HOW TEN MEN OF THE CITIZENS [OF JERUSALEM] MADE A CONSPIRACY AGAINST HEROD, FOR THE FOREIGN PRACTICES HE HAD INTRODUCED, WHICH WAS A TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAWS OF THEIR COUNTRY. CONCERNING THE BUILDING OF SEBASTE AND CESAREA, AND OTHER EDIFICES OF HEROD. FJAJ 15.56
1. ON this account it was that Herod revolted from the laws of his country,
and corrupted their ancient constitution, by the introduction of foreign
practices, which constitution yet ought to have been preserved inviolable;
by which means we became guilty of great wickedness afterward, while those
religious observances which used to lead the multitude to piety were now
neglected; for, in the first place, he appointed solemn games to be celebrated
every fifth year, in honor of Caesar, and built a theater at Jerusalem,
as also a very great amphitheater in the plain
Both of them were indeed
costly works, but opposite to the Jewish customs; for we have had no such
shows delivered down to us as fit to be used or exhibited by us; yet did
he celebrate these games every five years, in the most solemn and splendid
manner
He also made proclamation to the neighboring countries, and called
men together out of every nation
The wrestlers also, and the rest of those
that strove for the prizes in such games, were invited out of every land,
both by the hopes of the rewards there to be bestowed, and by the glory
of victory to be there gained
So the principal persons that were the most
eminent in these sorts of exercises were gotten together, for there were
very great rewards for victory proposed, not only to those that performed
their exercises naked, but to those that played the musicians also, and
were called Thymelici; and he spared no pains to induce all persons, the
most famous for such exercises, to come to this contest for victory
He
also proposed no small rewards to those who ran for the prizes in chariot
races, when they were drawn by two, or three, or four pair of horses
He
also imitated every thing, though never so costly or magnificent, in other
nations, out of an ambition that he might give most public demonstration
of his grandeur
Inscriptions also of the great actions of Caesar, and
trophies of those nations which he had conquered in his wars, and all made
of the purest gold and silver, encompassed the theater itself; nor was
there any thing that could be subservient to his design, whether it were
precious garments, or precious stones set in order, which was not also
exposed to sight in these games
He had also made a great preparation of
wild beasts, and of lions themselves in great abundance, and of such other
beasts as were either of uncommon strength, or of such a sort as were rarely
seen
These were prepared either to fight with one another, or that men
who were condemned to death were to fight with them
And truly foreigners
were greatly surprised and delighted at the vastness of the expenses here
exhibited, and at the great dangers that were here seen; but to natural
Jews, this was no better than a dissolution of those customs for which
they had so great a veneration. FJAJ 15.57
(13) These grand plays, and shows, and Thymelici, or music meetings, and chariot races, when the chariots were drawn by two, three, or four pair of horses, etc., instituted by Herod in his theatres, were still, as we see here, looked on by the sober Jews as heathenish sports, and tending to corrupt the manners of the Jewish nation, and to bring them in love with paganish idolatry, and paganish conduct of life, but to the dissolution of the law of Moses, and accordingly were greatly and justly condemned by them, as appears here and every where else in Josephus. Nor is the case of our modern masquerades, plays, operas, and the like "pomps and vanities of this wicked world," of any better tendency under Christianity. It appeared also no better than an instance of barefaced impiety, to throw men to wild beasts, for the affording delight to the spectators; and it appeared an instance of no less impiety, to change their own laws for such foreign exercises: but, above all the rest, the trophies gave most distaste to the Jews; for as they imagined them to be images, included within the armor that hung round about them, they were sorely displeased at them, because it was not the custom of their country to pay honors to such images. FJAJ 15.58
2. Nor was Herod unacquainted with the disturbance they were under;
and as he thought it unseasonable to use violence with them, so he spake
to some of them by way of consolation, and in order to free them from that
superstitious fear they were under; yet could not he satisfy them, but
they cried out with one accord, out of their great uneasiness at the offenses
they thought he had been guilty of, that although they should think of
bearing all the rest yet would they never bear images of men in their city,
meaning the trophies, because this was disagreeable to the laws of their
country
Now when Herod saw them in such a disorder, and that they would
not easily change their resolution unless they received satisfaction in
this point, he called to him the most eminent men among them, and brought
them upon the theater, and showed them the trophies, and asked them what
sort of things they took these trophies to be; and when they cried out
that they were the images of men, he gave order that they should be stripped
of these outward ornaments which were about them, and showed them the naked
pieces of wood; which pieces of wood, now without any ornament, became
matter of great sport and laughter to them, because they had before always
had the ornaments of images themselves in derision. FJAJ 15.59
3. When therefore Herod had thus got clear of the multitude, and had
dissipated the vehemency of passion under which they had been, the greatest
part of the people were disposed to change their conduct, and not to be
displeased at him any longer; but still some of them continued in their
displeasure against him, for his introduction of new customs, and esteemed
the violation of the laws of their country as likely to be the origin of
very great mischiefs to them, so that they deemed it an instance of piety
rather to hazard themselves [to be put to death], than to seem as if they
took no notice of Herod, who, upon the change he had made in their government,
introduced such customs, and that in a violent manner, which they had never
been used to before, as indeed in pretense a king, but in reality one that
showed himself an enemy to their whole nation; on which account ten men
that were citizens [of Jerusalem] conspired together against him, and sware
to one another to undergo any dangers in the attempt, and took daggers
with them under their garments [for the purpose of killing Herod]
Now
there was a certain blind man among those conspirators who had thus sworn
to one another, on account of the indignation he had against what he heard
to have been done; he was not indeed able to afford the rest any assistance
in the undertaking, but was ready to undergo any suffering with them, if
so be they should come to any harm, insomuch that he became a very great
encourager of the rest of the undertakers. FJAJ 15.60
4. When they had taken this resolution, and that by common consent,
they went into the theater, hoping that, in the first place, Herod himself
could not escape them, as they should fall upon him so unexpectedly; and
supposing, however, that if they missed him, they should kill a great many
of those that were about him; and this resolution they took, though they
should die for it, in order to suggest to the king what injuries he had
done to the multitude
These conspirators, therefore, standing thus prepared
beforehand, went about their design with great alacrity; but there was
one of those spies of Herod, that were appointed for such purposes, to
fish out and inform him of any conspiracies that should be made against
him, who found out the whole affair, and told the king of it, as he was
about to go into the theater
So when he reflected on the hatred which
he knew the greatest part of the people bore him, and on the disturbances
that arose upon every occasion, he thought this plot against him not to
be improbable
Accordingly, he retired into his palace, and called those
that were accused of this conspiracy before him by their several names;
and as, upon the guards falling upon them, they were caught in the very
fact, and knew they could not escape, they prepared themselves for their
ends with all the decency they could, and so as not at all to recede from
their resolute behavior, for they showed no shame for what they were about,
nor denied it; but when they were seized, they showed their daggers, and
professed that the conspiracy they had sworn to was a holy and pious action;
that what they intended to do was not for gain, or out of any indulgence
to their passions, but principally for those common customs of their country,
which all the Jews were obliged to observe, or to die for them
This was
what these men said, out of their undaunted courage in this conspiracy.
So they were led away to execution by the king's guards that stood about
them, and patiently underwent all the torments inflicted on them till they
died
Nor was it long before that spy who had discovered them was seized
on by some of the people, out of the hatred they bore to him; and was not
only slain by them, but pulled to pieces, limb from limb, and given to
the dogs
This execution was seen by many of the citizens, yet would not
one of them discover the doers of it, till upon Herod's making a strict
scrutiny after them, by bitter and severe tortures, certain women that
were tortured confessed what they had seen done; the authors of which fact
were so terribly punished by the king, that their entire families were
destroyed for this their rash attempt; yet did not the obstinacy of the
people, and that undaunted constancy they showed in the defense of their
laws, make Herod any easier to them, but he still strengthened himself
after a more secure manner, and resolved to encompass the multitude every
way, lest such innovations should end in an open rebellion. FJAJ 15.61
5. Since, therefore, he had now the city fortified by the palace in
which he lived, and by the temple which had a strong fortress by it, called
Antonia, and was rebuilt by himself, he contrived to make Samaria a fortress
for himself also against all the people, and called it Sebaste, supposing
that this place would be a strong hold against the country, not inferior
to the former
So he fortified that place, which was a day's journey distant
from Jerusalem, and which would be useful to him in common, to keep both
the country and the city in awe
He also built another fortress for the
whole nation; it was of old called Strato's Tower, but was by him named
Cesarea
Moreover, he chose out some select horsemen, and placed them ill
the great plain; and built [for them] a place in Galilee, called Gaba with
Hesebonitis, in Perea
And these were the places which he particularly
built, while he always was inventing somewhat further for his own security,
and encompassing the whole nation with guards, that they might by no means
get from under his power, nor fall into tumults, which they did continually
upon any small commotion; and that if they did make any commotions, he
might know of it, while some of his spies might be upon them from the neighborhood,
and might both be able to know what they were attempting, and to prevent
it
And when he went about building the wall of Samaria, he contrived to
bring thither many of those that had been assisting to him in his wars,
and many of the people in that neighborhood also, whom he made fellow citizens
with the rest
This he did out of an ambitious desire of building a temple,
and out of a desire to make the city more eminent than it had been before;
but principally because he contrived that it might at once be for his own
security, and a monument of his magnificence
He also changed its name,
and called it Sebaste
Moreover, he parted the adjoining country, which
was excellent in its kind, among the inhabitants of Samaria, that they
might be in a happy condition, upon their first coming to inhabit
Besides
all which, he encompassed the city with a wall of great strength, and made
use of the acclivity of the place for making its fortifications stronger;
nor was the compass of the place made now so small as it had been before,
but was such as rendered it not inferior to the most famous cities; for
it was twenty furlongs in circumference
Now within, and about the middle
of it, he built a sacred place, of a furlong and a half [in circuit], and
adorned it with all sorts of decorations, and therein erected a temple,
which was illustrious on account of both its largeness and beauty
And
as to the several parts of the city, he adorned them with decorations of
all sorts also; and as to what was necessary to provide for his own security,
he made the walls very strong for that purpose, and made it for the greatest
part a citadel; and as to the elegance of the building, it was taken care
of also, that he might leave monuments of the fineness of his taste, and
of his beneficence, to future ages. FJAJ 15.62