ANTIPATER'S NAVIGATION FROM ROME TO HIS FATHER; AND HOW HE WAS ACCUSED BY NICOLAUS OF DAMASCUS AND CONDEMNED TO DIE BY HIS FATHER, AND BY QUINTILIUS VARUS, WHO WAS THEN PRESIDENT OF SYRIA; AND HOW HE WAS THEN BOUND TILL CAESAR SHOULD BE INFORMED OF HIS CAUSE. FJAJ 17.22
1. NOW Herod, upon Antipater's writing to him, that having done all
that he was to do, and this in the manner he was to do it, he would suddenly
come to him, concealed his anger against him, and wrote back to him, and
bid him not delay his journey, lest any harm should befall himself in his
absence
At the same time also he made some little complaint about his
mother, but promised that he would lay those complaints aside when he should
return
He withal expressed his entire affection for him, as fearing lest
he should have some suspicion of him, and defer his journey to him; and
lest, while he lived at Rome, he should lay plots for the kingdom, and,
moreover, do somewhat against himself
This letter Antipater met with in
Cilicia; but had received an account of Pheroras's death before at Tarentum.
This last news affected him deeply; not out of any affection for Pheroras,
but because he was dead without having murdered his father, which he had
promised him to do
And when he was at Celenderis in Cilicia, he began
to deliberate with himself about his sailing home, as being much grieved
with the ejection of his mother
Now some of his friends advised him that
he should tarry a while some where, in expectation of further information.
But others advised him to sail home without delay; for that if he were
once come thither, he would soon put an end to all accusations, and that
nothing afforded any weight to his accusers at present but his absence.
He was persuaded by these last, and sailed on, and landed at the haven
called Sebastus, which Herod had built at vast expenses in honor of Caesar,
and called Sebastus
And now was Antipater evidently in a miserable condition,
while nobody came to him nor saluted him, as they did at his going away,
with good wishes of joyful acclamations; nor was there now any thing to
hinder them from entertaining him, on the contrary, with bitter curses,
while they supposed he was come to receive his punishment for the murder
of his brethren. FJAJ 17.23
2. Now Quintilius Varus was at this time at Jerusalem, being sent to
succeed Saturninus as president of Syria, and was come as an assessor to
Herod, who had desired his advice in his present affairs; and as they were
sitting together, Antipater came upon them, without knowing any thing of
the matter; so he came into the palace clothed in purple
The porters indeed
received him in, but excluded his friends
And now he was in great disorder,
and presently understood the condition he was in, while, upon his going
to salute his father, he was repulsed by him, who called him a murderer
of his brethren, and a plotter of destruction against himself, and told
him that Varus should be his auditor and his judge the very next day; so
he found that what misfortunes he now heard of were already upon him, with
the greatness of which he went away in confusion; upon which his mother
and his wife met him, (which wife was the daughter of Antigonus, who was
king of the Jews before Herod,) from whom he learned all circumstances
which concerned him, and then prepared himself for his trial. FJAJ 17.24
3. On the next day Varus and the king sat together in judgment, and
both their friends were also called in, as also the king's relations, with
his sister Salome, and as many as could discover any thing, and such as
had been tortured; and besides these, some slaves of Antipater's mother,
who were taken up a little before Antipater's coming, and brought with
them a written letter, the sum of which was this: That he should not come
back, because all was come to his father's knowledge; and that Caesar was
the only refuge he had left to prevent both his and her delivery into his
father's hands
Then did Antipater fall down at his father's feet, and
besought him not to prejudge his cause, but that he might be first heard
by his father, and that his father would keep himself unprejudiced
So
Herod ordered him to be brought into the midst, and then lamented himself
about his children, from whom he had suffered such great misfortunes; and
because Antipater fell upon him in his old age
He also reckoned up what
maintenance and what education he had given them; and what seasonable supplies
of wealth he had afforded them, according to their own desires; none of
which favors had hindered them from contriving against him, and from bringing
his very life into danger, in order to gain his kingdom, after an impious
manner, by taking away his life before the course of nature, their father's
wishes, or justice required that that kingdom should come to them; and
that he wondered what hopes could elevate Antipater to such a pass as to
be hardy enough to attempt such things; that he had by his testament in
writing declared him his successor in the government; and while he was
alive, he was in no respect inferior to him, either in his illustrious
dignity, or in power and authority, he having no less than fifty talents
for his yearly income, and had received for his journey to Rome no fewer
than thirty talents
He also objected to him the case of his brethren whom
he had accused; and if they were guilty, he had imitated their example;
and if not, he had brought him groundless accusations against his near
relations; for that he had been acquainted with all those things by him,
and by nobody else, and had done what was done by his approbation, and
whom he now absolved from all that was criminal, by becoming the inheritor
of the guilt of such their parricide. FJAJ 17.25
4. When Herod had thus spoken, he fell a weeping, and was not able to
say any more; but at his desire Nicolaus of Damascus, being the king's
friend, and always conversant with him, and acquainted with whatsoever
he did, and with the circumstances of his affairs, proceeded to what remained,
and explained all that concerned the demonstrations and evidences of the
facts
Upon which Antipater, in order to make his legal defense, turned
himself to his father, and enlarged upon the many indications he had given
of his good-will to him; and instanced in the honors that had been done
him, which yet had not been done, had he not deserved them by his virtuous
concern about him; for that he had made provision for every thing that
was fit to be foreseen beforehand, as to giving him his wisest advice;
and whenever there was occasion for the labor of his own hands, he had
not grudged any such pains for him
And that it was almost impossible that
he, who had delivered his father from so many treacherous contrivances
laid against him, should be himself in a plot against him, and so lose
all the reputation he had gained for his virtue, by his wickedness which
succeeded it; and this while he had nothing to prohibit him, who was already
appointed his successor, to enjoy the royal honor with his father also
at present; and that there was no likelihood that a person who had the
one half of that authority without any danger, and with a good character,
should hunt after the whole with infamy and danger, and this when it was
doubtful whether he could obtain it or not; and when he saw the sad example
of his brethren before him, and was both the informer and the accuser against
them, at a time when they might not otherwise have been discovered; nay,
was the author of the punishment inflicted upon them, when it appeared
evidently that they were guilty of a wicked attempt against their father;
and that even the contentions there were in the king's family were indications
that he had ever managed affairs out of the sincerest affection to his
father
And as to what he had done at Rome, Caesar was a witness thereto,
who yet was no more to be imposed upon than God himself; of whose opinions
his letters sent hither are sufficient evidence; and that it was not reasonable
to prefer the calumnies of such as proposed to raise disturbances before
those letters; the greatest part of which calumnies had been raised during
his absence, which gave scope to his enemies to forge them, which they
had not been able to do if he had been there
Moreover he showed the weakness
of the evidence obtained by torture, which was commonly false, because
the distress men are in under such tortures naturally obliges them to say
many things in order to please those that govern them
He also offered
himself to the torture. FJAJ 17.26
5. Hereupon there was a change observed in the assembly, while they
greatly pitied Antipater, who by weeping and putting on a countenance suitable
to his sad case made them commiserate the same, insomuch that his very
enemies were moved to compassion; and it appeared plainly that Herod himself
was affected in his own mind, although he was not willing it should be
taken notice of
Then did Nicolaus begin to prosecute what the king had
begun, and that with great bitterness; and summed up all the evidence which
arose from the tortures, or from the testimonies
He principally and largely
cried up the king's virtues, which he had exhibited in the maintenance
and education of his sons; while he never could gain any advantage thereby,
but still fell from one misfortune to another
Although he owned that he
was not so much surprised with that thoughtless behavior of his former
sons, who were but young, and were besides corrupted by wicked counselors,
who were the occasion of their wiping out of their minds the righteous
dictates of nature, and this out of a desire of coming to the government
sooner than they ought to do; yet that he could not but justly stand amazed
at the horrid wickedness of Antipater, who, although he had not only had
great benefits bestowed on him by his father, enough to tame his reason,
yet could not be more tamed than the most envenomed serpents; whereas even
those creatures admit of some mitigation, and will not bite their benefactors,
while Antipater hath not let the misfortunes of his brethren be any hinderance
to him, but he hath gone on to imitate their barbarity notwithstanding.
"Yet wast thou, O Antipater! (as thou hast thyself confessed,) the
informer as to what wicked actions they had done, and the searcher out
of the evidence against them, and the author of the punishment they underwent
upon their detection
Nor do we say this as accusing thee for being so
zealous in thy anger against them, but are astonished at thy endeavors
to imitate their profligate behavior; and we discover thereby that thou
didst not act thus for the safety of thy father, but for the destruction
of thy brethren, that by such outside hatred of their impiety thou mightest
be believed a lover of thy father, and mightest thereby get thee power
enough to do mischief with the greatest impunity; which design thy actions
indeed demonstrate
It is true, thou tookest thy brethren off, because
thou didst convict theft of their wicked designs; but thou didst not yield
up to justice those who were their partners; and thereby didst make it
evident to all men that thou madest a covenant with them against thy father,
when thou chosest to be the accuser of thy brethren, as desirous to gain
to thyself alone this advantage of laying plots to kill thy father, and
so to enjoy double pleasure, which is truly worthy of thy evil disposition,
which thou has openly showed against thy brethren; on which account thou
didst rejoice, as having done a most famous exploit, nor was that behavior
unworthy of thee
But if thy intention were otherwise, thou art worse than
they: while thou didst contrive to hide thy treachery against thy father,
thou didst hate them, not as plotters against thy father, for in that case
thou hadst not thyself fallen upon the like crime, but as successors of
his dominions, and more worthy of that succession than thyself
Thou wouldst
kill thy father after thy brethren, lest thy lies raised against them might
be detected; and lest thou shouldst suffer what punishment thou hadst deserved,
thou hadst a mind to exact that punishment of thy unhappy father, and didst
devise such a sort of uncommon parricide as the world never yet saw
For
thou who art his son didst not only lay a treacherous design against thy
father, and didst it while he loved thee, and had been thy benefactor,
had made thee in reality his partner in the kingdom, and had openly declared
thee his successor, while thou wast not forbidden to taste the sweetness
of authority already, and hadst the firm hope of what was future by thy
father's determination, and the security of a written testament; but, for
certain, thou didst not measure these things according to thy father's
various disposition, but according to thy own thoughts and inclinations;
and was desirous to take the part that remained away from thy too indulgent
father, and soughtest to destroy him with thy deeds, whom thou in words
pretendedst to preserve
Nor wast thou content to be wicked thyself, but
thou filledst thy mother's head with thy devices, and raised disturbances
among thy brethren, and hadst the boldness to call thy father a wild beast;
while thou hadst thyself a mind more cruel than any serpent, whence thou
sentest out that poison among thy nearest kindred and greatest benefactors,
and invitedst them to assist thee and guard thee, and didst hedge thyself
in on all sides, by the artifices of both men and women, against an old
man, as though that mind of thine was not sufficient of itself to support
so great a hatred as thou baredst to him
And here thou appearest, after
the tortures of free-men, of domestics, of men and women, which have been
examined on thy account, and after the informations of thy fellow conspirators,
as making haste to contradict the truth; and hast thought on ways not only
how to take thy father out of the world, but to disannul that written law
which is against thee, and the virtue of Varus, and the nature of justice;
nay, such is that impudence of thine on which thou confidest, that thou
desirest to be put to the torture thyself, while thou allegest that the
tortures of those already examined thereby have made them tell lies; that
those that have been the deliverers of thy father may not be allowed to
have spoken the truth; but that thy tortures may be esteemed the discoverers
of truth
Wilt not thou, O Varus! deliver the king from the injuries of
his kindred? Wilt not thou destroy this wicked wild beast, which hath pretended
kindness to his father, in order to destroy his brethren; while yet he
is himself alone ready to carry off the kingdom immediately, and appears
to be the most bloody butcher to him of them all? for thou art sensible
that parricide is a general injury both to nature and to common life, and
that the intention of parricide is not inferior to its perpetration; and
he who does not punish it is injurious to nature itself." FJAJ 17.27
6. Nicolaus added further what belonged to Antipater's mother, and whatsoever
she had prattled like a woman; as also about the predictions and the sacrifices
relating to the king; and whatsoever Antipater had done lasciviously in
his cups and his amours among Pheroras's women; the examination upon torture;
and whatsoever concerned the testimonies of the witnesses, which were many,
and of various kinds; some prepared beforehand, and others were sudden
answers, which further declared and confirmed the foregoing evidence
For
those men who were not acquainted with Antipater's practices, but had concealed
them out of fear, when they saw that he was exposed to the accusations
of the former witnesses, and that his great good fortune, which had supported
him hitherto, had now evidently betrayed him into the hands of his enemies,
who were now insatiable in their hatred to him, told all they knew of him.
And his ruin was now hastened, not so much by the enmity of those that
were his accusers, as by his gross, and impudent, and wicked contrivances,
and by his ill-will to his father and his brethren; while he had filled
their house with disturbance, and caused them to murder one another; and
was neither fair in his hatred, nor kind in his friendship, but just so
far as served his own turn
Now there were a great number who for a long
time beforehand had seen all this, and especially such as were naturally
disposed to judge of matters by the rules of virtue, because they were
used to determine about affairs without passion, but had been restrained
from making any open complaints before; these, upon the leave now given
them, produced all that they knew before the public
The demonstrations
also of these wicked facts could no way be disproved, because the many
witnesses there were did neither speak out of favor to Herod, nor were
they obliged to keep what they had to say silent, out of suspicion of any
danger they were in; but they spake what they knew, because they thought
such actions very wicked, and that Antipater deserved the greatest punishment;
and indeed not so much for Herod's safety, as on account of the man's own
wickedness
Many things were also said, and those by a great number of
persons, who were no way obliged to say them, insomuch that Antipater,
who used generally to be very shrewd in his lies and impudence, was not
able to say one word to the contrary
When Nicolaus had left off speaking,
and had produced the evidence, Varus bid Antipater to betake himself to
the making his defense, if he had prepared any thing whereby it might appear
that he was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of; for that, as he
was himself desirous, so did he know that his father was in like manner
desirous also, to have him found entirely innocent
But Antipater fell
down on his face, and appealed to God and to all men for testimonials of
his innocency, desiring that God would declare, by some evident signals,
that he had not laid any plot against his father
This being the usual
method of all men destitute of virtue, that when they set about any wicked
undertakings, they fall to work according to their own inclinations, as
if they believed that God was unconcerned in human affairs; but when once
they are found out, and are in danger of undergoing the punishment due
to their crimes, they endeavor to overthrow all the evidence against them
by appealing to God; which was the very thing which Antipater now did;
for whereas he had done everything as if there were no God in the world,
when he was on all sides distressed by justice, and when he had no other
advantage to expect from any legal proofs, by which he might disprove the
accusations laid against him, he impudently abused the majesty of God,
and ascribed it to his power that he had been preserved hitherto; and produced
before them all what difficulties he had ever undergone in his bold acting
for his father's preservation. FJAJ 17.28
7. So when Varus, upon asking Antipater what he had to say for himself,
found that he had nothing to say besides his appeal to God, and saw that
there was no end of that, he bid them bring the potion before the court,
that he might see what virtue still remained in it; and when it was brought,
and one that was condemned to die had drank it by Varus's command, he died
presently
Then Varus got up, and departed out of the court, and went away
the day following to Antioch, where his usual residence was, because that
was the palace of the Syrians; upon which Herod laid his son in bonds.
But what were Varus's discourses to Herod was not known to the generality,
and upon what words it was that he went away; though it was also generally
supposed that whatsoever Herod did afterward about his son was done with
his approbation
But when Herod had bound his son, he sent letters to Rome
to Caesar about him, and such messengers withal as should, by word of mouth,
inform Caesar of Antipater's wickedness
Now at this very time there was
seized a letter of Antiphilus, written to Antipater out of Egypt (for he
lived there); and when it was opened by the king, it was found to contain
what follows: "I have sent thee Acme's letter, and hazarded my own
life; for thou knowest that I am in danger from two families, if I be discovered.
I wish thee good success in thy affair." These were the contents of
this letter; but the king made inquiry about the other letter also, for
it did not appear; and Antiphilus's slave, who brought that letter which
had been read, denied that he had received the other
But while the king
was in doubt about it, one of Herod's friends seeing a seam upon the inner
coat of the slave, and a doubling of the cloth, (for he had two coats on,)
he guessed that the letter might be within that doubling; which accordingly
proved to be true
So they took out the letter, and its contents were these:
"Acme to Antipater
I have written such a letter to thy father as
thou desiredst me
I have also taken a copy and sent it, as if it came
from Salome, to my lady [Livia]; which, when thou readest, I know that
Herod Will punish Salome, as plotting against him?' Now this pretended
letter of Salome to her lady was composed by Antipater, in the name of
Salome, as to its meaning, but in the words of Acme
The letter was this:
"Acme to king Herod
I have done my endeavor that nothing that is
done against thee should be concealed from thee
So, upon my finding a
letter of Salome written to my lady against thee, I have written out a
copy, and sent it to thee; with hazard to myself, but for thy advantage.
The reason why she wrote it was this, that she had a mind to be married
to Sylleus
Do thou therefore tear this letter in pieces, that I may not
come into danger of my life." Now Acme had written to Antipater himself,
and informed him, that, in compliance with his command, she had both herself
written to Herod, as if Salome had laid a sudden plot entirely against
him, and had herself sent a copy of an epistle, as coming from Salome to
her lady
Now Acme was a Jew by birth, and a servant to Julia, Caesar's
wife; and did this out of her friendship for Antipater, as having been
corrupted by him with a large present of money, to assist in his pernicious
designs against his father and his aunt. FJAJ 17.29
8. Hereupon Herod was so amazed at the prodigious wickedness of Antipater,
that he was ready to have ordered him to be slain immediately, as a turbulent
person in the most important concerns, and as one that had laid a plot
not only against himself, but against his sister also, and even corrupted
Caesar's own domestics
Salome also provoked him to it, beating her breast,
and bidding him kill her, if he could produce any credible testimony that
she had acted in that manner
Herod also sent for his son, and asked him
about this matter, and bid him contradict if he could, and not suppress
any thing he had to say for himself; and when he had not one word to say,
he asked him, since he was every way caught in his villainy, that he would
make no further delay, but discover his associates in these his wicked
designs
So he laid all upon Antiphilus, but discovered nobody else
Hereupon
Herod was in such great grief, that he was ready to send his son to Rome
to Caesar, there to give an account of these his wicked contrivances
But
he soon became afraid, lest he might there, by the assistance of his friends,
escape the danger he was in; so he kept him bound as before, and sent more
ambassadors and letters [to Rome] to accuse his son, and an account of
what assistance Acme had given him in his wicked designs, with copies of
the epistles before mentioned. FJAJ 17.30