This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
View text chunked by:
[66]
BUT now the affairs in Herod's family were in more and more disorder,
and became more severe upon him, by the hatred of Salome to the young men
[Alexander and Aristobulus], which descended as it were by inheritance
[from their mother Mariamne]; and as she had fully succeeded against their
mother, so she proceeded to that degree of madness and insolence, as to
endeavor that none of her posterity might be left alive, who might have
it in their power to revenge her death. The young men had also somewhat
of a bold and uneasy disposition towards their father occasioned by the
remembrance of what their mother had unjustly suffered, and by their own
affectation of dominion. The old grudge was also renewed; and they east
reproaches on Salome and Pheroras, who requited the young men with malicious
designs, and actually laid treacherous snares for them. Now as for this
hatred, it was equal on both sides, but the manner of exerting that hatred
was different; for as for the young men, they were rash, reproaching and
affronting the others openly, and were inexperienced enough to think it
the most generous to declare their minds in that undaunted manner; but
the others did not take that method, but made use of calumnies after a
subtle and a spiteful manner, still provoking the young men, and imagining
that their boldness might in time turn to the offering violence to their
father; for inasmuch as they were not ashamed of the pretended crimes of
their mother, nor thought she suffered justly, these supposed that might
at length exceed all bounds, and induce them to think they ought to be
avenged on their father, though it were by despatching him with their own
hands. At length it came to this, that the whole city was full of their
discourses, and, as is usual in such contests, the unskilfulness of the
young men was pitied; but the contrivance of Salome was too hard for them,
and what imputations she laid upon them came to be believed, by means of
their own conduct; for they who were so deeply affected with the death
of their mother, that while they said both she and themselves were in a
miserable case, they vehemently complained of her pitiable end, which indeed
was truly such, and said that they were themselves in a pitiable case also,
because they were forced to live with those that had been her murderers,
and to be partakers with them.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.