First Century Synagogue Top Plans: Herodium 66 AD
Archeological Excavations of Oldest Synagogues in the world
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Herodium 66 AD |
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Introduction:
1. Defeat of Jewish Rebels
a. In 66 AD the zealots captures Herodium and converted the triclinium (dining hall) into a synagogue.
b. The rebels built make shift structures which were dismantled during the excavations.
c. They surrendered without bloodshed in 70 AD.
d. In 132 AD the rebels again used the synagogue only to be defeated by Hadrian.
2. Herodium is the perfect example of a first century open air synagogue with four freestanding symbolic columns.
a. The zealot rebels captured Herodium in 66 AD and converted the open air existing triclinium into a synagogue but were defeated a few years later by the Romans in 70 AD.
3.
Decorative “freestanding columns” or pillars:
a. Freestanding Columns: Antitype of Christians
b. Four freestanding columns and benches were added according to known “synagogue typology”.
c. The author noted that the spacing of the four columns was too wide to support anything other than a light canopy covering, if any at all, and propose an open-air synagogue. Freestanding columns without roof: There were only four pillars and the span between them is 8.54 m (28 feet). This far exceeds the construction distance span for any kind of roof other than a light canopy covering.
d. “When the rebels revolted in the year 66 AD, they were able to capture the Herodium. What did they do? Well, in the place that had been a grand banquet hall in the Herodium, they converted it into a synagogue. Here’s what they did. They of course, fashioned bench seating along the wall, along the walls in a rectangular pattern, and they placed interior pillars—pillars that weren’t necessary, pillars that didn’t hold anything up. Why did they do that? It’s back to what I said in an earlier lecture—this sense of synagogue architectural typology. This is the way a synagogue is supposed to look. If there was this well-known typology, this sense of how a synagogue ought to look—just as many Christians no doubt today would say “This is what a church is supposed to look like”—this argues that the synagogue buildings that we have found (this one admittedly made no earlier than 66 or 67), there was a sense of how they should look. Therefore, the synagogue as a recognizable building has a prehistory, would reach back I would contend not just to the beginning of the first century AD but probably all the way back well into the first century BC. The Herodium is very important evidence, even though the synagogue as such wasn’t very old. After all, the Romans did recapture the Herodium within just a few years. But the way the synagogue was hastily constructed by the rebels, converting a dining hall into a synagogue and following this set pattern would suggest that this pattern or typology was well entrenched in the thinking of the Jewish people in the first century.” (Archeology and the NT, Craig Evans, NT307, Herodium, 2014 AD)
e. It utilized a typical two row pillar system that was purely “decoration” being unneeded for structure. Without the pillars, it did not have the appearance or feel of a synagogue.
4. Synagogue features: The Bema
a. See also: The bema: Prototype of the Church Pulpit
b.
A bema is proposed in the middle the hall as either a scroll table for a
preacher’s and reader’s platform.
5. Synagogue features: The two Mikvaot
a. See also: Synagogue Mikvah: The Christian Maker
b.
Two nearby mikvaot including a mikveh near entrance to the synagogue
made ritual cleansing seamless.
6. The prophecy of Dan 2 says that God’s kingdom will destroy Rome, which it did under Constantine when the empire converted to Christianity.
a. See also: Providence: God’s eternal plan: The providential transition from Temple to Synagogue to Church
b. During the second Jewish war of 132-135 AD the zealots captured Herodium again, and just like before, were soon defeated by the Romans.
c. Rome on the other hand, destroyed Judaism, first in 70 AD with the temple, and second under Hadrian in 135 AD.
d. Daniel’s prophecy says that God’s kingdom would be victorious over Rome, whereas Rome made Biblical Mosaic Judaism extinct, and so it to this present day.
A. Earliest Synagogue Occupation Date (SOD) = 66 AD
1. Excavation date: 66 AD
2. Inscriptional date: none
3. Literary date: none
4. SOD computation system details: Excavation date + Inscriptional date + Literary date = SOD.
B. Synagogue Compass Orientation:
1. Orientation East or towards Jerusalem: no
2. Compass headings:
a. Compass heading towards Jerusalem: 354 Degrees
b. Distance to Jerusalem: 13 Kilometers
3. When an archeologist begins excavating a newly discovered synagogue, the first thing he does to determine if it is a first temple, pre-70 AD installation is determine the orientation.
a. If the synagogue points east it is not pre-70 AD but built after 200 AD.
b. If the synagogue is oriented towards Jerusalem it is not pre-70 AD but built after 200 AD.
4. See Orientation: Early Synagogues did not Point to Jerusalem
C. Bible and other Literary references:
1. See Josephus Antiquities 14:335-480 and Wars 1:250-357
2. Full Text of Josephus at end of document
D. Occupation history:
1. “A palace-fortress built by Herod the Great on the site known in Arabic as Jebel el-Fureidis. It is situated 13 km S of Jerusalem, 6 km SE of Bethlehem (N of the biblical Tekoa), on the edge of the Judean desert. No settlement earlier than the days of Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.) is known at the site, which comprises a steep conical artificial mountain into which is integrated a building; to its N are additional substantial ruins (including a huge pool). The final identification of the site as Herodium, following Josephus and Pliny (JW 1.13.8 §625; 1.21.10 §419; 1.33.9 §673; Ant 14.13.9 §360; 15.9.4 §323–25; 17.8.3 §199; Pliny HN 5.14.70) is attributed to E. Robinson, who visited the site in 1838.” (ABD, Herodium)
2. Herodium was a fortress of Herod until 66 AD.
3. Herod defeated Antigonus (the last Hasmonean ruler) at Herodium in 40 BC who was then killed by Mark Anthony in 36 BC which brought about the extinction of the Hasmonean dynasty.
E. Excavation details:
1. “Herodium: A triclinium at Herodium was converted by the zealots into a hall (15 x 10.5 m) divided by four columns, with benches lined along three walls (Foerster 1981:24; Netzer 2004:14-15). Three entrances were found on the east leading into a large courtyard (Figs. II-lc, 11-4). The hall was covered either by a ceiling, mainly above the benches, or by a light screen cover. The walls were plastered with stucco; a stepped miqveh was found close to the hall. ” (Ancient Synagogues - Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Research, Rachel Hachlili, p28, 2013 AD)
2. “The edifice was originally constructed as a triclinium (dining hall) in Herod's fortress palace. Although Corbo has suggested a date during the Bar Kochbah revolt in the second century for the transformation of the edifice, it is more likely that the building was converted for synagogue use around the First Jewish Revolt (so Foerster, Chiat, Binder, Levine, Runesson). Benches line the four walls, and four, possibly six (Corbo; Binder) columns supported the roof and were located between the benches and the open space of the centre of the hall. The rectangular building measures 15.15 x 10.6 m, and a miqweh (2 x 1.5 m) is located just outside the entrance by the northern part of the wall. Identification of this building as a synagogue is based on architectural similarities to other public structures identified as synagogues, e.g., Gamla and Masada (Nos. 10, 28), as well as by the presence of a nearby miqweh.” (The Ancient Synagogue from its Origins to 200 AD, Anders Runesson, 35, 2008 AD)
3. “Converted structures: The Masada and Herodium buildings, originally triclinia that served as reception and ceremonial halls, were converted into assembly halls (synagogues). The change involved altering the arrangement of the columnation (by reusing the columns in different places), and adding stepped benches along the walls. Masada and Herodium were built at a time of war, which was not conducive to architectural innovation. The structures were constructed by modifying previously existing buildings; the only changes were those essential to serve the new function. By the reuse at Masada and the supplementary columns installed at Herodium, as well as the addition of benches around the walls, the previous Herodian triclinium was thus altered into an assembly hall, as the new Zealot congregation required. ” (Ancient Synagogues - Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Research, Rachel Hachlili, p43, 2013 AD)
Conclusion:
1. Herodium was built by Herod the Great, captured twice by the Jewish rebels who used the summit as an open air synagogue. The design with open air and freestanding columns cannot be underemphasized.
2. See also Freestanding Columns: Antitype of Christians
3. See also: First Century Jewish Messianic Expectation: As witnessed in the Dead Sea scrolls.
By Steve Rudd 2017: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections
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By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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Text of Josephus Antiquities 14:335-480 and Wars 1:250-357
1. “But as Phasaelus’s and Herod’s party came to the other’s assistance, and a battle happened between them in the marketplace, the young men beat their enemies, and pursued them into the temple, and sent some armed men into the adjoining houses, to keep them in, who yet being destitute of such as should support them, were burnt, and the houses with them, by the people who rose up against them. (336) But Herod was revenged on these seditious adversaries of his a little afterward for this injury they had offered him, when he fought with them, and slew a great number of them. 4. (337) But while there were daily skirmishes, the enemy waited for the coming of the multitude out of the country to Pentecost, a feast of ours so called; (338) and when that day was come, many ten thousands of the people were gathered together about the temple, some in armor, and some without. Now those that came, guarded both the temple and the city, excepting what belonged to the palace, which Herod guarded with a few of his soldiers; (339) and Phasaelus had the charge of the wall, while Herod with a body of his men, sallied out upon the enemy, who lay in the suburbs, and fought courageously, and put many ten thousands to flight, some flying into the city, and some into the temple, and some into the outer fortifications, for some such fortifications there were in that place. Phasaelus came also to his assistance; (340) yet was Pacorus, the general of the Parthians, at the desire of Antigonus, admitted into the city, with a few of his horsemen, under pretense indeed as if he would still the sedition, but in reality to assist Antigonus in obtaining the government. (341) And when Phasaelus met him, and received him kindly, Pacorus persuaded him to go himself as ambassador to Barzapharnes, which was done fraudulently. Accordingly, Phasaelus, suspecting no harm, complied with his proposal, while Herod did not give his consent to what was done, because of the perfidiousness of those barbarians, but desired Phasaelus rather to fight those that were come into the city. 5. (342) So both Hyrcanus and Phasaelus went on the embassage; but Pacorus left with Herod two hundred horsemen, and ten men, who were called the freemen; and conducted the others on their journey; and when they were in Galilee, the governors of the cities there met them in their arms. (343) Barzapharnes also received them at the first with cheerfulness, and made them presents, though he afterward conspired against them; and Phasaelus, with his horsemen, were conducted to the seaside; but when they heard that Antigonus had promised to give the Parthians a thousand talents, and five hundred women, to assist them against them, they soon had a suspicion of the barbarians. (344) Moreover, there was one who informed them that snares were laid for them by night, while a guard came about them secretly; and they had then been seized upon, had they not waited for the seizure of Herod by the Parthians that were about Jerusalem, lest upon the slaughter of Hyrcanus and Phasaelus, he should have an intimation of it, and escape out of their hands. And these were the circumstances they were now in; and they saw who they were that guarded them. (345) Some persons indeed would have persuaded Phasaelus to fly away immediately on horseback, and not to stay any longer; and there was one Ophellius, who, above all the rest, was earnest with him to do so, for he had heard of this treachery from Saramalla, the richest of all the Syrians at that time, who also promised to provide him ships to carry him off; for the sea was just by them: (346) but he had no mind to desert Hyrcanus, nor bring his brother into danger; but he went to Barzapharnes, and told him he did not act justly when he made such a contrivance against them, for that if he wanted money, he would give him more than Antigonus; and besides, that it was a horrible thing to slay those that came to him upon the security of their oaths, and that when they had done them no injury. (347) But the barbarian swore to him that there was no truth in any of his suspicions, but that he was troubled with nothing but false proposals, and then went away to Pacorus. 6. (348) But as soon as he was gone away, some men came and bound Hyrcanus and Phasaelus; while Phasaelus greatly reproached the Parthians for their perjury. However, that butler who was sent against Herod had it in command to get him without the walls of the city, and seize upon him (349) but messengers had been sent by Phasaelus to inform Herod of the perfidiousness of the Parthians; and when he knew that the enemy had seized upon them, he went to Pacorus, and to the most potent of the Parthians, as to the lords of the rest, (350) who, although they knew the whole matter, dissembled with him in a deceitful way; and said that he ought to go out with them before the walls, and meet those who were bringing him his letters, for that they were not taken by his adversaries, but were coming to give him an account of the good success Phasaelus had had. (351) Herod did not give credit to what they said; for he had heard that his brother was seized upon by others also; and the daughter of Hyrcanus, whose daughter he had espoused, was his monitor also [not to credit them], which made him still more suspicious of the Parthians; for although other people did not give heed to her, yet did he believe her, as a woman of very great wisdom. 7. (352) Now while the Parthians were in consultation what was fit to be done; for they did not think it proper to make an open attempt upon a person of his character; and while they put off the determination to the next day, Herod was under great disturbance of mind; and rather inclining to believe the reports he heard about his brother and the Parthians, than to give heed to what was said on the other side, he determined, that when the evening came on, he would make use of it for his flight, and not make any longer delay, as if the dangers from the enemy were not yet certain. (353) He therefore removed with the armed men whom he had with him; and set his wives upon the beasts, as also his mother, and sister, and her whom he was about to marry [Mariamne], the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, with her mother, the daughter of Hyrcanus, and his youngest brother, and all their servants, and the rest of the multitude that was with him, and without the enemy’s privity pursued his way to Idumea: (354) nor could any enemy of his who then saw him in this case, be so hardhearted, but would have commiserated his fortune, while the women drew along their infant children, and left their own country, and their friends in prison, with tears in their eyes, and sad lamentations, and in expectation of nothing but what was of melancholy nature. 8. (355) But for Herod himself, he raised his mind above the miserable state he was in, and was of good courage in the midst of his misfortunes; and, as he passed along, he bade them every one to be of good cheer, and not to give themselves up to sorrow, because that would hinder them in their flight, which was now the only hope of safety that they had. (356) Accordingly, they tried to bear with patience the calamity they were under, as he exhorted them to do; yet was he once almost going to kill himself, upon the overthrow of a wagon, and the danger his mother was then in of being killed; and this on two accounts, because of his great concern for her, and because he was afraid lest by this delay, the enemy should overtake him in the pursuit; (357) but as he was drawing his sword, and going to kill himself therewith, those that were present restrained him, and being so many in number, were too hard for him; and told him that he ought not to desert them, and leave them a prey to their enemies, for that it was not the part of a brave man to free himself from the distresses he was in, and to overlook his friends that were in the same distress also. (358) So he was compelled to let that horrid attempt alone, partly out of shame at what they said to him, and partly out of regard to the great number of those that would not permit him to do what he intended. So he encouraged his mother, and took all the care of her the time would allow, and proceeded on the way he proposed to go with the utmost haste, and that was to the fortress of Masada. As he had many skirmishes with such of the Parthians as attacked him and pursued him, he was conqueror in them all. 9. (359) Nor indeed was he free from the Jews all along as he was in his flight: for by the time he was gotten sixty furlongs out of the city, and was upon the road, they fell upon him, and fought hand to hand with him, (360) whom he also put to flight, and overcame, not like one that was in distress and in necessity, but like one that was excellently prepared for war, and had what he wanted in great plenty. And in this very place where he overcame the Jews, it was that he some time afterwards built a most excellent palace, and a city round about it, and called it Herodium. (361) And when he was come to Idumea, at a place called Thressa, his brother Joseph met him, and he then held a council to take advice about all his affairs, and what was fit to be done in his circumstances, since he had a great multitude that followed him, beside his mercenary soldiers, and the place Masada, whither he proposed to fly, was too small to contain so great a multitude; (362) so he sent away the greater part of his company, being above nine thousand, and bade them go, some one way and some another and so save themselves in Idumea, and gave them what would buy them provisions in their journey. But he took with him those that were the least encumbered, and were most intimate with him, and came to the fortress, and placed there his wives and his followers, being eight hundred in number, there being in the place a sufficient quantity of corn and water, and other necessaries, and went directly for Petra, in Arabia. (363) But when it was day, the Parthians plundered all Jerusalem, and the palace, and abstained from nothing but Hyrcanus’s money, which was three hundred talents. (364) A great deal of Herod’s money escaped, and principally all that the man had been so provident as to send into Idumea beforehand: nor indeed did what was in the city suffice the Parthians; but they went out into the country, and plundered it, and demolished the city Marissa. 10. (365) And thus was Antigonus brought back into Judea by the king of the Parthians, and received Hyrcanus and Phasaelus for his prisoners; but he was greatly cast down because the women had escaped, whom he intended to have given the enemy, as having promised they should have them, with the money, for their reward; (366) but being afraid that Hyrcanus, who was under the guard of the Parthians, might have his kingdom restored to him by the multitude, he cut off his ears, and thereby took care that the high priesthood should never come to him any more, because he was maimed, while the law required that this dignity should belong to none but such as had all their members entire. (367) But now one cannot but here admire the fortitude of Phasaelus, who, perceiving that he was to be put to death, did not think death any terrible thing at all; but to die thus by the means of his enemy, this he thought a most pitiable and dishonorable thing, and therefore, since he had not his hands at liberty, for the bonds he was in prevented him from killing himself thereby, he dashed his head against a great stone, and thereby took away his own life, which he thought to be the best thing he could do in such a distress as he was in, and thereby put it out of the power of the enemy to bring him to any death he pleased. (368) It is also reported, that when he had made a great wound in his head, Antigonus sent physicians to cure it, and, by ordering them to infuse poison into the wound, killed him. (369) However, Phasaelus hearing, before he was quite dead, by a certain woman, that his brother Herod had escaped the enemy, underwent his death cheerfully, since he now left behind him one who would revenge his death, and who was able to inflict punishment on his enemies. CHAPTER 14 HOW HEROD GOT AWAY FROM THE KING OF ARABIA, AND MADE HASTE TO GO INTO EGYPT, AND THENCE WENT IN HASTE ALSO TO ROME; AND HOW, BY PROMISING A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY TO ANTONY, HE OBTAINED OF THE SENATE AND OF CAESAR TO BE MADE KING OF THE JEWS 1. (370) As for Herod, the great miseries he was in did not discourage him, but made him sharp in discovering surprising undertakings; for he went to Malchus, king of Arabia, whom he had formerly been very kind to, in order to receive somewhat by way of requital, now he was in more than ordinary want of it, and desired he would let him have some money, either by way of loan, or as his free gift, on account of the many benefits he had received from him; (371) for not knowing what was become of his brother, he was in haste to redeem him out of the hand of his enemies, as willing to give three hundred talents for the price of his redemption. He also took with him the son of Phasaelus, who was a child of but seven years of age; for this very reason, that he might be an hostage for the repayment of the money. (372) But there came messengers from Malchus to meet him, by whom he was desired to be gone, for that the Parthians had laid a charge upon him, not to entertain Herod. This was only a pretense which he made use of, that he might not be obliged to repay him what he owed him; and this he was farther induced to, by the principal men among the Arabians, that they might cheat him of what sums they had received from [his father] Antipater, and which he had committed to their fidelity. (373) He made answer, that he did not intend to be troublesome to them by his coming thither, but that he desired only to discourse with them about certain affairs that were to him of the greatest importance. 2. (374) Hereupon he resolved to go away, and did go very prudently the road to Egypt; and then it was that he lodged in a certain temple; for he had left a great many of his followers there. On the next day he came to Rhinocolura, and there it was that he heard what had befallen his brother. (375) Though Malchus soon repented of what he had done, and came running after Herod; but with no manner of success, for he was gotten a very great way off, and made haste into the road to Palusium; and when the stationary ships that lay there hindered him from sailing to Alexandria, he went to their captains, by whose assistance, and that out of much reverence of, and great regard to him, he was conducted into the city [Alexandria], and was retained here by Cleopatra, (376) yet was she not able to prevail with him to stay there, because he was making haste to Rome, even though the weather was stormy, and he was informed that the affairs of Italy were very tumultuous, and in great disorder. 3. (377) So he set sail from thence to Pamphylia, and falling into a violent storm, he had much ado to escape to Rhodes, with the loss of the ship’s burden; and there it was that two of his friends, Sappinas and Ptolemeus, met with him; (378) and as he found that city very much damaged in the war against Cassius, though he were in necessity himself, he neglected not to do it a kindness, but did what he could to recover it to its former state. He also built there a three-decked ship and set sail thence, with his friends, for Italy, and came to the port of Brundusium: (379) and when he was come from thence to Rome, he first related to Antony what had befallen him in Judea, and how Phasaelus his brother was seized on by the Parthians, and put to death by them; and how Hyrcanus was detained captive by them, and how they had made Antigonus king, who had promised them a sum of money, no less than a thousand talents, with five hundred women, who were to be of the principal families, and of the Jewish stock; and that he had carried off the women by night; and that, by undergoing a great many hardships, he had escaped the hands of his enemies; (380) as also, that his own relations were in danger of being besieged and taken, and that he had sailed through a storm, and condemned all these terrible dangers, in order to come, as soon as possible, to him who was his hope and only succor at this time.” (Josephus Antiquities 14:335-480)
2. “Now, as these men were ravaging Carmel, many of the Jews ran together to Antigonus, and showed themselves ready to make an incursion into the country; so he sent them before into that place called Drymus [the woodland], to seize upon the place; whereupon a battle was fought between them, and they drove the enemy away, and pursued them, and ran after them as far as Jerusalem, and as their numbers increased, they proceeded as far as the king’s palace; (251) but as Hyrcanus and Phasaelus received them with a strong body of men, there happened a battle in the marketplace, in which Herod’s party beat the enemy, and shut them up in a temple, and set sixty men in the houses adjoining as a guard on them. (252) But the people that were tumultuous against the brethren came in and burnt those men; while Herod, in his rage for killing them, attacked and slew many of the people, till one party made incursions on the other by turns, day by day, in the way of ambushes; and slaughters were made continually among them. 3. (253) Now, when that festival which we call Pentecost was at hand, all the places about the temple, and the whole city was full of a multitude of people that were come out of the country, and who were the greatest part of them armed also, at which time Phasaelus guarded the wall, and Herod with a few, guarded the royal palace; and when he made an assault upon his enemies, as they were out of their ranks, on the north quarter of the city, he slew a very great number of them, and put them all to flight; and some of them he shut up within the city, and others within the outward rampart. (254) In the meantime Antigonus desired that Pacorus might be admitted to be a reconciler between them; and Phasaelus was prevailed upon to admit the Parthian into the city with five hundred horse, and to treat him in an hospitable manner, who pretended that he came to quell the tumult, but in reality he came to assist Antigonus; (255) however, he laid a plot for Phasaelus, and persuaded him to go as an ambassador to Barzapharnes, in order to put an end to the war, although Herod was very earnest with him to the contrary, and exhorted him to kill the plotter, but not expose himself to the snares he had laid for him, because the barbarians are naturally perfidious. However, Pacorus went out and took Hyrcanus with him, that he might be the less suspected; he also left some of the horsemen, called the Freeman, with Herod, and conducted Phasaelus with the rest. 4. (256) But now, when they were come to Galilee, they found that the people of that country had revolted, and were in arms, who came very cunningly to their leader, and besought him to conceal his treacherous intentions by an obliging behavior to them; accordingly, he at first made them presents afterward, as they went away, laid ambushes for them; (257) and, when they were come to one of the maritime cities called Ecdippon, they perceived that a plot was laid for them; for they were there informed of the promise of a thousand talents, and how Antigonus had devoted the greatest number of the women that were there with them, among the five hundred, to the Parthians; (258) they also perceived that an ambush was always laid for them by the barbarians in the nighttime; they had also been seized on before this, unless they had waited for the seizure of Herod first at Jerusalem, because, if he were once informed of this treachery of theirs, he would take care of himself; nor was this a mere report, for they saw the guards already not far off them. 5. (259) Nor would Phasaelus think of forsaking Hyrcanus and flying away, although Ophellius earnestly persuaded him to it; for this man had learned the whole scheme of the plot from Saramalla, the richest of all the Syrians. But Phasaelus went up to the Parthian governor, and reproached him to his face for laying this treacherous plot against them, and chiefly because he had done it for money; and he promised him, that he would give him more money for their preservation, than Antigonus had promised to give for the kingdom. (260) But the sly Parthian endeavored to remove all his suspicion by apologies and by oaths, and then went to [the other] Pacorus; immediately after which those Parthians who were left, and had it in charge, seized upon Phasaelus and Hyrcanus, who could do no more than curse their perfidiousness and their perjury. 6. (261) In the meantime the cup-bearer was sent [back], and laid a plot how to seize upon Herod, by deluding him, and getting him out of the city, as he was commanded to do. But Herod suspected the barbarians from the beginning; and having then received intelligence that a messenger, who was to bring him the letters that informed him of the treachery intended, had fallen among the enemy, he would not go out of the city; though Pacorus said, very positively, that he ought to go out, and meet the messengers that brought the letters, for that the enemy had not taken them, and that the contents of them were not accounts of any plots upon them, but of what Phasaelus had done; (262) yet had he heard from others that his brother was seized; and Alexandra, the shrewdest woman in the world, Hyrcanus’s daughter, begged of him that he would not go out, nor trust himself to those barbarians, who now were come to make an attempt upon him openly. 7. (263) Now, as Pacorus and his friends were considering how they might bring their plot to bear privately, because it was not possible to circumvent a man of so great prudence by openly attacking him, Herod prevented them, and went off with the persons that were the most nearly related to him by night, and this without their enemies being apprised of it. (264) But as soon as the Parthians perceived it, they pursued after them; and, as he gave orders for his mother, and sister, and the young woman who was betrothed to him, with her mother, and his youngest brother, to make the best of their way, he himself, with his servants, took all the care they could to keep off the barbarians; and when at every assault, he had slain a great many of them, he came to the stronghold of Masada. 8. (265) Nay he found by experience that the Jews fell more heavily upon him than did the Parthians, and created him troubles perpetually, and this ever since he was gotten sixty furlongs from the city; these sometimes brought it to a sort of a regular battle. Now, in the place where Herod beat them, and killed a great number of them, there he afterward built a citadel, in memory of the great actions he did there, and adorned it with the most costly palaces, and erected very strong fortifications, and called it, from his own name Herodium. (266) Now, as they were in flight, many joined themselves to him every day; and at a place called Thressa of Idumea, his brother Joseph met him, and advised him to ease himself of a great number of his followers, because Masada would not contain so great a multitude, which were above nine thousand. (267) Herod complied with this advice, and sent away the most cumbersome part of his retinue, that they might go into Idumea, and gave them provisions for their journey; but he got safe to the fortress with his nearest relations, and retained with him only the stoutest of his followers; and there it was that he left eight hundred of his men as a guard for the women, and provisions sufficient for a siege; but he made haste himself to Petra of Arabia. 9. (268) As to the Parthians in Jerusalem, they betook themselves to plundering, and fell upon the houses of those that were fled, and upon the king’s palace, and spared nothing but Hyrcanus’s money, which was not above three hundred talents. They lighted on other men’s money also, but not so much as they hoped for; for Herod, having a long while had a suspicion of the perfidiousness of the barbarians, had taken care to have what was most splendid among his treasures conveyed into Idumea, as every one belonging to him had in like manner done also. (269) But the Parthians proceeded to that degree of injustice, as to fill all the country with war without denouncing it, and to demolish the city Marissa, and not only to set up Antigonus for king, but to deliver Phasaelus and Hyrcanus bound into his hands, in order to their being tormented by him. (270) Antigonus himself also bit off Hyrcanus’s ears with his own teeth, as he fell down upon his knees to him, that so he might never be able, upon any mutation of affairs, to take the high priesthood again; for the high priests that officiated were to be complete, and without blemish. 10. (271) However, he failed in his purpose of abusing Phasaelus, by reason of his courage, for though he neither had the command of his sword nor of his hands, he prevented all abuses by dashing his head against a stone; so he demonstrated himself to be Herod’s own brother, and Hyrcanus a most degenerate relation, and died with great bravery, and made the end of his life agreeable to the actions of it. (272) There is also another report about this end, viz., that he recovered of that stroke, and that a surgeon who was sent by Antigonus to heal him, filled the wound with poisonous ingredients, and so killed him. Whichsoever of these deaths he came to, the beginning of it was glorious. It is also reported, that before he expired, he was informed by a certain poor woman how Herod had escaped out of their hands, and that he said thereupon, “I now die with comfort, since I leave behind me one alive that will avenge me of mine enemies.” 11. (273) This was the death off Phasaelus; but the Parthians, although they had failed of the women they chiefly desired, yet did they put the government of Jerusalem into the hands of Antigonus, and took away Hyrcanus, and bound him and carried him to Parthia. CHAPTER 14 WHEN HEROD IS REJECTED IN ARABIA, HE MAKES HASTE TO ROME, WHERE ANTONY AND CAESAR JOIN THEIR INTEREST TO MAKE HIM KING OF THE JEWS 1. (274) Now Herod did the more zealously pursue his journey into Arabia, as making haste to get money of the king, while his brother was yet alive; by which money alone it was that he hoped to prevail upon the covetous temper of the barbarians, to spare Phasaelus; for he reasoned thus with himself:—That if the Arabian king was too forgetful of his father’s friendship with him, and was too covetous to make him a free gift, he would however borrow of him as much as might redeem his brother, and put into his hands, as a pledge, the son of him that was to be redeemed. (275) Accordingly he led his brother’s son along with him, who was of the age of seven years. Now he was ready to give three hundred talents for his brother, and intended to desire the intercession of the Tyrians, to get them accepted; however, fate had been too quick for his diligence; and since Phasaelus was dead, Herod’s brotherly love was now in vain. Moreover, he was not able to find any lasting friendship among the Arabians; (276) for their king, Malichus sent to him immediately, and commanded him to return back out of his country, and used the name of the Parthians as a pretense for so doing, as though these had denounced to him by their ambassadors to cast Herod out of Arabia; while in reality they had a mind to keep back what they owed to Antipater, and not be obliged to make requital to his sons for the free gifts the father had made them. He also took the imprudent advice of those who, equally with himself, were willing to deprive Herod of what Antipater had deposited among them, and these men were the most potent of all whom he had in his kingdom. 2. (277) So when Herod had found that the Arabians were his enemies, and this for those very reasons whence he hoped they would have been the most friendly, and had given them such an answer as his passion suggested, he returned back and went for Egypt. Now he lodged the first evening at one of the temples of that country, in order to meet with those whom he left behind; but on the next day word was brought him, as he was going to Rhinocurura, that his brother was dead, and how he came by his death; (278) and when he had lamented him as much as his present circumstances could bear, he soon laid aside such cares, and proceeded on his journey. But now, after some time, the king of Arabia repented of what he had done, and sent presently away messengers to call him back: Herod had prevented them, and was come to Pelusium, where he could not obtain a passage from those that lay with the fleet, so he besought their captains to let him go by them; accordingly, out of the reverence they bore to the fame and dignity of the man, they conducted him to Alexandria; (279) and when he came into the city, he was received by Cleopatra with great splendor,—who hoped he might be persuaded to be commander of her forces in the expedition she was now about. But he rejected the queen’s solicitations, and being neither affrighted at the height of that storm which then happened, nor at the tumults that were now in Italy, he sailed for Rome. 3. (280) But as he was in peril about Pamphylia, and obliged to cast out the greatest part of the ship’s lading, he, with difficulty, got safe to Rhodes, a place which had been grievously harassed in the war with Cassius. He was there received by his friends, Ptolemy and Sappinius; and, although he was then in want of money, he fitted up a three-decked ship of very great magnitude, (281) wherein he and his friends sailed to Brundusium, and went to Rome with all speed; where he first of all went to Antony, on account of the friendship his father had with him, and laid before him the calamities of himself and his family; and that he had left his nearest relations besieged in a fortress, and had sailed to him through a storm, to make supplication to him for assistance. 4. (282) Hereupon Antony was moved to compassion at the change that had been made in Herod’s affairs, and this both upon his calling to mind how hospitably he had been treated by Antipater, but more especially on account of Herod’s own virtue; so he then resolved to get him made king of the Jews, whom he had himself formerly made tetrach. The contest also that he had with Antigonus was another inducement, and that of no less weight than the great regard he had for Herod; for he looked upon Antigonus as a seditious person, and an enemy of the Romans: (283) and as for Caesar, Herod found him better prepared than Antony, as remembering very fresh the wars he had gone through together with his father, the hospitable treatment he had met with from him, and the entire good will he had shown to him; besides the activity which he saw in Herod himself. (284) So he called the senate together, wherein Messalas, and after him Atratinus, produced Herod before them, and gave a full account of the merits of his father, and his own good will to the Romans. At the same time they demonstrated that Antigonus was their enemy, not only because he soon quarreled with them, but because he now overlooked the Romans, and took the government by the means of the Parthians. These reasons greatly moved the senate; at which juncture Antony came in, and told them that it was for their advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king; so they all gave their votes for it. (285) And when the senate was separated, Antony and Caesar went out, with Herod between them; while the consul and the rest of the magistrates went before them, in order to offer sacrifices, and to lay the decree in the Capitol. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the first day of his reign. CHAPTER 15 ANTIGONUS BESIEGES THOSE THAT WERE IN MASADA, WHOM HEROD FREES FROM CONFINEMENT WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM ROME, AND PRESENTLY MARCHES TO JERUSALEM, WHERE HE FINDS SILO CORRUPTED BY BRIBES 1. (286) Now during this time, Antigonus besieged those that were in Masada, who had all other necessaries in sufficient quantity, but were in want of water; on which account Joseph, Herod’s brother, was disposed to run away to the Arabians, with two hundred of his own friends, because he had heard that Malichus repented of his offenses with regard to Herod; (287) and he had been so quick as to have been gone out of the fortress already unless, on that very night when he was going away there had fallen a great deal of rain, insomuch that his reservoirs were full of water, and so he was under no necessity of running away. After which, therefore, they made an interruption upon Antigonus’s party, and slew a great many of them, some in open battles, and some in private ambush; nor had they always success in their attempts, for sometimes they were beaten, and ran away. 2. (288) In the meantime Ventidius, the Roman general, was sent out of Syria, to restrain the incursions of the Parthians; and after he had done that, he came into Judea, in pretense indeed to assist Joseph and his party, but in reality to get money of Antigonus; (289) and when he had pitched his camp very near to Jerusalem, as soon as he had got money enough, he went away with the greatest part of his forces; yet still did he leave Silo with some part of them, lest if he had taken them all away, his taking of bribes might have been too openly discovered. Now Antigonus hoped that the Parthians would come again to his assistance, and therefore cultivated a good understanding with Silo in the meantime, lest any interruption should be given to his hopes. 3. (290) Now by this time Herod had sailed out of Italy, and was come to Ptolemais; and as soon as he had gotten together no small army of foreigners, and of his own countrymen, he marched through Galilee against Antigonus, wherein he was assisted by Ventidius and Silo, both whom Dellius, [a person sent by Antony, persuaded to bring Herod into his kingdom]. (291) Now Ventidius was at this time among the cities, and composing the disturbances which had happened by means of the Parthians, as was Silo in Judea corrupted by the bribes that Antigonus had given him; yet was not Herod himself destitute of power, but the number of his forces increased every day as he went along, and all Galilee, with few exceptions joined themselves to him. (292) So he proposed to himself to set about his most necessary enterprise, and that was Masada, in order to deliver his relations from the siege they endured. But still Joppa stood in his way, and hindered his going thither; for it was necessary to take that city first, which was in the enemies’ hands, that when he should go to Jerusalem, no fortress might be left in the enemies’ power behind him. Silo also willingly joined him, as having now a plausible occasion of drawing off his forces [from Jerusalem]; and when the Jews pursued him, and pressed upon him [in his retreat], Herod made an excursion upon them with a small body of his men, and soon put them to flight, and saved Silo when he was in distress. 4. (293) After this, Herod took Joppa, and then made haste to Masada to free his relations. Now, as he was marching, many came in to him; some induced by their friendships to this father, some by the reputation he had already gained himself, and some, in order to repay the benefits they had received from them both; but still what engaged the greatest number on his side, was the hopes from him, when he should be established in his kingdom; so that he had gotten together already an army hard to be conquered. (294) But Antigonus laid an ambush for him as he marched out, in which he did little or no harm to his enemies. However, he easily recovered his relations again that were in Masada, as well as the fortress Ressa, and then marched to Jerusalem, where the soldiers that were with Silo joined themselves to his own, as did many out of the city, from a dread of his power. 5. (295) Now, when he had pitched his camp on the west side of the city, the guards who were there shot their arrows and threw their darts at them, while others ran out in companies, and attacked those in the forefront; but Herod commanded proclamation to be made at the wall, that he was come for the good of the people and the preservation of the city, without any design to be revenged on his open enemies, but to grant oblivion to them, though they had been the most obstinate against him. (296) Now the soldiers that were for Antigonus made a contrary clamor, and did neither permit any body to hear that proclamation, nor to change their party; so Antigonus gave order to his forces to beat the enemy from the walls: accordingly, they soon threw their darts at them from the towers, and put them to flight. 6. (297) And here it was that Silo discovered he had taken bribes; for he set many of the soldiers to clamor about their want of necessaries, and to require their pay, in order to buy themselves food, and to demand that he would lead them into places convenient for their winter quarters; because all the parts about the city were laid waste by the means of Antigonus’s army, which had taken all things away. By this he moved the army, and attempted to get them off the siege; (298) but Herod went to the captains that were under Silo, and to a great many of the soldiers, and begged of them not to leave him, who was sent thither by Caesar and Antony, and the senate; for that he would take care to have their wants supplied that very day. (299) After the making of which entreaty, he went hastily into the country, and brought thither so great an abundance of necessaries, that he cut off all Silo’s pretenses; and, in order to provide that for the following days they should not want supplies, he sent to the people that were about Samaria (which city had joined itself to him) to bring corn, wine, and oil, and cattle to Jericho. (300) When Antigonus heard of this, he sent some of his party with orders to hinder, and lay ambushes for these collectors of corn. This command was obeyed, and a great multitude of armed men were gathered together about Jericho, and lay upon the mountains, to watch those that brought the provisions. (301) Yet was Herod not idle, but took with him ten cohorts, five of them were Romans, and five were Jewish cohorts, together with some mercenary troops intermixed among them, and besides those a few horsemen, and came to Jericho; and when he came he found the city deserted, but that there were five hundred men, with their wives and children, who had taken possession of the tops of the mountains; these he took, and dismissed them, (302) while the Romans fell upon the rest of the city, and plundered it, having found the houses full of all sorts of good things. So the king left a garrison at Jericho, and came back, and sent the Roman army into those cities which were come over to him, to take their winter quarters there, viz., into Judea [or Idumea], and Galilee, and Samaria. Antigonus also, by bribes, obtained of Silo to let a part of his army be received at Lydda, as a compliment to Antonius. CHAPTER 16 HEROD TAKES SEPPHORIS, AND SUBDUES THE ROBBERS THAT WERE IN THE CAVES; HE AFTER THAT AVENGES HIMSELF UPON MACHERAS, AS UPON AS ENEMY OF HIS, AND GOES TO ANTONY, AS HE WAS BESIEGING SAMOSATA 1. (303) So the Romans lived in plenty of all things, and rested from war. However, Herod did not lie at rest, but seized upon Idumea, and kept it, with two thousand footmen, and four hundred horsemen; and this he did by sending his brother Joseph thither, that no innovation might be made by Antigonus. He also removed his mother, and all his relations, who had been in Masada, to Samaria; and when he had settled them securely, he marched to take the remaining parts of Galiliee, and to drive away the garrisons placed there by Antigonus. 2. (304) But when Herod had reached Sepphoris, in a very great snow, he took the city without any difficulty, the guards that should have kept it flying away before it was assaulted; where he gave an opportunity to his followers that had been in distress to refresh themselves, there being in that city a great abundance of necessaries. After which he hasted away to the robbers that were in the caves, who overran a great part of the country, and did as great mischief to its inhabitants as a war itself could have done. (305) Accordingly, he sent beforehand three cohorts of footmen, and one troop of horsemen, to the village Arbela, and came himself forty days afterwards with the rest of his forces. Yet were not the enemy affrighted at his assault, but met him in arms; for their skill was that of warriors, but their boldness was the boldness of robbers: (306) when, therefore, it came to a pitched battle, they put to flight Herod’s left wing with their right one: but Herod, wheeling about on the sudden from his own right wing, came to their assistance, and both made his own left wing return back from its flight, and fell upon the pursuers, and cooled their courage, till they could not bear the attempts that were made directly upon them, and so turned back and ran away. 3. (307) But Herod followed them, and slew them as he followed them and destroyed a great part of them, till those that remained were scattered beyond the river [Jordan]; and Galilee was freed from the terrors they had been under, excepting from those that remained, and lay concealed in caves, which required longer time ere they could be conquered. (308) In order to which, Herod, in the first place, distributed the fruits of their former labors to the soldiers, and gave every one of them a hundred and fifty drachmae of silver, and a great deal more to their commanders, and sent them into their winter quarters. He also sent to his youngest brother Pheroras, to take care of a good market for them, where they might buy themselves provisions, and to built a wall about Alexandrium; who took care of both those injunctions accordingly. 4. (309) In the meantime Antony abode at Athens, while Ventidius called for Silo and Herod to come to the war against the Parthians, but ordered them first to settle the affairs of Judea: so Herod willingly dismissed Silo to go to Ventidius; but he made an expedition himself against those that lay in the caves. (310) Now these caves were in the precipices of craggy mountains, and could not be come at from any side, since they had only some winding pathways, very narrow, by which they got up to them; but the rock that lay on their front had beneath it valleys of a vast depth, and of an almost perpendicular declivity; insomuch that the king was doubtful for a long time what to do, by reason of a kind of impossibility there was of attacking the place. Yet did he at length make use of a contrivance that was subject to the utmost hazard; (311) for he let down the most hardy of his men in chests, and set them at the mouths of the dens. Now these men slew the robbers and their families, and when they made resistance, they sent in fire upon them, [and burnt them]; and as Herod was desirous of saving some of them, he had proclamation made, that they should come and deliver themselves up to him; but not one of them came willingly to him; and of those that were compelled to come, many preferred death to captivity. (312) And here a certain old man, the father of seven children, whose children, together with their mother, desired him to give them leave to go out, upon the assurance and right hand that was offered them, slew them after the following manner:—He ordered every one of them to go out, while he stood himself at the cave’s mouth, and slew that son of his perpetually who went out. Herod was near enough to see this sight, and his bowels of compassion were moved at it, and he stretched out his right hand to the old man, and besought him to spare his children; (313) yet did not he relent at all upon what he said, but over and above reproached Herod on the lowness of his descent, and slew his wife as well as his children, and when he had thrown their dead bodies down the precipice, he at last threw himself down after them. 5. (314) By this means Herod subdued these caves, and the robbers that were in them. He then left there a part of his army, as many as he thought sufficient to prevent any sedition, and made Ptolemy their general, and returned to Samaria: he led also with him three thousand armed footmen, and six hundred horsemen, against Antigonus. (315) Now here those that used to raise tumults in Galilee, having liberty so to do upon his departure, fell unexpectedly upon Ptolemy, the general of his forces, and slew him: they also laid the country waste, and then retired to the bogs, and to places not easily to be found; (316) but when Herod was informed of this insurrection, he came to the assistance of the country immediately, and destroyed a great number of the seditious, and raised the sieges of all those fortresses they had besieged; he also exacted the tribute of a hundred talents of his enemies, as a penalty for the mutations they had made in the country. 6. (317) By this time, (the Parthians being already driven out of the country, and Pacorus slain) Ventidius, by Antony’s command, sent a thousand horsemen, and two legions, as auxiliaries to Herod, against Antigonus. Now Antigonus besought Macheras, who was their general, by letter, to come to his assistance, and made a great many mournful complaints about Herod’s violence, and about the injuries he did to the kingdom; and promised to give him money for such his assistance; (318) but he complied not with his invitation to betray his trust, for he did not condemn him that sent him, especially while Herod gave him more money [than the other offered]. So he pretended friendship to Antigonus, but came as a spy to discover his affairs, although he did not herein comply with Herod, who dissuaded him from so doing; (319) but Antigonus perceived what his intentions were beforehand, and excluded him out of the city, and defended himself against him as against an enemy, from the walls; till Macheras was ashamed of what he had done, and retired to Emmaus to Herod; and, as he was in a rage at his disappointment, he slew all the Jews whom he met with, without sparing those that were for Herod, but using them all as if they were for Antigonus. 7. (320) Hereupon Herod was very angry at him, and was going to fight against Macheras as his enemy; but he restrained his indignation, and marched to Antony to accuse Macheras of mal-administration; but Macheras was made sensible of his offences, and followed after the king immediately, and earnestly begged and obtained that he would be reconciled to him. (321) However, Herod did not desist from his resolution of going to Antony; but when he heard that he was besieging Samosata with a great army, which is a strong city near to Euphrates, he made the greater haste; as observing that this was a proper opportunity for showing at once his courage, and for doing what would greatly oblige Antony. (322) Indeed when he came he soon made an end of that siege and slew a great number of the barbarians, and took from them a large prey; insomuch that Antony who admired his courage formerly, did now admire it still more. Accordingly he heaped many more honors upon him, and gave him more assured hopes that he should gain his kingdom; and now king Antiochus was forced to deliver up Samosata. CHAPTER 17 THE DEATH OF JOSEPH [HEROD’S BROTHER], WHICH HAD BEEN SIGNIFIED TO HEROD IN DREAMS. HOW HEROD WAS PRESERVED TWICE, AFTER A WONDERFUL MANNER. HE CUTS OFF THE HEAD OF PAPPUS WHO WAS THE MURDERER OF HIS BROTHER, AND SENDS THAT HEAD TO [HIS OTHER BROTHER] PHERORAS, AND IN NO LONG TIME HE BESIEGES JERUSALEM, AND MARRIES MARIAMNE 1. (323) In the meantime Herod’s affairs in Judea were in an ill state. He had left his brother Joseph with full power, but had charged him to make no attempts against Antigonus till his return; for that Macheras would not be such an assistant as he could depend on, as it appeared by what he had done already; but as soon as Joseph heard that his brother was at a very great distance, he neglected the charge he had received, and marched towards Jericho with five cohorts, which Macheras sent with him. This movement was intended for seizing on the corn, as it was now in the midst of summer; (324) but when his enemies attacked him in the mountains, and in places which were difficult to pass, he was both killed himself, as he was very bravely fighting in the battle, and the entire Roman cohorts were destroyed; for these cohorts were new-raised men, gathered out of Syria, and there was no mixture of those called veteran soldiers among them, who might have supported those that were unskillful in war. 2. (325) This victory was not sufficient for Antigonus; but he proceeded to that degree of rage, as to treat the dead body of Joseph barbarously; for when he had gotten possession of the bodies of those that were slain, he cut off his head, although his brother Pheroras would have given fifty talents as a price of redemption for it. (326) And now the affairs of Galilee were put into such disorder after this victory of Antigonus, that those of Antigonus’s party brought the principal men that were on Herod’s side to the lake, and there drowned them. There was a great change made also in Idumea, where Macheras was building a wall about one of the fortresses, that was called Gittha. (327) But Herod had not yet been informed of these things; for after the taking of Samosata, and when Antony had set Sossius over the affairs of Syria, and given him orders to assist Herod against Antigonus, he departed into Egypt. But Sossius sent two legions before him into Judea, to assist Herod, and followed himself soon after with the rest of his army. 3. (328) Now when Herod was at Daphne, by Antioch, he had some dreams which clearly foreboded his brother’s death; and as he leaped out of his bed in a disturbed manner, there came messengers that acquainted him with that calamity. So when he had lamented this misfortune for a while, he put off the main part of his mourning, and made haste to march against his enemies; (329) and when he had performed a march that was above his strength, and was gone as far as Libanus, he got eight hundred men of those that lived near to that mountain, as his assistants, and joined with them one Roman legion, with which, before it was day, he made an irruption into Galilee, and met his enemies, and drove them back to the place which they had left. (330) He also made an immediate and continued attack upon the fortress. Yet was he forced, by a most terrible storm, to pitch his camp in the neighboring village before he could take it. But when, after a few days’ time the second legion, that came from Antony, joined themselves to him, the enemy were affrighted at his power, and left their fortifications in the nighttime. 4. (331) After this he marched through Jericho, as making what haste he could to be avenged on his brother’s murderers; where happened to him a providential sign, out of which when he had unexpectedly escaped, he had the reputation of being very dear to God; for that evening there feasted with him many of the principal men; and after that feast was over, and all the guests were gone out, the house fell down immediately. (332) And as he judged this to be a common signal of what dangers he should undergo, and how he should escape them in the war that he was going about, he in the morning set forward with his army, when about six thousand of his enemies came running down from the mountains, and began to fight with those in his forefront; yet durst they not be so very bold as to engage the Romans hand to hand, but threw stones and darts at them at a distance, by which means they wounded a considerable number, in which action Herod’s own side was wounded with a dart. 5. (333) Now as Antigonus had a mind to appear to exceed Herod not only in the courage but in the number of his men, he sent Pappus, one of his companions, with an army against Samaria, (334) whose fortune it was to oppose Macheras. But Herod overran the enemies’ country, and demolished five little cities, and destroyed two thousand men that were in them; and burned their houses, and then returned to his camp; but his headquarters were at the village called Cana. 6. (335) Now a great multitude of Jews resorted to him every day, both out of Jericho and the other parts of the country. Some were moved so to do out of their hatred to Antigonus, and some out of regard to the glorious actions Herod had done; but others were led by an unreasonable desire of change; so he fell upon them immediately. As for Pappus and his party, they were not terrified either at their number or at their zeal, but marched out with great alacrity to fight them; and it came to a close fight. (336) Now other parts of their army made resistance for a while; but Herod, running the utmost hazard, out of the rage he was in at the murder of his brother, that he might be avenged on those that had been the authors of it, soon beat those that opposed him; and, after he had beaten them, he always turned his force against those that stood to it still, and pursued them all; (337) so that a great slaughter was made, while some were forced back into that village whence they came out; he also pressed hard upon the hindermost, and slew a vast number of them; he also fell into the village with the enemy, where every house was filled with armed men, and the upper rooms were crowded above with soldiers for their defense; (338) and when he had beaten those that were on the outside, he pulled the houses to pieces, and plucked out those that were within; upon many he had the roofs shaken that down, whereby they perished by heaps; and as for those that fled out of the ruins, the soldiers received them with their swords in their hands; and the multitude of those slain and lying in heaps was so great, that the conquerors could not pass along the roads. (339) Now the enemy could not bear this blow, so that when the multitude of them which was gathered together, saw that those in the village were slain they dispersed themselves and fled away; upon the confidence of which victory, Herod had marched immediately to Jerusalem unless he had been hindered by the depth of winter’s [coming on]. This was the impediment that lay in the way of this his entire glorious progress and was what hindered Antigonus from being now conquered, who was already disposed to forsake the city. 7. (340) Now when at the evening Herod had already dismissed his friends to refresh themselves after their fatigue, and when he was gone himself, while he was still hot in his armor, like a common soldier, to bathe himself, and had but one servant that attended him, and before he was gotten into the bath, one of the enemies met him in the face with a sword in his hand, and then a second, and then a third, after that more of them; (341) these were men who had run away out of the battle into the bath in their armor, and they had lain there for some time in great terror, and in privacy; and when they saw the king, they trembled for fear, and ran by him in a fright, although he was naked, and endeavored to get off the public road. Now there was by chance nobody else at hand that might seize upon these men; and for Herod, he was contented to have come to no harm himself, so that they all got away in safety. 8. (342) But on the next day Herod had Pappus’s head cut off, who was the general for Antigonus, and was slain in the battle, and sent it to his brother Pheroras, by way of punishment for their slain brother; for he was the man that slew Joseph. (343) Now as winter was going off, Herod marched to Jerusalem, and brought his army to the wall of it; this was the third year since he had been made king at Rome; so he pitched his camp before the temple, for on that side it might be besieged; and there it was that Pompey took the city. (344) So he parted the work among the army, and demolished the suburbs, and raised three banks, and left the most laborious of his acquaintance at the works. But he went himself to Samaria, to take the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, to wife, who had been betrothed to him before, as we have already said; and thus he accomplished this by the bye, during the siege of the city, for he had his enemies in great contempt already. 9. (345) When he had thus married Mariamne, he came back to Jerusalem with a greater army. Sosius also joined him with a large army, both of horsemen and footmen, which he sent before him through the midland parts, while he marched himself along Phoenicia; (346) and when the whole army was gotten together, which were eleven regiments of footmen, and six thousand horsemen, besides the Syrian auxiliaries, which were no small part of the army, they pitched their camp near to the north wall. Herod’s dependence was upon the decree of the senate, by which he was made king; and Sossius relied upon Antony, who sent the army that was under him to Herod’s assistance. CHAPTER 18 HOW HEROD AND SOSSIUS TOOK JERUSALEM BY FORCE; AND WHAT DEATH ANTIGONUS CAME TO. ALSO, CONCERNING CLEOPATRA’S AVARICIOUS TEMPER 1. (347) Now the multitude of the Jews that were in the city were divided into several factions, for the people that crowded about the temple, being the weaker part of them, gave it out that, as the times were, he was the happiest and most religious man who should die first. But as to the more bold and hardy men, they got together in bodies, and fell a robbing others after various manners, and these particularly plundered the places that were about the city, and this because there was no food left either for the horses or the men; (348) yet some of the warlike men, who were used to fight regularly, were appointed to defend the city during the siege, and these drove those that raised the banks away from the walls; and these were always inventing one engine or another to be a hindrance to the engines of the enemy; nor had they so much success any way as in the mines underground. 2. (349) Now, as for the robberies which were committed, the king contrived that ambushes should be so laid, that they might restrain their excursions; and as for the want of provisions, he provided that they should be brought to them from great distances. He was also too hard for the Jews, by the Roman’s skill in the art of war: (350) although they were bold to the utmost degree, now they durst not come to a plain battle with the Romans, which was certain death; but through their mines under ground they would appear in the midst of them on the sudden, and before they could batter down one wall, they built them another in its stead; and, to sum up all at once, they did not show any want either of painstaking or contrivances, as having resolved to hold out to the very last. (351) Indeed, though they had so great an army lying round about them, they bore a siege of five months, till some of Herod’s chosen men ventured to get upon the wall, and fell into the city, as did Sosius’s centurions after them; and now the first of all seized upon what was about the temple; and upon the pouring in of the army, there was slaughter of vast multitudes everywhere, by reason of the rage the Romans were in at the length of the siege, and by reason that the Jews that were about Herod earnestly endeavored that none of their adversaries might remain; (352) so they were cut to pieces by great multitudes, and as they were crowded together in narrow streets, and in houses, or were running away to the temple; nor was there any mercy shown either to infants, or to the aged, or to the weaker sex; insomuch, that although the king sent about and desired them to spare the people, nobody could be persuaded to withhold their right hand from slaughter, but they slew people of all ages, like madmen. (353) Then it was Antigonus, without any regard to his former or to his present fortune, came down from the citadel and fell down at Sossius’s feet, who, without pitying him at all, upon the change in his condition, laughed at him beyond measure, and called him Antigonia. Yet did he not treat him like a woman, or let him go free, but put him into bonds and kept him in custody. 3. (354) But Herod’s concern at present, now he had gotten his enemies under his power, was to restrain the zeal of his foreign auxiliaries; for the multitude of the strange people were very eager to see the temple, and what was sacred in the holy house itself; but the king endeavored to restrain them partly by his exhortations, partly by his threatenings, nay, partly by force, as thinking the victory worse than a defeat to him, if anything that ought not to be seen were seen by them. (355) He also forbade, at the same time, the spoiling of the city, asking Sossius in the most earnest manner, whether the Romans, by thus emptying the city of money and men, had a mind to leave him king of a desert,—and told him, that he judged the dominion of the habitable earth too small a compensation for the slaughter of so many citizens. (356) And when Sossius said, that it was but just to allow the soldiers this plunder, as a reward for what they suffered during the siege, Herod made answer, that he would give every one of the soldiers a reward out of his own money. So he purchased the deliverance of his country, and performed his promises to them, and made presents after a magnificent manner to each soldier, and proportionably to their commanders, and with a most royal bounty to Sossius and himself, whereby nobody went away but in a wealthy condition. (357) Hereupon Sossius dedicated a crown of gold to God, and then went away from Jerusalem, leading Antigonus away in bonds to Antony; then did the ax bring him to his end, who still had a fond desire of life, and some frigid hopes of it to the last; but by his cowardly behavior well deserved to die by it.” (Josephus Wars 1.250–357)
By Steve Rudd 2017: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections
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Jesus your messiah is waiting for you to come home! |
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Why not worship with a first century New Testament church near you, that has the same look and feel as the Jewish Synagogue in your own home town. As a Jew, you will find the transition as easy today as it was for the tens of thousands of your forefathers living in Jerusalem 2000 years ago when they believed in Jesus the Nazarene (the branch) as their messiah. It’s time to come home! |
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.