HOW HEROD SLEW SOHEMUS AND MARIAMNE AND AFTERWARD ALEXANDRA AND COSTOBARUS, AND HIS MOST INTIMATE FRIENDS, AND AT LAST THE SONS OF BABBAS ALSO. FJAJ 15.44
1. HOWEVER, when he came into his kingdom again, he found his house
all in disorder, and his wife Mariamne and her mother Alexandra very uneasy;
for as they supposed (what was easy to be supposed) that they were not
put into that fortress [Alexandrium] for the security of their persons,
but as into a garrison for their imprisonment, and that they had no power
over any thing, either of others or of their own affairs, they were very
uneasy; and Mariamne supposing that the king's love to her was but hypocritical,
and rather pretended (as advantageous to himself) than real, she looked
upon it as fallacious
She also was grieved that he would not allow her
any hopes of surviving him, if he should come to any harm himself
She
also recollected what commands he had formerly given to Joseph, insomuch
that she endeavored to please her keepers, and especially Sohemus, as well
apprized how all was in his power
And at the first Sohemus was faithful
to Herod, and neglected none of the things he had given him in charge;
but when the women, by kind words and liberal presents, had gained his
affections over to them, he was by degrees overcome, and at length discovered
to them all the king's injunctions, and this on that account principally,
that he did not so much as hope he would come back with the same authority
he had before; so that he thought he should both escape any danger from
him, mid supposed that he did hereby much gratify the women, who were likely
not to be overlooked in the settling of the government; nay, that they
would be able to make him abundant recompense, since they must either reign
themselves, or be very near to him that should reign
He had a further
ground of hope also, that though Herod should have all the success he could
wish for, and should return again, he could not contradict his wife in
what she desired, for he knew that the king's fondness for his wife was
inexpressible
These were the motives that drew Sohemus to discover what
injunctions had been given him
So Mariamne was greatly displeased to hear
that there was no end of the dangers she was under from Herod, and was
greatly uneasy at it, and wished that he might obtain no favors [from Caesar],
and esteemed it almost an insupportable task to live with him any longer;
and this she afterward openly declared, without concealing her resentment. FJAJ 15.45
2. And now Herod sailed home with joy, at the unexpected good success
he had had; and went first of all, as was proper, to this his wife, and
told her, and her only, the good news, as preferring her before the rest,
on account of his fondness for her, and the intimacy there had been between
them, and saluted her; but so it happened, that as he told her of the good
success he had had, she was so far from rejoicing at it, that she rather
was sorry for it; nor was she able to conceal her resentments, but, depending
on her dignity, and the nobility of her birth, in return for his salutations,
she gave a groan, and declared evidently that she rather grieved than rejoiced
at his success, and this till Herod was disturbed at her, as affording
him, not only marks of her suspicion, but evident signs of her dissatisfaction.
This much troubled him, to see that this surprising hatred of his wife
to him was not concealed, but open; and he took this so ill, and yet was
so unable to bear it, on account of the fondness he had for her, that he
could not continue long in any one mind, but sometimes was angry at her,
and sometimes reconciled himself to her; but by always changing one passion
for another, he was still in great uncertainty, and thus was he entangled
between hatred and love, and was frequently disposed to inflict punishment
on her for her insolence towards him; but being deeply in love with her
in his soul, he was not able to get quit of this woman
In short, as he
would gladly have her punished, so was he afraid lest, ere he were aware,
he should, by putting her to death, bring a heavier punishment upon himself
at the same time. FJAJ 15.46
3. When Herod's sister and mother perceived that he was in this temper
with regard to Mariamne they thought they had now got an excellent opportunity
to exercise their hatred against her and provoked Herod to wrath by telling
him, such long stories and calumnies about her, as might at once excite
his hatred and his jealousy
Now, though he willingly enough heard their
words, yet had not he courage enough to do any thing to her as if he believed
them; but still he became worse and worse disposed to her, and these ill
passions were more and more inflamed on both sides, while she did not hide
her disposition towards him, and he turned his love to her into wrath against
her
But when he was just going to put this matter past all remedy, he
heard the news that Caesar was the victor in the war, and that Antony and
Cleopatra were both dead, and that he had conquered Egypt; whereupon he
made haste to go to meet Caesar, and left the affairs of his family in
their present state
However, Mariamne recommended Sohemus to him, as he
was setting out on his journey, and professed that she owed him thanks
for the care he had taken of her, and asked of the king for him a place
in the government; upon which an honorable employment was bestowed upon
him accordingly
Now when Herod was come into Egypt, he was introduced
to Caesar with great freedom, as already a friend of his, and received
very great favors from him; for he made him a present of those four hundred
Galatians who had been Cleopatra's guards, and restored that country to
him again, which, by her means, had been taken away from him
He also added
to his kingdom Gadara, Hippos, and Samaria; and, besides those, the maritime
cities, Gaza, and Anthedon, and Joppa, and Strato's Tower. FJAJ 15.47
4. Upon these new acquisitions, he grew more magnificent, and conducted
Caesar as far as Antioch; but upon his return, as much as his prosperity
was augmented by the foreign additions that had been made him, so much
the greater were the distresses that came upon him in his own family, and
chiefly in the affair of his wife, wherein he formerly appeared to have
been most of all fortunate; for the affection he had for Mariamne was no
way inferior to the affections of such as are on that account celebrated
in history, and this very justly
As for her, she was in other respects
a chaste woman, and faithful to him; yet had she somewhat of a woman rough
by nature, and treated her husband imperiously enough, because she saw
he was so fond of her as to be enslaved to her
She did not also consider
seasonably with herself that she lived under a monarchy, and that she was
at another's disposal, and accordingly would behave herself after a saucy
manner to him, which yet he usually put off in a jesting way, and bore
with moderation and good temper
She would also expose his mother and his
sister openly, on account of the meanness of their birth, and would speak
unkindly of them, insomuch that there was before this a disagreement and
unpardonable hatred among the women, and it was now come to greater reproaches
of one another than formerly, which suspicions increased, and lasted a
whole year after Herod returned from Caesar
However, these misfortunes,
which had been kept under some decency for a great while, burst out all
at once upon such an occasion as was now offered; for as the king was one
day about noon lain down on his bed to rest him, he called for Mariamne,
out of the great affection he had always for her
She came in accordingly,
but would not lie down by him; and when he was very desirous of her company,
she showed her contempt of him; and added, by way of reproach, that he
had caused her father and her brother to be slain. FJAJ 15.48
(11)
Whereas Mariamne is here represented as reproaching: Herod with the murder
of her father [Alexander], as well as her brother [Aristobulus], while
it was her grandfather Hyrcanus, and not her father Alexander, whom he
caused to be slain, (as Josephus himself informs us, ch. 6. sect. 2,) we
must either take Zonaras's reading, which is here grandfather, rightly,
or else we must, as before, ch. 1. sect. 1, allow a slip of Josephus's
pen or memory in the place before us.
And when he took this injury very unkindly, and was ready to use violence
to her, in a precipitate manner, the king's sister Salome, observing that
he was more than ordinarily disturbed, sent in to the king his cup-bearer,
who had been prepared long beforehand for such a design, and bid him tell
the king how Mariamne had persuaded him to give his assistance in preparing
a love potion for him; and if he appeared to be greatly concerned, and
to ask what that love potion was, to tell him that she had the potion,
and that he was desired only to give it him; but that in case he did not
appear to be much concerned at this potion, to let the thing drop; and
that if he did so, no harm should thereby come to him
When she had given
him these instructions, she sent him in at this time to make such a speech.
So he went in, after a composed manner, to gain credit to what he should
say, and yet somewhat hastily, and said that Mariamne had given him presents,
and persuaded him to give him a love potion
And when this moved the king,
he said that this love potion was a composition that she had given him,
whose effects he did not know, which was the reason of his resolving to
give him this information, as the safest course he could take, both for
himself and for the king
When Herod heard what he said, and was in an
ill disposition before, his indignation grew more violent; and he ordered
that eunuch of Mariamne, who was most faithful to her, to be brought to
torture about this potion, as well knowing it was not possible that any
thing small or great could be done without him
And when the man was under
the utmost agonies, he could say nothing concerning the thing he was tortured
about, but so far he knew, that Mariamne's hatred against him was occasioned
by somewhat that Sohemus had said to her
Now as he was saying this, Herod
cried out aloud, and said that Sohemus, who had been at all other times
most faithful to him, and to his government, would not have betrayed what
injunctions he had given him, unless he had had a nearer conversation than
ordinary with Mariamne
So he gave order that Sohemus should be seized
on and slain immediately; but he allowed his wife to take her trial; and
got together those that were most faithful to him, and laid an elaborate
accusation against her for this love potion and composition, which had
been charged upon her by way of calumny only
However, he kept no temper
in what he said, and was in too great a passion for judging well about
this matter
Accordingly, when the court was at length satisfied that he
was so resolved, they passed the sentence of death upon her; but when the
sentence was passed upon her, this temper was suggested by himself, and
by some others of the court, that she should not be thus hastily put to
death, but be laid in prison in one of the fortresses belonging to the
kingdom: but Salome and her party labored hard to have the woman put to
death; and they prevailed with the king to do so, and advised this out
of caution, lest the multitude should be tumultuous if she were suffered
to live; and thus was Mariamne led to execution. FJAJ 15.49
5. When Alexandra observed how things went, and that there were small
hopes that she herself should escape the like treatment from Herod, she
changed her behavior to quite the reverse of what might have been expected
from her former boldness, and this after a very indecent manner; for out
of her desire to show how entirely ignorant she was of the crimes laid
against Mariamne, she leaped out of her place, and reproached her daughter
in the hearing of all the people; and cried out that she had been an ill
woman, and ungrateful to her husband, and that her punishment came justly
upon her for such her insolent behavior, for that she had not made proper
returns to him who had been their common benefactor
And when she had for
some time acted after this hypocritical manner, and been so outrageous
as to tear her hair, this indecent and dissembling behavior, as was to
be expected, was greatly condemned by the rest of the spectators, as it
was principally by the poor woman who was to suffer; for at the first she
gave her not a word, nor was discomposed at her peevishness, and only looked
at her, yet did she out of a greatness of soul discover her concern for
her mother's offense, and especially for her exposing herself in a manner
so unbecoming her; but as for herself, she went to her death with an unshaken
firmness of mind, and without changing the color of her face, and thereby
evidently discovered the nobility of her descent to the spectators, even
in the last moments of her life. FJAJ 15.50
6. And thus died Mariamne, a woman of an excellent character, both for
chastity and greatness of soul; but she wanted moderation, and had too
much of contention in her nature; yet had she all that can be said in the
beauty of her body, and her majestic appearance in conversation; and thence
arose the greatest part of the occasions why she did not prove so agreeable
to the king, nor live so pleasantly with him, as she might otherwise have
done; for while she was most indulgently used by the king, out of his fondness
for her, and did not expect that he could do any hard thing to her, she
took too unbounded a liberty
Moreover, that which most afflicted her was,
what he had done to her relations, and she ventured to speak of all they
had suffered by him, and at last greatly provoked both the king's mother
and sister, till they became enemies to her; and even he himself also did
the same, on whom alone she depended for her expectations of escaping the
last of punishments. FJAJ 15.51
7. But when she was once dead, the king's affections for her were kindled
in a more outrageous manner than before, whose old passion for her we have
already described; for his love to her was not of a calm nature, nor such
as we usually meet with among other husbands; for at its commencement it
was of an enthusiastic kind, nor was it by their long cohabitation and
free conversation together brought under his power to manage; but at this
time his love to Mariamne seemed to seize him in such a peculiar manner,
as looked like Divine vengeance upon him for the taking away her life;
for he would frequently call for her, and frequently lament for her in
a most indecent manner
Moreover, he bethought him of every thing he could
make use of to divert his mind from thinking of her, and contrived feasts
and assemblies for that purpose, but nothing would suffice; he therefore
laid aside the administration of public affairs, and was so far conquered
by his passion, that he would order his servants to call for Mariamne,
as if she were still alive, and could still hear them
And when he was
in this way, there arose a pestilential disease, and carried off the greatest
part of the multitude, and of his best and most esteemed friends, and made
all men suspect that this was brought upon them by the anger of God, for
the injustice that had been done to Mariamne
This circumstance affected
the king still more, till at length he forced himself to go into desert
places, and there, under pretense of going a hunting, bitterly afflicted
himself; yet had he not borne his grief there many days before he fell
into a most dangerous distemper himself: he had an inflammation upon him,
and a pain in the hinder part of his head, joined with madness; and for
the remedies that were used, they did him no good at all, but proved contrary
to his case, and so at length brought him to despair
All the physicians
also that were about him, partly because the medicines they brought for
his recovery could not at all conquer the disease, and partly because his
diet could be no other than what his disease inclined him to, desired him
to eat whatever he had a mind to, and so left the small hopes they had
of his recovery in the power of that diet, and committed him to fortune.
And thus did his distemper go on, while he was at Samaria, now called Sebaste. FJAJ 15.52
8. Now Alexandra abode at this time at Jerusalem; and being informed
what condition Herod was in, she endeavored to get possession of the fortified
places that were about the city, which were two, the one belonging to the
city itself, the other belonging to the temple; and those that could get
them into their hands had the whole nation under their power, for without
the command of them it was not possible to offer their sacrifices; and
to think of leaving on those sacrifices is to every Jew plainly impossible,
who are still more ready to lose their lives than to leave off that Divine
worship which they have been wont to pay unto God
Alexandra, therefore,
discoursed with those that had the keeping of these strong holds, that
it was proper for them to deliver the same to her, and to Herod's sons,
lest, upon his death, any other person should seize upon the government;
and that upon his recovery none could keep them more safely for him than
those of his own family
These words were not by them at all taken in good
part; and as they had been in former times faithful [to Herod], they resolved
to continue so more than ever, both because they hated Alexandra, and because
they thought it a sort of impiety to despair of Herod's recovery while
he was yet alive, for they had been his old friends; and one of them, whose
name was Achiabus, was his cousin-german
They sent messengers therefore
to acquaint him with Alexandra's design; so he made no longer delay, but
gave orders to have her slain; yet was it still with difficulty, and after
he had endured great pain, that he got clear of his distemper
He was still
sorely afflicted, both in mind and body, and made very uneasy, and readier
than ever upon all occasions to inflict punishment upon those that fell
under his hand
He also slew the most intimate of his friends, Costobarus,
and Lysimachus, and Cadias, who was also called Antipater; as also Dositheus,
and that upon the following occasion. FJAJ 15.53
9. Costobarus was an Idumean by birth, and one of principal dignity
among them, and one whose ancestors had been priests to the Koze, whom
the Idumeans had [formerly] esteemed as a god; but after Hyrcanus had made
a change in their political government, and made them receive the Jewish
customs and law, Herod made Costobarus governor of Idumea and Gaza, and
gave him his sister Salome to wife; and this was upon the slaughter of
[his uncle] Joseph, who had that government before, as we have related
already
When Costobarus had gotten to be so highly advanced, it pleased
him and was more than he hoped for, and he was more and more puffed up
by his good success, and in a little while he exceeded all bounds, and
did not think fit to obey what Herod, as their ruler, commanded him, or
that the Idumeans should make use of the Jewish customs, or be subject
to them
He therefore sent to Cleopatra, and informed her that the Idumeans
had been always under his progenitors, and that for the same reason it
was but just that she should desire that country for him of Antony, for
that he was ready to transfer his friendship to her; and this he did, not
because he was better pleased to be under Cleopatra's government, but because
he thought that, upon the diminution of Herod's power, it would not be
difficult for him to obtain himself the entire government over the Idumeans,
and somewhat more also; for he raised his hopes still higher, as having
no small pretenses, both by his birth and by these riches which he had
gotten by his constant attention to filthy lucre; and accordingly it was
not a small matter that he aimed at
So Cleopatra desired this country
of Antony, but failed of her purpose
An account of this was brought to
Herod, who was thereupon ready to kill Costobarus; yet, upon the entreaties
of his sister and mother, he forgave him, and vouchsafed to pardon him
entirely; though he still had a suspicion of him afterward for this his
attempt. FJAJ 15.54
10. But some time afterward, when Salome happened to quarrel with Costobarus,
she sent him a bill of divorce (12)
Here is a plain example of a Jewish lady giving a bill of divorce to her
husband, though in the days of Josephus it was not esteemed lawful for
a woman so to do. See the like among the Parthians, Antiq. B. XVIII. ch.
9. sect. 6. However, the Christian law, when it allowed divorce for adultery,
Matthew 5:32, allowed the innocent wife to divorce her guilty husband,
as well as the innocent husband to divorce his guilty wife, as we learn
from the shepherd of Hermas, Mand. B. IV., and from: the second apology
of Justin Martyr, where a persecution was brought upon the Christians upon
such a divorce; and I think the Roman laws permitted it at that time, as
well as the laws of Christianity. Now this Babas, who was one of the race
of the Asamoneans or Maccabees, as the latter end of this section informs
us, is related by the Jews, as Dr. Hudson here remarks, to have been so
eminently religious in the Jewish way, that, except the day following the
tenth of Tisri, the great day of atonement, when he seems to have supposed
all his sins entirely forgiven, he used every day of the whole year to
offer a sacrifice for his sins of ignorance, or such as he supposed he
had been guilty of, but did not distinctly remember. See somewhat like
it of Agrippa the Great, Antiq. B. XIX. ch. 3. sect. 3, and Job 1:4, 5.
and dissolved her marriage with him, though this was not according to the
Jewish laws; for with us it is lawful for a husband to do so; but a wife;
if she departs from her husband, cannot of herself be married to another,
unless her former husband put her away
However, Salome chose to follow
not the law of her country, but the law of her authority, and so renounced
her wedlock; and told her brother Herod, that she left her husband out
of her good-will to him, because she perceived that he, with Antipater,
and Lysimachus, and Dositheus, were raising a sedition against him; as
an evidence whereof, she alleged the case of the sons of Babas, that they
had been by him preserved alive already for the interval of twelve years;
which proved to be true
But when Herod thus unexpectedly heard of it,
he was greatly surprised at it, and was the more surprised, because the
relation appeared incredible to him
As for the fact relating to these
sons of Babas, Herod had formerly taken great pains to bring them to punishment,
as being enemies to his government; but they were now forgotten by him,
on account of the length of time [since he had ordered them to be slain].
Now the cause of his ill-will and hatred to them arose hence, that while
Antigonus was king, Herod, with his army, besieged the city of Jerusalem,
where the distress and miseries which the besieged endured were so pressing,
that the greater number of them invited Herod into the city, and already
placed their hopes on him
Now the sons of Babas were of great dignity,
and had power among the multitude, and were faithful to Antigonus, and
were always raising calumnies against Herod, and encouraged the people
to preserve the government to that royal family which held it by inheritance.
So these men acted thus politically, and, as they thought, for their own
advantage; but when the city was taken, and Herod had gotten the government
into his hands, and Costobarus was appointed to hinder men from passing
out at the gates, and to guard the city, that those citizens that were
guilty, and of the party opposite to the king, might not get out of it,
Costobarus, being sensible that the sons of Babas were had in respect and
honor by the whole multitude, and supposing that their preservation might
be of great advantage to him in the changes of government afterward, he
set them by themselves, and concealed them in his own farms; and when the
thing was suspected, he assured Herod upon oath that he really knew nothing
of that matter, and so overcame the suspicions that lay upon him; nay,
after that, when the king had publicly proposed a reward for the discovery,
and had put in practice all sorts of methods for searching out this matter,
he would not confess it; but being persuaded that when he had at first
denied it, if the men were found, he should not escape unpunished, he was
forced to keep them secret, not only out of his good-will to them, but
out of a necessary regard to his own preservation also
But when the king
knew the thing, by his sister's information, he sent men to the places
where he had the intimation they were concealed, and ordered both them,
and those that were accused as guilty with them, to be slain, insomuch
that there were now none at all left of the kindred of Hyrcanus, and the
kingdom was entirely in Herod's own power, and there was nobody remaining
of such dignity as could put a stop to what he did against the Jewish laws. FJAJ 15.55