HOW HEROD UPON HIS MAKING ARISTOBULUS HIGH PRIEST TOOK CARE THAT HE SHOULD BE MURDERED IN A LITTLE TIME; AND WHAT APOLOGY HE MADE TO ANTONY ABOUT ARISTOBULUS; AS ALSO CONCERNING JOSEPH AND MARIAMNE. FJAJ 15.14
1. SO king Herod immediately took the high priesthood away from Ananelus,
who, as we said before, was not of this country, but one of those Jews
that had been carried captive beyond Euphrates; for there were not a few
ten thousands of this people that had been carried captives, and dwelt
about Babylonia, whence Ananelus came
He was one of the stock of the high
priests (4)
When Josephus says here that this Ananelus, the new high priest, was "of
the stock of the high priests," and since he had been just telling
us that he was a priest of an obscure family or character, ch. 2. sect.
4, it is not at all probable that he could so soon say that he was "of
the stock of the high priests." However, Josephus here makes a remarkable
observation, that this Ananelus was the third that was ever unjustly and
wickedly turned out of the high priesthood by the civil power, no king
or governor having ventured to do so, that Josephus knew of, but that heathen
tyrant and persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes; that barbarous parricide Aristobulus,
the first that took royal authority among the Maccabees; and this tyrant
king Herod the Great, although afterward that infamous practice became
frequent, till the very destruction of Jerusalem, when the office of high
priesthood was at an end.
and had been of old a particular friend of Herod; and when he was first
made king, he conferred that dignity upon him, and now put him out of it
again, in order to quiet the troubles in his family, though what he did
was plainly unlawful, for at no other time [of old] was any one that had
once been in that dignity deprived of it
It was Antiochus Epiphanes who
first brake that law, and deprived Jesus, and made his brother Onias high
priest in his stead
Aristobulus was the second that did so, and took that
dignity from his brother [Hyrcanus]; and this Herod was the third, who
took that high office away [from Arianflus], and gave it to this young
man, Aristobulus, in his stead. FJAJ 15.15
2. And now Herod seemed to have healed the divisions in his family;
yet was he not without suspicion, as is frequently the case, of people
seeming to be reconciled to one another, but thought that, as Alexandra
had already made attempts tending to innovations, so did he fear that she
would go on therein, if she found a fit opportunity for so doing; so he
gave a command that she should dwell in the palace, and meddle with no
public affairs
Her guards also were so careful, that nothing she did in
private life every day was concealed
All these hardships put her out of
patience, by little and little and she began to hate Herod; for as she
had the pride of a woman to the utmost degree, she had great indignation
at this suspicious guard that was about her, as desirous rather to undergo
any thing that could befall her, than to be deprived of her liberty of
speech, and, under the notion of an honorary guard, to live in a state
of slavery and terror
She therefore sent to Cleopatra, and made a long
complaint of the circumstances she was in, and entreated her to do her
utmost for her assistance
Cleopatra hereupon advised her to take her son
with her, and come away immediately to her into Egypt
This advice pleased
her; and she had this contrivance for getting away: She got two coffins
made, as if they were to carry away two dead bodies and put herself into
one, and her son into the other and gave orders to such of her servants
as knew of her intentions to carry them away in the night time
Now their
road was to be thence to the sea-side and there was a ship ready to carry
them into Egypt
Now Aesop, one of her servants, happened to fall upon
Sabion, one of her friends, and spake of this matter to him, as thinking
he had known of it before
When Sabion knew this, (who had formerly been
an enemy of Herod, and been esteemed one of those that laid snares for
and gave the poison to [his father] Antipater,) he expected that this discovery
would change Herod's hatred into kindness; so he told the king of this
private stratagem of Alexandra: whereupon be suffered her to proceed to
the execution of her project, and caught her in the very fact; but still
he passed by her offense; and though he had a great mind to do it, he durst
not inflict any thing that was severe upon her, for he knew that Cleopatra
would not bear that he should have her accused, on account of her hatred
to him; but made a show as if it were rather the generosity of his soul,
and his great moderation, that made him forgive them
However, he fully
proposed to himself to put this young man out of the way, by one means
or other; but he thought he might in probability be better concealed in
doing it, if he did it not presently, nor immediately after what had lately
happened. FJAJ 15.16
3. And now, upon the approach of the feast of tabernacles, which is
a festival very much observed among us, he let those days pass over, and
both he and the rest of the people were therein very merry; yet did the
envy which at this time arose in him cause him to make haste to do what
lie was about, and provoke him to it; for when this youth Aristobulus,
who was now in the seventeenth year of his age, went up to the altar, according
to the law, to offer the sacrifices, and this with the ornaments of his
high priesthood, and when he performed the sacred offices, (5)
This entirely confutes the Talmudists, who pretend that no one under twenty
years of age could officiate as high priest among the Jews.
he seemed to be exceedingly comely, and taller than men usually were at
that age, and to exhibit in his countenance a great deal of that high family
he was sprung from, - a warm zeal and affection towards him appeared among
the people, and the memory of the actions of his grandfather Aristobulus
was fresh in their minds; and their affections got so far the mastery of
them, that they could not forbear to show their inclinations to him
They
at once rejoiced and were confounded, and mingled with good wishes their
joyful acclamations which they made to him, till the good-will of the multitude
was made too evident; and they more rashly proclaimed the happiness they
had received from his family than was fit under a monarchy to have done.
Upon all this, Herod resolved to complete what he had intended against
the young man
When therefore the festival was over, and he was feasting
at Jericho (6)
A Hebrew chronicle, cited by Reland, says this drowning was at Jordan,
not at Jericho, and this even when he quote Josephus. I suspect the transcriber
of the Hebrew chronicle mistook the name, and wrote Jordan for Jericho.
with Alexandra, who entertained them there, he was then very pleasant with
the young man, and drew him into a lonely place, and at the same time played
with him in a juvenile and ludicrous manner
Now the nature of that place
was hotter than ordinary; so they went out in a body, and of a sudden,
and in a vein of madness; and as they stood by the fish-ponds, of which
there were large ones about the house, they went to cool themselves [by
bathing], because it was in the midst of a hot day
At first they were
only spectators of Herod's servants and acquaintance as they were swimming;
but after a while, the young man, at the instigation of Herod, went into
the water among them, while such of Herod's acquaintance, as he had appointed
to do it, dipped him as he was swimming, and plunged him under water, in
the dark of the evening, as if it had been done in sport only; nor did
they desist till he was entirely suffocated
And thus was Aristobulus murdered,
having lived no more in all than eighteen years, (7)
The reading of one of Josephus's Greek MSS. seems here to be right, that
Aristobulus was "not eighteen years old" when he was drowned,
for he was not seventeen when he was made high priest, ch. 2. sect. 6,
ch. 3. sect. 3, and he continued in that office but one year, as in the
place before us.
and kept the high priesthood one year only; which high priesthood Ananelus
now recovered again. FJAJ 15.17
4. When this sad accident was told the women, their joy was soon changed
to lamentation, at the sight of the dead body that lay before them, and
their sorrow was immoderate
The city also [of Jerusalem], upon the spreading
of this news, were in very great grief, every family looking on this calamity
as if it had not belonged to another, but that one of themselves was slain.
But Alexandra was more deeply affected, upon her knowledge that he had
been destroyed [on purpose]
Her sorrow was greater than that of others,
by her knowing how the murder was committed; but she was under the necessity
of bearing up under it, out of her prospect of a greater mischief that
might otherwise follow; and she oftentimes came to an inclination to kill
herself with her own hand, but still she restrained herself, in hopes she
might live long enough to revenge the unjust murder thus privately committed;
nay, she further resolved to endeavor to live longer, and to give no occasion
to think she suspected that her son was slain on purpose, and supposed
that she might thereby be in a capacity of revenging it at a proper opportunity.
Thus did she restrain herself, that she might not be noted for entertaining
any such suspicion
However, Herod endeavored that none abroad should believe
that the child's death was caused by any design of his; and for this purpose
he did not only use the ordinary signs of sorrow, but fell into tears also,
and exhibited a real confusion of soul; and perhaps his affections were
overcome on this occasion, when he saw the child's countenance so young
and so beautiful, although his death was supposed to tend to his own security.
So far at least this grief served as to make some apology for him; and
as for his funeral, that he took care should be very magnificent, by making
great preparation for a sepulcher to lay his body in, and providing a great
quantity of spices, and burying many ornaments together with him, till
the very women, who were in such deep sorrow, were astonished at it, and
received in this way some consolation. FJAJ 15.18
5. However, no such things could overcome Alexandra's grief; but the
remembrance of this miserable case made her sorrow, both deep and obstinate.
Accordingly, she wrote an account of this treacherous scene to Cleopatra,
and how her son was murdered; but Cleopatra, as she had formerly been desirous
to give her what satisfaction she could, and commiserating Alexandra's
misfortunes, made the case her own, and would not let Antony be quiet,
but excited him to punish the child's murder; for that it was an unworthy
thing that Herod, who had been by him made king of a kingdom that no way
belonged to him, should be guilty of such horrid crimes against those that
were of the royal blood in reality
Antony was persuaded by these arguments;
and when he came to Laodicea, he sent and commanded Herod to come and make
his defense, as to what he had done to Aristobulus, for that such a treacherous
design was not well done, if he had any hand in it
Herod was now in fear,
both of the accusation, and of Cleopatra's ill-will to him, which was such
that she was ever endeavoring to make Antony hate him
He therefore determined
to obey his summons, for he had no possible way to avoid it
So he left
his uncle Joseph procurator for his government, and for the public affairs,
and gave him a private charge, that if Antony should kill him, he also
should kill Mariamne immediately; for that he had a tender affection for
this his wife, and was afraid of the injury that should be offered him,
if, after his death, she, for her beauty, should be engaged to some other
man: but his intimation was nothing but this at the bottom, that Antony
had fallen in love with her, when he had formerly heard somewhat of her
beauty
So when Herod had given Joseph this charge, and had indeed no sure
hopes of escaping with his life, he went away to Antony. FJAJ 15.19
6. But as Joseph was administering the public affairs of the kingdom,
and for that reason was very frequently with Mariamne, both because his
business required it, and because of the respects he ought to pay to the
queen, he frequently let himself into discourses about Herod's kindness,
and great affection towards her; and when the women, especially Alexandra,
used to turn his discourses into feminine raillery, Joseph was so over-desirous
to demonstrate the kings inclinations, that he proceeded so far as to mention
the charge he had received, and thence drew his demonstration, that Herod
was not able to live without her; and that if he should come to any ill
end, he could not endure a separation from her, even after he was dead.
Thus spake Joseph
But the women, as was natural, did not take this to
be an instance of Herod's strong affection for them, but of his severe
usage of them, that they could not escape destruction, nor a tyrannical
death, even when he was dead himself
And this saying [of Joseph] was a
foundation for the women's severe suspicions about him afterwards. FJAJ 15.20
7. At this time a report went about the city Jerusalem among Herod's
enemies, that Antony had tortured Herod, and put him to death
This report,
as is natural, disturbed those that were about the palace, but chiefly
the women; upon which Alexandra endeavored to persuade Joseph to go out
of the palace, and fly away with them to the ensigns of the Roman legion,
which then lay encamped about the city, as a guard to the kingdom, under
the command of Julius; for that by this means, if any disturbance should
happen about the palace, they should be in greater security, as having
the Romans favorable to them; and that besides, they hoped to obtain the
highest authority, if Antony did but once see Mariamne, by whose means
they should recover the kingdom, and want nothing which was reasonable
for them to hope for, because of their royal extraction. FJAJ 15.21
8. But as they were in the midst of these deliberations, letters were
brought from Herod about all his affairs, and proved contrary to the report,
and of what they before expected; for when he was come to Antony, he soon
recovered his interest with him, by the presents he made him, which he
had brought with him from Jerusalem; and he soon induced him, upon discoursing
with him, to leave off his indignation at him, so that Cleopatra's persuasions
had less force than the arguments and presents he brought to regain his
friendship; for Antony said that it was not good to require an account
of a king, as to the affairs of his government, for at this rate he could
be no king at all, but that those who had given him that authority ought
to permit him to make use of it
He also said the same things to Cleopatra,
that it would be best for her not busily to meddle with the acts of the
king's government
Herod wrote an account of these things, and enlarged
upon the other honors which he had received from Antony; how he sat by
him at his hearing causes, and took his diet with him every day, and that
he enjoyed those favors from him, notwithstanding the reproaches that Cleopatra
so severely laid against him, who having a great desire of his country,
and earnestly entreating Antony that the kingdom might be given to her,
labored with her utmost diligence to have him out of the way; but that
he still found Antony just to him, and had no longer any apprehensions
of hard treatment from him; and that he was soon upon his return, with
a firmer additional assurance of his favor to him, in his reigning and
managing public affairs; and that there was no longer any hope for Cleopatra's
covetous temper, since Antony had given her Celesyria instead of what she
had desired; by which means he had at once pacified her, and got clear
of the entreaties which she made him to have Judea bestowed upon her. FJAJ 15.22
9. When these letters were brought, the women left off their attempt
for flying to the Romans, which they thought of while Herod was supposed
to be dead; yet was not that purpose of theirs a secret; but when the king
had conducted Antony on his way against the Partnians, he returned to Judea,
when both his sister Salome and his mother informed him of Alexandra's
intentions
Salome also added somewhat further against Joseph, though it
was no more than a calumny, that he had often had criminal conversation
with Mariamne
The reason of her saying so was this, that she for a long
time bare her ill-will; for when they had differences with one another,
Mariamne took great freedoms, and reproached the rest for the meanness
of their birth
But Herod, whose affection to Mariamne was always very
warm, was presently disturbed at this, and could not bear the torments
of jealousy, but was still restrained from doing any rash thing to her
by the love he had for her; yet did his vehement affection and jealousy
together make him ask Mariamne by herself about this matter of Joseph;
but she denied it upon her oath, and said all that an innocent woman could
possibly say in her own defense; so that by little and little the king
was prevailed upon to drop the suspicion, and left off his anger at her;
and being overcome with his passion for his wife, he made an apology to
her for having seemed to believe what he had heard about her, and returned
her a great many acknowledgments of her modest behavior, and professed
the extraordinary affection and kindness he had for her, till at last,
as is usual between lovers, they both fell into tears, and embraced one
another with a most tender affection
But as the king gave more and more
assurances of his belief of her fidelity, and endeavored to draw her to
a like confidence in him, Marianme said, Yet was not that command thou
gavest, that if any harm came to thee from Antony, I, who had been no occasion
of it, should perish with thee, a sign of thy love to me?" When these
words were fallen from her, the king was shocked at them, and presently
let her go out of his arms, and cried out, and tore his hair with his own
hands, and said, that "now he had an evident demonstration that Joseph
had had criminal conversation with his wife; for that he would never have
uttered what he had told him alone by himself, unless there had been such
a great familiarity and firm confidence between them
And while he was
in this passion he had like to have killed his wife; but being still overborne
by his love to her, he restrained this his passion, though not without
a lasting grief and disquietness of mind
However, he gave order to slay
Joseph, without permitting him to come into his sight; and as for Alexandra,
he bound her, and kept her in custody, as the cause of all this mischief. FJAJ 15.23