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WHEN Antipater had thus taken off his brethren, and had brought his
father into the highest degree of impiety, till he was haunted with furies
for what he had done, his hopes did not succeed to his mind, as to the
rest of his life; for although he was delivered from the fear of his brethren
being his rivals as to the government, yet did he find it a very hard thing,
and almost impracticable, to come at the kingdom, because the hatred of
the nation against him on that account was become very great; and besides
this very disagreeable circumstance, the affair of the soldiery grieved
him still more, who were alienated from him, from which yet these kings
derived all the safety which they had, whenever they found the nation desirous
of innovation: and all this danger was drawn upon him by his destruction
of his brethren. However, he governed the nation jointly with his father,
being indeed no other than a king already; and he was for that very reason
trusted, and the more firmly depended on, for the which he ought himself
to have been put to death, as appearing to have betrayed his brethren out
of his concern for the preservation of Herod, and not rather out of his
ill-will to them, and, before them, to his father himself: and this was
the accursed state he was in. Now all Antipater's contrivances tended to
make his way to take off Herod, that he might have nobody to accuse him
in the vile practices he was devising: and that Herod might have no refuge,
nor any to afford him their assistance, since they must thereby have Antipater
for their open enemy; insomuch that the very plots he had laid against
his brethren were occasioned by the hatred he bore his father. But at this
time he was more than ever set upon the execution of his attempts against
Herod, because if he were once dead, the government would now be firmly
secured to him; but if he were suffered to live any longer, he should be
in danger, upon a discovery of that wickedness of which he had been the
contriver, and his father would of necessity then become his enemy. And
on this account it was that he became very bountiful to his father's friends,
and bestowed great sums on several of them, in order to surprise men with
his good deeds, and take off their hatred against him. And he sent great
presents to his friends at Rome particularly, to gain their good-will;
and above all to Saturninus, the president of Syria. He also hoped to gain
the favor of Saturninus's brother with the large presents he bestowed on
him; as also he used the same art to [Salome] the king's sister, who had
married one of Herod's chief friends. And when he counterfeited friendship
to those with whom he conversed, he was very subtle in gaining their belief,
and very cunning to hide his hatred against any that he really did hate.
But he could not impose upon his aunt, who understood him of a long time,
and was a woman not easily to be deluded, especially while she had already
used all possible caution in preventing his pernicious designs. Although
Antipeter's uncle by the mother's side was married to her daughter, and
this by his own connivance and management, while she had before been married
to Aristobulus, and while Salome's other daughter by that husband was married
to the son of Calleas; yet that marriage was no obstacle to her, who knew
how wicked he was, in her discovering his designs, as her former kindred
to him could not prevent her hatred of him. Now Herod had compelled Salome,
while she was in love with Sylleus the Arabian, and had taken a fondness
for him, to marry Alexas; which match was by her submitted to at the instance
of Julia, who persuaded Salome not to refuse it, lest she should herself
be their open enemy, since Herod had sworn that he would never be friends
with Salome, if she would not accept of Alexas for her husband; so she
submitted to Julia as being Caesar's wife; and besides that, she advised
her to nothing but what was very much for her own advantage. At this time
also it was that Herod sent back king Archelaus's daughter, who had been
Alexander's wife, to her father, returning the portion he had with her
out of his own estate, that there might be no dispute between them about
it.
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