HOW DURING ANTIPATER'S ABODE AT ROME, HEROD BROUGHT ALEXANDER AND ARISTOBULUS BEFORE CAESAR AND ACCUSED THEM. ALEXANDER'S DEFENSE OF HIMSELF BEFORE CAESAR AND RECONCILIATION TO HIS FATHER. FJAJ 16.17
1. AND now what happened during Antipater's absence augmented the honor
to which he had been promoted, and his apparent eminence above his brethren;
for he had made a great figure in Rome, because Herod had sent recommendations
of him to all his friends there; only he was grieved that he was not at
home, nor had proper opportunities of perpetually calumniating his brethren;
and his chief fear was, lest his father should alter his mind, and entertain
a more favorable opinion of the sons of Mariamne; and as he had this in
his mind, he did not desist from his purpose, but continually sent from
Rome any such stories as he hoped might grieve and irritate his father
against his brethren, under pretense indeed of a deep concern for his preservation,
but in truth such as his malicious mind dictated, in order to purchase
a greater hope of the succession, which yet was already great in itself:
and thus he did till he had excited such a degree of anger in Herod, that
he was already become very ill-disposed towards the young men; but still
while he delayed to exercise so violent a disgust against them, and that
he might not either be too remiss or too rash, and so offend, he thought
it best to sail to Rome, and there accuse his sons before Caesar, and not
indulge himself in any such crime as might be heinous enough to be suspected
of impiety
But as he was going up to Rome, it happened that he made such
haste as to meet with Caesar at the city Aquilei (3)
Although Herod met Augustus at Aquilei, yet was this accusation of his
sons deferred till they came to Rome, as sect. 3 assures us, and as we
are particularly informed in the History of the War, B. I. ch. 23. sect.
3; though what he here says belonged distinctly to Alexander, the elder
brother, I mean his being brought to Rome, is here justly extended to both
the brothers, and that not only in our copies, but in that of Zonaras also;
nor is there reason to doubt but they were both at this solemn hearing
by Augustus, although the defense was made by Alexander alone, who was
the eldest brother, and one that could speak very well.
so when he came to the speech of Caesar, he asked for a time for hearing
this great cause, wherein he thought himself very miserable, and presented
his sons there, and accused them of their mad actions, and of their attempts
against him: That they were enemies to him; and by all the means they were
able, did their endeavors to show their hatred to their own father, and
would take away his life, and so obtain his kingdom, after the most barbarous
manner: that he had power from Caesar to dispose of it, not by necessity,
but by choice, to him who shall exercise the greatest piety towards him;
while these my sons are not so desirous of ruling, as they are, upon a
disappointment thereof, to expose their own life, if so be they may but
deprive their father of his life; so wild and polluted is their mind by
time become, out of their hatred to him: that whereas he had a long time
borne this his misfortune, he was now compelled to lay it before Caesar,
and to pollute his ears with such language, while he himself wants to know
what severity they have ever suffered from him, or what hardships he hath
ever laid upon them to make them complain of him; and how they can think
it just that he should not be lord of that kingdom which he in a long time,
and with great danger, had gained, and not allow him to keep it and dispose
of it to him who should deserve best; and this, with other advantages,
he proposes as a reward for the piety of such a one as will hereafter imitate
the care he hath taken of it, and that such a one may gain so great a requital
as that is: and that it is an impious thing for them to pretend to meddle
with it beforehand; for he who hath ever the kingdom in his view, at the
same time reckons upon procuring the death of his father, because otherwise
he cannot come at the government: that as for himself, he had hitherto
given them all that he was able, and what was agreeable to such as are
subject to the royal authority, and the sons of a king; what ornaments
they wanted, with servants and delicate fare, and had married them into
the most illustrious families, the one [Aristobulus] to his sister's daughter,
but Alexander to the daughter of king Archelaus; and, what was the greatest
favor of all, when their crimes were so very bad, and he had authority
to punish them, yet had he not made use of it against them, but had brought
them before Caesar, their common benefactor, and had not used the severity
which, either as a father who had been impiously abused, or as a king who
had been assaulted treacherously, he might have done, but made them stand
upon a level with him in judgment: that, however, it was necessary that
all this should not be passed over without punishment, nor himself live
in the greatest fears; nay, that it was not for their own advantage to
see the light of the sun after what they have done, although they should
escape at this time, since they had done the vilest things, and would certainly
suffer the greatest punishments that ever were known among mankind. FJAJ 16.18
2. These were the accusations which Herod laid with great vehemency
against his sons before Caesar
Now the young men, both while he was speaking,
and chiefly at his concluding, wept, and were in confusion
Now as to themselves,
they knew in their own conscience they were innocent; but because they
were accused by their father, they were sensible, as the truth was, that
it was hard for them to make their apology, since though they were at liberty
to speak their minds freely as the occasion required, and might with force
and earnestness refute the accusation, yet was it not now decent so to
do
There was therefore a difficulty how they should be able to speak;
and tears, and at length a deep groan, followed, while they were afraid,
that if they said nothing, they should seem to be in this difficulty from
a consciousness of guilt, - nor had they any defense ready, by reason of
their youth, and the disorder they were under; yet was not Caesar unapprized,
when he looked upon them in the confusion they were in, that their delay
to make their defense did not arise from any consciousness of great enormities,
but from their unskilfulness and modesty
They were also commiserated by
those that were there in particular; and they moved their father's affections
in earnest till he had much ado to conceal them. FJAJ 16.19
3. But when they saw there was a kind disposition arisen both in him
and in Caesar, and that every one of the rest did either shed tears, or
at least did all grieve with them, the one of them, whose name was Alexander,
called to his father, and attempted to answer his accusation, and said,
"O father, the benevolence thou hast showed to us is evident, even
in this very judicial procedure, for hadst thou had any pernicious intentions
about us, thou hadst not produced us here before the common savior of all,
for it was in thy power, both as a king and as a father, to punish the
guilty; but by thus bringing us to Rome, and making Caesar himself a witness
to what is done, thou intimatest that thou intendest to save us; for no
one that hath a design to slay a man will bring him to the temples, and
to the altars; yet are our circumstances still worse, for we cannot endure
to live ourselves any longer, if it be believed that we have injured such
a father; nay, perhaps it would be worse for us to live with this suspicion
upon us, that we have injured him, than to die without such guilt
And
if our open defense may be taken to be true, we shall be happy, both in
pacifying thee, and in escaping the danger we are in; but if this calumny
so prevails, it is more than enough for us that we have seen the sun this
day; which why should we see, if this suspicion be fixed upon us? Now it
is easy to say of young men, that they desire to reign; and to say further,
that this evil proceeds from the case of our unhappy mother
This is abundantly
sufficient to produce our present misfortune out of the former; but consider
well, whether such an accusation does not suit all such young men, and
may not be said of them all promiscuously; for nothing can hinder him that
reigns, if he have children, and their mother be dead, but the father may
have a suspicion upon all his sons, as intending some treachery to him;
but a suspicion is not sufficient to prove such an impious practice
Now
let any man say, whether we have actually and insolently attempted any
such thing, whereby actions otherwise incredible use to be made credible?
Can any body prove that poison hath been prepared? or prove a conspiracy
of our equals, or the corruption of servants, or letters written against
thee? though indeed there are none of those things but have sometimes been
pretended by way of calumny, when they were never done; for a royal family
that is at variance with itself is a terrible thing; and that which thou
callest a reward of piety often becomes, among very wicked men, such a
foundation of hope, as makes them leave no sort of mischief untried
Nor
does any one lay any wicked practices to our charge; but as to calumnies
by hearsay, how can he put an end to them, who will not hear what we have
to say? Have we talked with too great freedom? Yes; but not against thee,
for that would be unjust, but against those that never conceal any thing
that is spoken to them
Hath either of us lamented our mother? Yes; but
not because she is dead, but because she was evil spoken of by those that
had no reason so to do
Are we desirous of that dominion which we know
our father is possessed of? For what reason can we do so? If we already
have royal honors, as we have, should not we labor in vain? And if we have
them not, yet are not we in hopes of them? Or supposing that we had killed
thee, could we expect to obtain thy kingdom? while neither the earth would
let us tread upon it, nor the sea let us sail upon it, after such an action
as that; nay, the religion of all your subjects, and the piety of the whole
nation, would have prohibited parricides from assuming the government,
and from entering into that most holy temple which was built by thee (4)
Since some prejudiced men have indulged a wild suspicion, as we have supposed
already, Antiq. B. XV. ch. 11. sect. 7, that Josephus's history of Herod's
rebuilding the temple is no better than a fable, it may not be amiss to
take notice of this occasional clause in the speech of Alexander before
his father Herod, in his and his brother's vindication, which mentions
the temple as known by every body to have been built by Herod.
But suppose we had made light of other dangers, can any murderer go off
unpunished while Caesar is alive? We are thy sons, and not so impious or
so thoughtless as that comes to, though perhaps more unfortunate than is
convenient for thee
But in case thou neither findest any causes of complaint,
nor any treacherous designs, what sufficient evidence hast thou to make
such a wickedness of ours credible? Our mother is dead indeed, but then
what befell her might be an instruction to us to caution, and not an incitement
to wickedness
We are willing to make a larger apology for ourselves; but
actions never done do not admit of discourse
Nay, we will make this agreement
with thee, and that before Caesar, the lord of all, who is now a mediator
between us, If thou, O father, canst bring thyself, by the evidence of
truth, to have a mind free from suspicion concerning us let us live, though
even then we shall live in an unhappy way, for to be accused of great acts
of wickedness, though falsely, is a terrible thing; but if thou hast any
fear remaining, continue thou on in thy pious life, we will give this reason
for our own conduct; our life is not so desirable to us as to desire to
have it, if it tend to the harm of our father who gave it us." FJAJ 16.20
4. When Alexander had thus spoken, Caesar, who did not before believe
so gross a calumny, was still more moved by it, and looked intently upon
Herod, and perceived he was a little confounded: the persons there present
were under an anxiety about the young men, and the fame that was spread
abroad made the king hated, for the very incredibility of the calumny,
and the commiseration of the flower of youth, the beauty of body, which
were in the young men, pleaded for assistance, and the more so on this
account, that Alexander had made their defense with dexterity and prudence;
nay, they did not themselves any longer continue in their former countenances,
which had been bedewed with tears, and cast downwards to the ground, but
now there arose in them hope of the best; and the king himself appeared
not to have had foundation enough to build such an accusation upon, he
having no real evidence wherewith to correct them
Indeed he wanted some
apology for making the accusation; but Caesar, after some delay, said,
that although the young men were thoroughly innocent of that for which
they were calumniated, yet had they been so far to blame, that they had
not demeaned themselves towards their father so as to prevent that suspicion
which was spread abroad concerning them
He also exhorted Herod to lay
all such suspicions aside, and to be reconciled to his sons; for that it
was not just to give any credit to such reports concerning his own children;
and that this repentance on both sides might still heal those breaches
that had happened between them, and might improve that their good-will
to one another, whereby those on both sides, excusing the rashness of their
suspicions, might resolve to bear a greater degree of affection towards
each other than they had before
After Caesar had given them this admonition,
he beckoned to the young men
When therefore they were disposed to fall
down to make intercession to their father, he took them up, and embraced
them, as they were in tears, and took each of them distinctly in his arms,
till not one of those that were present, whether free-man or slave, but
was deeply affected with what they saw. FJAJ 16.21
5. Then did they return thanks to Caesar, and went away together; and
with them went Antipater, with an hypocritical pretense that he rejoiced
at this reconciliation
And in the last days they were with Caesar, Herod
made him a present of three hundred talents, as he was then exhibiting
shows and largesses to the people of Rome; and Caesar made him a present
of half the revenue of the copper mines in Cyprus, and committed the care
of the other half to him, and honored him with other gifts and incomes;
and as to his own kingdom, he left it in his own power to appoint which
of his sons he pleased for his successor, or to distribute it in parts
to every one, that the dignity might thereby come to them all
And when
Herod was disposed to make such a settlement immediately, Caesar said he
would not give him leave to deprive himself, while he was alive, of the
power over his kingdom, or over his sons. FJAJ 16.23
6. After this, Herod returned to Judea again
But during his absence
no small part of his dominion about Trachon had revolted, whom yet the
commanders he left there had vanquished, and compelled to a submission
again
Now as Herod was sailing with his sons, and was come over against
Cilicia, to [the island] Eleusa, which hath now changed its name for Sebaste,
he met with Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, who received him kindly, as
rejoicing that he was reconciled to his sons, and that the accusation against
Alexander, who had married his daughter, was at an end
They also made
one another such presents as it became kings to make, From thence Herod
came to Judea and to the temple, where he made a speech to the people concerning
what had been done in this his journey
He also discoursed to them about
Caesar's kindness to him, and about as many of the particulars he had done
as he thought it for his advantage other people should be acquainted with.
At last he turned his speech to the admonition of his sons; and exhorted
those that lived at court, and the multitude, to concord; and informed
them that his sons were to reign after him; Antipater first, and then Alexander
and Aristobulus, the sons of Mariamne: but he desired that at present they
should all have regard to himself, and esteem him king and lord of all,
since he was not yet hindered by old age, but was in that period of life
when he must be the most skillful in governing; and that he was not deficient
in other arts of management that might enable him to govern the kingdom
well, and to rule over his children also
He further told the rulers under
him, and the soldiery, that in case they would look upon him alone, their
life would be led in a peaceable manner, and they would make one another
happy
And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly
Which speech
was acceptable to the greatest part of the audience, but not so to them
all; for the contention among his sons, and the hopes he had given them,
occasioned thoughts and desires of innovations among them. FJAJ 16.24