule our lives, as they are the basics of piety and friendly human interaction. The seventh day we set apart for the learning of our customs and law, considering that there is no better form of study by which to avoid sin. ⁴⁴If one examines our ways he will find they are good in themselves and ancient too, despite what some may think, so that those who have received and observed them cannot be easily brought to abandon what they have honoured for so long. ⁴⁵It is these that our opponents spitefully take from us when they destroy the money we set aside for God and publicly scorn his temple by imposing taxes on us and on our holy days making us come to court and do other practical business, not because our legal obligations require it but to spite our religion, whose rules they know as well as we, all because of an unjustified and arbitrary hatred. ⁴⁶On the contrary, your government over all is consistent in promoting people's disposition toward goodwill and curbing their malice. ⁴⁷So what we beg, great Agrippa, is not to let us be ill-treated or abused, or prevented from following our own customs, not to be robbed of our property or be oppressed by these people whom we do not oppress, for our claims are not only just but also were granted to us earlier by you. ⁴⁸About them we can read you many decrees of the senate, recorded on the tablets in the Capitol, which clearly were granted as a result of our loyalty to you, although you should concede them even if we done nothing to please you. ⁴⁹For you have guarded not alone our property but that of almost all others, so that your empire has brought benefits beyond all their hopes, and if one were to try to list all the advantages each of them has received through you the list would never come to an end. ⁵⁰Still, that we may show ourselves worthy of all the benefits granted to us, suffice it to speak of this king who now governs us and is one of your assessors. ⁵¹Where has he shown any lack of goodwill toward your house? What sign of loyalty has he not given to it? What proof of honour has he not devised? In what crisis has he not shown foresight on your behalf? So then, what prevents your favour from equalling his great favours to you?

⁵²Probably we should not fail to mention the bravery of his father Antipater, who, when Caesar invaded Egypt, helped him with two thousand warriors and was second to none in his efforts, both in the battles on land and in those by sea. ⁵³Need we mention how important their contribution was at that juncture, or of how many gifts each of them received from Caesar? And I should recall the letters Caesar wrote to the senate, and the public honours and citizenship conferred upon Antipater. ⁵⁴Such things suffice to prove that we received these favours by our own merits, and therefore we ask you to confirm them, confident that even if not already granted to us you would grant them, due to our king's support for you and yours for him. ⁵⁵We have been told by the Jews who were present how benevolently you came to our land and offered the most perfect sacrifices to God and honoured him with remarkable vows and how you gave a feast for the people and accepted their hospitality to you. ⁵⁶We reckon all these things done by our nation and city for a man who rules and manages so much of the administration to be signs of the friendship between you and the Jewish nation, won for us by the hospitality of Herod's family. ⁵⁷Reminding you of these matters in the presence of the king sitting beside you, we ask no more than this: Do not look on while others rob us of what you yourselves have given us."

⁵⁸When Nicolaus had made this speech, no counter-argument was made to it by the Greeks, for this was not a legal trial but a petition against the violence being done to them. ⁵⁹The others made no defence nor did they at all deny what they were doing, only stating that they did them all sorts of wrong simply by living in their country. The [Jews] replied that they too belonged there and that they harmed no one by honouring their own customs. ⁶⁰When Agrippa saw that they had been subjected to violence he replied that on account of Herod's goodwill and friendship, he was ready to grant the Jews whatever they asked and that what they wanted seemed justified, and that if they requested anything else he would not hesitate to grant it provided it was not harmful to Roman rule. Since they had asked only that their already existing rights not be set aside, he confirmed that they could continue observing their customs undisturbed. ⁶¹After saying this, he dissolved the assembly, and Herod stood up and embraced him and thanked him for his kindness toward him. Agrippa also accepted this most affably and similarly put his arms around him. ⁶²Then he left for Lesbos, but the king decided to sail from Samos to his own country, and after taking leave of Agrippa voyaged with favourable winds and landed in Caesarea not many days later. From there he went to Jerusalem and gathered a full assembly of the people and many from the country were there too. ⁶³He came and explained all about his journey and gave them a detailed report of how due to him the Jews in Asia would live undisturbed in future. ⁶⁴He gave them a summary of his good fortune and of his administration of power and how he neglecting nothing that would benefit them, and then in a joyful mood he deducted for them a quarter of their taxes for the last year. ⁶⁵They were so pleased with his speech and with this favour that they went away happily, full of good wishes toward the king.

⁶⁶The disharmony in his household grew ever worse due to Salome's hatred of the youths, which as it were came to them by inheritance. As she had succeeded fully against their mother, she progressed to such madness and malice that she wanted none of that woman's descendants to be left alive and in a position to avenge her death. ⁶⁷Furthermore, those [two ]
youths had a rather reckless hostility toward their father, based on the memory of the injustice their mother had suffered and on their own desire to rule. ⁶⁸The situation now grew worse than before and they said harsh things against Salome and Pheroras, who in revenge felt malicious toward the young men and was busily plotting against them. ⁶⁹The hatred was equal on both sides, but they differed in their way of expressing that hatred. The young men were rash, publicly insulting and confronting the others, and were so inexperienced as to think it nobler to declare their minds quite openly, but the others more effectively opted for spiteful allegations, forever goading the youths in the anticipation that their boldness would eventually lead them to violence. ⁷⁰For as they were not ashamed of their mother's faults and did not believe that her execution was just, one could expect them to finally go overboard and in revenge even kill him with their own hands. ⁷¹At last the whole city was full of rumours like these, and naturally in such a conflict the naivety of the young men was pitied. Salome's plan, however, prevailed and her lies against them came to be believed because of their own conduct. ⁷²They were so grieved by their mother's death that when both she and they were badly spoken of, they complained that she had been pitiably treated, which indeed was true, and that they were also to be pitied for being forced to live close to her murderers and to be civil with them.

⁷³These grounds of dissension greatly increased during the king's absence and when Herod returned and had addressed the crowd as we have said, Pheroras and Salome immediately prompted the rumour that he was in great danger and that the youths were publicly threatening to no longer postpone taking revenge for their mother's death. ⁷⁴To this they added that their hopes were fixed on Archelaus, the king of Cappadocia, with whose help they would go to Caesar and accuse their father. ⁷⁵Hearing such things, Herod was immediately troubled, all the more so when the same things were reported to him by others. He called to mind his earlier plight and considered that the disorders within his family were preventing him from enjoying any comfort from those dearest to him or from his wife whom he loved so well. Suspecting also that his troubles in future would soon be weightier and greater than those of the past, he was confused in mind, ⁷⁶for some daemon had truly conferred upon him many outward advantages even beyond his hopes, but his domestic troubles were beyond the normal and rendered him unfortunate. Indeed both of these affected him to such an unimaginable degree that comparing them it is hard to say ⁷⁷whether he would have exchanged his great success in outward things for such misfortunes at home, or whether he ought not choose to avoid his domestic troubles even if he must never experience his remarkably successful kingship.

⁷⁸In this troubled and unhappy state, in order to quell these youths, he brought to court another of his sons who was born to him before he came to power, the one called Antipater. At first he did not indulge him as he did later, when he was quite dominated by him and let him do as he pleased. ⁷⁹Now however, wanting to quell the insolence of the sons of Mariamne he elevated his other son as a warning to them. Their bold behaviour would calm down once they were persuaded that the succession to the kingdom did not automatically belong to them alone. ⁸⁰So he introduced Antipater as their rival, thinking this would succeed and that once the pride of the youths was checked they would be easier for him to manage. ⁸¹But it did not turn out as planned, for the boys felt that his action was unjust and provocative to them, and as Antipater was shrewd in his ways, when he got this level of freedom and began to have previously unhoped-for prospects, the only thought in his head was how to harm his brothers. To stop them from gaining pre-eminence he would keep close to his father, already alienated from them by allegation and apt to become much more severe on them if stirred by any further means he could plot. ⁸²Not every rumour spreading around came from him as he avoided being suspected of starting them by using collaborators who were above suspicion and would be believed to be speaking out because of their goodwill toward the king. ⁸³Already there were not a few cultivating his friendship on account of his prospects and it was mainly they who persuaded Herod, seeming to say such things out of goodwill. On top of these accusations, all the more credible for coming from various sides, the youths furnished further chances to attack them. ⁸⁴For they were often seen in tears for the cruel dishonour done to them and talking about their mother, and among their friends they blamed their father for treating them unjustly. All such things were maliciously stored up by Antipater for the right occasion and when they were told to Herod, and elaborated upon, they heightened the tension and brought great discord into the family. ⁸⁵The king was very angry about these allegations and wishing to humble Mariamne's sons he continued to show more honour to Antipater, and finally was so won over by him that he brought back his mother and often wrote to Caesar in his favour, commending him to his particular care. ⁸⁶When Agrippa was returning to Rome after administering Asia for ten years, Herod sailed from Judea, and when they met, the only one to accompany him was Antipater, whom he gave over to Agrippa to bring with him, along with many gifts, to become a friend of Caesar. Now he seemed to have all in his hands and that the youths were excluded from any prospect of the kingdom.

⁸⁷During his absence the status and preeminence of Antipater grew, for he became a celebrity in Rome, where Herod had written to all his friends about him. ⁸⁸But it irked him not to be at home with a constant opportunity to calumniate his brothers, and his main fear was that left on his own his father might change his mind and come to view the sons of Mariamne more favourably. ⁸⁹With this in mind, he did not relent in his endeavour but kept sending from Rome stories that he hoped would irritate and anger his father against the brothers, under pretext of a deep concern for him but in fact prompted by his malicious nature and to strengthen his hopes, which were already strong. ⁹⁰Eventually Herod was roused to great anger and resentment toward the youths; yet he delayed giving vent to this violent feeling. So in order neither to be too lax nor to give offence by acting too rashly, he thought it best to sail to Rome and there accuse his sons before Caesar, so as not to commit a crime so grievous that he could be accused of impiety. ⁹¹As he hurried toward Rome to meet Caesar, he happened to meet him at the city of Aquileia and when they had a chance to speak he asked him to hear this great case where he thought himself most unfortunate, and had his sons present, whom he accused of their rash actions and of their plotting ⁹²and how hostile they were to him in every way and hated their own father enough to take his life and brutally take over the kingdom, which he had received from Caesar with power to dispose of it not by force but by his free choice, to the one who remained most loyal to him. ⁹³But even stronger than their desire to rule is their willingness to risk their lives if it is withheld from them, if only they could kill their own father, so wild and degenerate has hatred made their minds. Having borne this misfortune for a long time, he was now compelled to lay it before Caesar and to pollute his ears with such matters. ⁹⁴But what harshness had they ever suffered from him, or what reason for complaint did he give them? How could they think it right to remove him from the kingdom which he had gained over so long a time and at such peril, and not let him hold it and hand it on to whoever deserved it best? ⁹⁵He proposed to give this and other favours in return for the loyalty of the son who would show most care for his father, and that would be the great reward for the chosen one. ⁹⁶clearly it was impious for them to try to determine this, for anyone who is always thinking about becoming king is also reckoning upon his father's death, since otherwise he cannot take over the leadership. ⁹⁷For his part, he had up to now not failed to give them all that was due to the sons of a king but still subject to his royal authority. They did not lack ornaments or servants or comfort, and he had married them into the most illustrious families, one of them to his sister's daughter, and Alexander to the daughter of king Archelaus. ⁹⁸The greatest sign of his favour was that even in this crisis he did not use his authority to execute them, as a father wrongly treated or as a king plotted against might do, but instead had brought them for judgment as equals before Caesar, their mutual benefactor. ⁹⁹He begged that they not be left completely unpunished, nor that he go on living in such great fear. After what they had planned they did not deserve to go on seeing the light of the sun, even should they escape this time, for they had done the vilest things known to mankind and deserved to be punished.

¹⁰⁰Herod accused his sons vehemently in this way before Caesar, and the young men wept with emotion as he was speaking. Particularly as Herod ended, though conscious of their innocence of any such filial impiety they rightly felt it hard to make their defence. ¹⁰¹After the accusations made by their father, although they were free to speak their minds as freely as needed to forcibly and earnestly refute the accusations, it did not now seem quite decent to do so. ¹⁰²Therefore, uncertain of how they should reply, his speech was followed by their tears and deep sighing. They feared that if they said nothing it might seem to be an acknowledgement of guilt, but they had no defence ready, because of their youth and the confusion they felt. ¹⁰³Looking at them, Caesar was not unaware that their delay in offering their defence did not come from a guilty conscience, but from shyness and lack of experience. They were also pitied by the people present, and even their father's feelings were genuinely moved.

¹⁰⁴When they saw some goodwill both in him and in Caesar and that some of the others were shedding tears, and all felt pity for them, one of them, Alexander, tried to answer his accusation, and calling to his father he said, ¹⁰⁵"Father, your goodwill to us is clear, even in this trial, for if you had intended any severity toward us, you would not have led us here before the common saviour of all. ¹⁰⁶It was in your power, both as a king and as a father, to punish the guilty, so that bringing us to Rome and making this man a witness suggests that you intend to spare us, for no one who intends to kill somebody will bring him to the temples and to the altars. ¹⁰⁷Our situation is now even worse, for we cannot bear to live any longer if we are thought to have wronged such a father. To live under the suspicion of having wronged you would be worse for us than to die without such guilt. ¹⁰⁸If our frank defence is accepted as true, we shall be happy, both for persuading you and escaping the danger we are in, but if the allegation prevails, it is more than enough for us to have seen the sun this day. For why should we see it, if this suspicion against us be true? ¹⁰⁹Now it is easy to say that young men desire to reign, and to add that this resentment proceeds from the case of our unfortunate mother, which easily could lead to our present misfortune. ¹¹⁰But consider whether this charge does not apply to everyone equally. What is to stop a king who has children whose mother is dead, from suspecting all his sons of plotting against their father? But mere suspicion is not sufficient to prove such a impiety. ¹¹¹Let any man prove that we have dared any such thing, and make the incredible seem credible! Can anyone prove that poison was prepared, or that we conspired with our peers, or the corrupted servants, or wrote letters against you? ¹¹²No such things exist but they have been invented by way of allegation. Now a kingdom divided within itself is a disaster, and among scoundrels what you call a reward for loyalty often prompts such hopes as to get them to leave no sort of malice untried. ¹¹³No one directly accuses us of such wicked practices but how can we put an end to allegations by hearsay, if you will not listen to us? Have we talked too freely? Yes, but not against you, for that would be unjust, but against those who never conceal anything that is spoken to them. ¹¹⁴Did either of us mourn our mother? Yes, but not for her death, but that bad things were said of her which she did not deserve. Do we want the kingship which we know is held by our father? Why should we? If we already have royal honours, it would be senseless to still seek them. If we don't have them, should we not still hope for them? ¹¹⁵If we laid hands on you, how could we expect to win your kingship, for after such a deed we could not walk the earth or sail the sea? The piety and loyalty of the whole nation would stop patricides from taking over, or entering the holy temple built by you. ¹¹⁶But even setting aside other dangers, can any murderer go unpunished while Caesar lives? We your sons are not so disloyal or thoughtless, though perhaps more unfortunate than is good for you. ¹¹⁷But if you find no true complaint or treachery, what proper evidence have you to make such a wickedness on our part credible? Our mother is dead, but her fate might as well lead us to caution as incite us to wickedness. ¹¹⁸We are willing to defend ourselves further, but actions never done cannot be discussed. We could reach agreement with you before Caesar, the lord of all, who is now mediating between us, ¹¹⁹if you, father, by the evidence of truth can bring yourself to free your mind from suspecting us and let us live. Even then we are unfortunate, since it is a terrible thing to be falsely accused of such wickedness. ¹²⁰But if you still have any fear of us, continue with your devout existence, for our life is not so precious to us as to want to keep it, if it seems to threaten injustice to our father who gave it to us."

¹²¹When Alexander had said this, Caesar, who even before had not believed so gross an accusation, was still more moved and glancing constantly at Herod saw him look a little depressed. The others present were anxious on behalf of the young men and the rumours going around the hall made the king quite loathed. ¹²²The incredibility of the accusation plus sympathy for the young men's bloom of youth and physical beauty worked on their behalf, all the more so since Alexander had made their defence so skilfully and wisely. No longer did they look as before, weeping and with their eyes on the floor, ¹²³for now they began to hope for better things, and while the king seemed to have persuaded himself about the accusation, he now needed to apologize for it, having no solid proof.z ¹²⁴After a pause, Caesar said that, although the young men were fully innocent of the charge against them, yet they shared some blame in that they had not been docile enough toward their father to prevent such a report about them. ¹²⁵He urged Herod to set aside all his suspicions and be reconciled to his sons, as it was not right to believe such things of one’s own children. Mutual repentance could still heal the breaches that had arisen between them and enliven their goodwill, so that both sides would apologize for their rash suspicions and resolve to show more concern for each other than before. ¹²⁶After this admonition he beckoned to the young men, who were disposed to fall down and beg for pardon; and when their father raised them up, still in tears, and embraced them one by one, no one present, whether free-man or slave, remained unmoved.

¹²⁷After thanking Caesar they went off together, and the hypocritical Antipater went with them, pretending to be glad at the reconciliation. ¹²⁸In their final days with Caesar, who was then providing shows and handouts for the Roman populace, Herod made him a gift of three hundred talents and Caesar granted him half the revenue of the Cypriot copper mines and entrusted him with managing the other half and honoured him with hospitality and lodging. ¹²⁹Furthermore, he left him the right to appoint whichever of his sons he pleased to succeed to his kingdom, or to distribute it among them in parts so that each of them could share in that dignity. When he wanted to do it there and then, he would not let him give up control over his kingdom or his sons during his lifetime.

¹³⁰After this he returned to Judea, but in his absence a large part of his realm around Trachonitis had rebelled, but the officers he had left behind had defeated them and brought them back into submission. ¹³¹Now as Herod was sailing with his sons and arrived near Cilicia, to Elaiousa, whose name has now changed to Sebaste, he met with Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, who received him kindly, delighted that he was reconciled to his sons and that Alexander, to whom his daughter was married, was cleared of all charges, and they exchanged the usual gifts among kings. ¹³²From there Herod came to Judea and to the temple, where he made a speech to the people about what had been achieved during his journey. He also spoke to them about Caesar's favour to him and about as many of his activities as he thought it useful for others to know. ¹³³Finally he turned to admonishing his sons, and urging the courtiers and the people to harmony, and telling them that his sons were to be kings after him, Antipater first and then the sons of Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus. ¹³⁴But for the present he wanted all to look to himself as king and lord of everything, since he was not yet weakened by old age but rather in his prime at ruling, and not lacking the ability to govern the kingdom or rule over his children. He assured the officers and soldiers that if they heeded him alone, their life would be peaceful and every chance of happiness would be provided on all sides. ¹³⁵With that he dismissed the assembly. Most of the audience, but not all of them, welcomed his speech, since thoughts and desires of revolt sprang from the struggle between his sons and the hopes he had given them.

¹³⁶About this time Caesarea Sebaste, which he had been building, was completed in ten years, which had it ready by the twenty-eighth year of Herod's reign and the hundred and ninety-second Olympiad. ¹³⁷Immediately a great and sumptuous festival was prepared for its dedication, for which he arranged musical competition and gymnastic games, complete with a whole troop of gladiators and wild beasts, horse races and the very elaborate kind of shows that are customary in Rome and some other places. ¹³⁸He planned for its celebration every fifth year and dedicated these first games to Caesar, who from his own stores sent all sorts of equipment for the occasion, to add to its splendour. ¹³⁹Caesar's wife, Julia, sent much of her most valuable furnishings, so that the whole value of the equipment was estimated at no less than five hundred talents. ¹⁴⁰A large crowd gathered in the city to see the games, as well as the envoys sent by various groups on account of his benefactions to them. Herod entertained them all with lodgings and meals and continuous feasting, so that the festival offered by day the enjoyment of the games and by night merry-making on a lavish scale, costing huge sums of money and demonstrating his magnanimity. ¹⁴¹In all his undertakings he was ambitious to surpass whatever had been done before, and they say that Caesar and Agrippa often noted that Herod's realm was too small for the greatness of his soul, and that he deserved to rule the whole of Syria and Egypt as his kingdom.

¹⁴²After this festival and the feasting were over, Herod built another city in the plain called Capharsaba, where he chose a piece of excellent, fruitful and well-watered land, with a river flowing close to the city and a grove of fine tall trees surrounding it. ¹⁴³This he named Antipatris, after his father Antipater; and on another site above Jericho he built a very secure and pleasant place to live, and named it after his mother, Cypros. ¹⁴⁴He dedicated a monument of the finest kind to his brother Phasael, too, whom he had held in the great affection, by raising a tower in the city itself, not smaller than the tower of Pharos, which he named Phasael, both to form part of the strong defences of the city and as a memorial to the dead man after whom it was named. ¹⁴⁵He also built a city of that name in the valley as you go north from Jericho, whose cultivation by its inhabitants made the neighbouring country more fruitful. This too he called Phasael.

¹⁴⁶It is impossible to calculate all his other benefactions done for cities in Syria and Greece and in all the places he called at in his travels. He seems to have generously funded many public functions and building projects and provided the necessary money in cases where works were languishing for lack of funds. ¹⁴⁷Among his greatest and most famous of his works was building the Pythian temple at Rhodes at his own expense, and providing many talents of silver for ship-building. He also built most of the public buildings for the people of Nicopolis, founded by Caesar at Actium. ¹⁴⁸For the Antiocheans, the people of the principal city of Syria, where a broad street cuts lengthways through it, he built porticoes along both sides of it and paved the uncovered part of the street with polished stone, to the great pleasure and benefit of the inhabitants. ¹⁴⁹He also restored the honour of the Olympic Games, which had fallen into decline for lack of money, and assigned a revenue for their upkeep and for sacrifices and other things to hallow the festival. For this generosity, an inscription by the Elians calls him the perpetual patron of the games.

¹⁵⁰The diversity of his nature and decisions has struck others as amazing. When we think of his munificence and the benefits he conferred on all mankind, not even those who respected him the least could possibly deny, or fail to acknowledge, that by nature he had a vast inclination to do good. ¹⁵¹On the other hand, when one looks at the penalties he inflicted and the wrongs he did, not only to his subjects, but also to his nearest relatives and notes his severe and unrelenting disposition there, one must also acknowledge that he was brutish and alien to all moderation. ¹⁵²From this they conclude that he was inconsistent and in contradiction with himself, but I see him in another way and think the cause of both kinds of action was one and the same. ¹⁵³As one with a strong passion for fame, he was led to magnanimity wherever there seemed any hopes of being remembered in the future or famous in the present. ¹⁵⁴Then as his expenses were beyond his means, he was driven to be harsh on his subjects, for those on whom he spent his money were so many that they made him harmful to those from whom he procured it. ¹⁵⁵In turn, being conscious of the hatred of his subjects for the wrongs he did to them, he saw no easy means of mending his ways, for that would lessen his revenue, so he strove on the contrary to turn their ill-will into a source of profit. ¹⁵⁶Within his own court, if anyone’s speech was not subservient and did not profess himself a slave, or seemed to think of any change in his regime, he could not contain himself, but treated even his relatives and friends as enemies and executed them, a sin stemming from his desire to be the sole centre of all honour. ¹⁵⁷My evidence of this being his main passion is what he did to honour Caesar and Agrippa and his other friends, for he wanted the self-same honours that he paid his respects to them as his superiors to be also paid to himself , and whatever was the most excellent gift he could make to another, he seemed to want given to him also. ¹⁵⁸The Jewish nation is by their law a stranger to all such things and accustomed to prefer righteousness to glory, and for this reason was not in favour with him, because they could not flatter the king's ambition with statues or temples, or such paraphernalia. ¹⁵⁹This seems to me to have caused both Herod's crimes against his own household and counsellors and his benefactions to foreigners and people unrelated to him.

¹⁶⁰The cities ill-treated the Jews in Asia as well as those who were oppressed in Libya near Cyrene. While earlier kings had given them equal rights as citizens, the Greeks now persecuted them to the point of stealing their temple money and harming them in other ways. ¹⁶¹In this affliction and seeing no end of their cruel treatment by the Greeks, they sent envoys to Caesar about it. He restored their former privileges and sent letters to that effect to the officers of the provinces, copies of which I subjoin here, as proof of the favourable disposition the Roman emperors formerly had toward us.

¹⁶²"Caesar Augustus, high priest and tribune of the people, declares : Since the Jewish nation has found favour with the Roman people, not only at this time but also in time past, and Hyrcanus the high priest in particular, under my father Caesar the emperor, ¹⁶³it seems good to me and my council, by the oath and decree of the people of Rome, that the Jews have freedom to follow their own customs, according to their ancestral law, as they did under Hyrcanus the high priest of the Almighty God, and that their temple money be untouched and be sent to Jerusalem and given to the care of the receivers in Jerusalem, and that they not be obliged to go before any judge on the sabbath day, nor on the eve of it, after the ninth hour. ¹⁶⁴If anyone is caught stealing their holy books or their temple money, from the synagogue or school, he shall be reckoned as sacrilegious and his goods shall be confiscated to the public treasury of the Romans. ¹⁶⁵I will that their testimonial to me, about the piety I show toward all mankind and about Gaius Marcus Censorinus, along with this present decree, be set in the prominent place dedicated to me by the community of Asia at Ancyra. If anyone transgresses any part of the above decree, he shall be severely punished." This was inscribed on a pillar in the temple of Caesar.

¹⁶⁶"Caesar to Norbanus Flaccus, greetings. Let the Jews, however many they are, whose ancient practice it was to send their sacred money to Jerusalem, be free to do so." These were the decrees of Caesar.

¹⁶⁷Agrippa also wrote as follows, on behalf of the Jews : "Agrippa, to the officers, council and people of the Ephesians, greetings. I will that the care and custody of the sacred money to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem be left with the Jews of Asia, according to their custom. ¹⁶⁸Any who steal the sacred books of the Jews and flee to a sanctuary, shall be taken from there and handed over to the Jews, just as sacrilegious persons are removed. I have also written to Sylvanus the praetor, that none shall compel a Jew to come before a judge on the sabbath."

¹⁶⁹"Marcus Agrippa to the officers, council and people of Cyrene, greetings. The Jews of Cyrene have asked me to effect what Augustus has written about to Flavius, then praetor of Libya, and the other procurators of that province, that the temple money may be freely sent to Jerusalem, as is their custom. ¹⁷⁰They complain to me of being abused by certain sycophants and being prevented from sending them under pretext of taxes which were not owed. I order that they be restored without any disturbance to them, and if that sacred money in any of the cities was taken, I order those in charge to restore it exactly to the Jews in that place."

¹⁷¹"Gaius Norbanus Flaccus, proconsul, to the officers of the Sardians, greetings. Caesar has written to me and ordered me not to forbid the Jews, however many they be, from assembling according to their ancestral custom, nor from sending their money to Jerusalem. I have written to you that you may know that both Caesar and I want you to act accordingly."

¹⁷²No less was what Julius Antony, the proconsul, wrote: "To the officers, council and people of the Ephesians, greetings. As I was holding court at Ephesus, on the Ides of February, the Jews living in Asia proved to me that Augustus and Agrippa had let them follow their own laws and customs and offer their first-fruits, which each freely dedicates out of piety to the Deity and sent them up under escort, unimpeded. ¹⁷³They also asked me that I also would confirm what had been granted by Augustus and Agrippa by my own sanction. Note therefore that according to the will of Augustus and Agrippa, I permit them to use and follow their ancestral customs, without impediment."

¹⁷⁴I am obliged to set down these decrees because the history of our recent actions will be generally known among the Greeks, and I have hereby shown them that we were formerly in high esteem and were not prohibited by our governors from keeping our ancestral customs, and that we were supported by them in following our own religion and the worship we paid to God. ¹⁷⁵I often mention these decrees in order to reconcile other people to us and remove the causes of that hatred which unreasonable men bear to us. ¹⁷⁶There is no other nation that always follows the same customs, for in almost every city we find differing practices. Now natural justice is mostly found in what is equally favourable to all people, both Greeks and barbarians, ¹⁷⁷and our laws have the greatest regard to this and render us benevolent and friendly to all, if we keep them properly. ¹⁷⁸Therefore we should expect a similar response from others and we declare to them they ought not to regard otherness as a reason for alienation, but should look rather to good standards of behaviour, which is the duty of us all and it alone is what preserves human society. I now return to the main line of my narrative.

¹⁷⁹Herod had spent vast sums on projects outside as well as inside his kingdom, and when he heard how Hyrcanus, the king before him, had opened David's burial vault and taken three thousand talents of silver from it but that there was still much more there, enough to suffice all his needs, he had long intended to lay hands upon it. ¹⁸⁰One night he opened the burial vault and went into it taking care to be unseen from the city, and bringing with him only his most trusted friends. ¹⁸¹He did not, like Hyrcanus, find any money, but took all the golden furniture and precious things that were stored there. Then he wanted to make a fuller search and go farther in, to where the bodies of David and Solomon lay. ¹⁸²They say that two of his bodyguard were killed there, by a flame bursting out on them as they entered. So he left in terror and in his fear built a splendid and expensive memorial of white stone at the mouth of the burial vault. ¹⁸³His historiographer, Nicolaus, mentions this structure but not that he went down to it, knowing that the act was improper, and he treats many other things in the same way in his writings. ¹⁸⁴He wrote during Herod's lifetime and under his reign, to please and serve him, and described nothing except what tended to his good name, clearly excusing many of his notorious crimes or very carefully concealing them. ¹⁸⁵As he wished to portray in a good light the death of Mariamne and her sons, which were cruel acts of the king, he invented her unchastity and the treachery of the young men. So he went on in his whole work, lavishing praise on the king's good actions and carefully defending his crimes. ¹⁸⁶As I said, one could say much to excuse this, for he did not write history for others, but was acting in service of the king. ¹⁸⁷But we, who come from a family linked to the Hasmonean kings and therefore having the honour of the priesthood, think it improper to make up stories about them and have described their actions honestly and justly. Although we respect many of Herod's descendants still reigning, we honour the truth even more, even if we sometimes incur their displeasure by doing so.

¹⁸⁸Herod's troubles in his family seemed to increase because of his violating the burial vault; whether God's wrath increased his troubles and rendered them insoluble, or whether fortune deserted him just at the time where the circumstances made it seem that his troubles came as a penalty for his impiety. ¹⁸⁹Conflict raged like civil war in the palace and their hatred for each other came to look like a contest in allegation. ¹⁹⁰Antipater was always very cunning in his plots against his brothers, for while he heaped accusations on them from afar, he often gave the impression of defending them, in order to be trusted for his apparent goodwill to them. In this way he used various ruses to deceive his father, who believed he was doing everything for his safety. ¹⁹¹He commended Ptolemy, the chief administrator of his kingdom, as a friend to Antipater, and consulted his mother on public affairs. These had full rein and did what they pleased and roused the king to anger at outsiders, when they thought it helped their own cause. ¹⁹²The status of the sons of Mariamne continually worsened, and they who were noblest by birth were downgraded to a less honoured rank which they found hard to bear. ¹⁹³Among the women, there was hatred between Alexander's wife, Glaphyra, the daughter of Archelaus, and Salome, because of her pact with her husband and because Glaphyra was insolent toward Salome's daughter, the wife of Aristobulus, whose equal status Glaphyra could not bear.