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[240]
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.
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