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[213]
Now, upon the approach of that feast of unleavened bread, which the
law of their fathers had appointed for the Jews at this time, which feast
is called the Passover 1
and is a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt, when they offer sacrifices
with great alacrity; and when they are required to slay more sacrifices
in number than at any other festival; and when an innumerable multitude
came thither out of the country, nay, from beyond its limits also, in order
to worship God, the seditious lamented Judas and Matthias, those teachers
of the laws, and kept together in the temple, and had plenty of food, because
these seditious persons were not ashamed to beg it. And as Archelaus was
afraid lest some terrible thing should spring up by means of these men's
madness, he sent a regiment of armed men, and with them a captain of a
thousand, to suppress the violent efforts of the seditious before the whole
multitude should be infected with the like madness; and gave them this
charge, that if they found any much more openly seditious than others,
and more busy in tumultuous practices, they should bring them to him. But
those that were seditious on account of those teachers of the law, irritated
the people by the noise and clamors they used to encourage the people in
their designs; so they made an assault upon the soldiers, and came up to
them, and stoned the greatest part of them, although some of them ran away
wounded, and their captain among them; and when they had thus done, they
returned to the sacrifices which were already in their hands. Now Archelaus
thought there was no way to preserve the entire government but by cutting
off those who made this attempt upon it; so he sent out the whole army
upon them, and sent the horsemen to prevent those that had their tents
without the temple from assisting those that were within the temple, and
to kill such as ran away from the footmen when they thought themselves
out of danger; which horsemen slew three thousand men, while the rest went
to the neighboring mountains. Then did Archelaus order proclamation to
be made to them all, that they should retire to their own homes; so they
went away, and left the festival, out of fear of somewhat worse which would
follow, although they had been so bold by reason of their want of instruction.
So Archelaus went down to the sea with his mother, and took with him Nicolaus
and Ptolemy, and many others of his friends, and left Philip his brother
as governor of all things belonging both to his own family and to the public.
There went out also with him Salome, Herod's sister who took with her,
her children, and many of her kindred were with her; which kindred of hers
went, as they pretended, to assist Archelaus in gaining the kingdom, but
in reality to oppose him, and chiefly to make loud complaints of what he
had done in the temple. But Sabinus, Caesar's steward for Syrian affairs,
as he was making haste into Judea to preserve Herod's effects, met with
Archclaus at Caesarea; but Varus (president of Syria) came at that time,
and restrained him from meddling with them, for he was there as sent for
by Archceaus, by the means of Ptolemy. And Sabinus, out of regard to Varus,
did neither seize upon any of the castles that were among the Jews, nor
did he seal up the treasures in them, but permitted Archelaus to have them,
until Caesar should declare his resolution about them; so that, upon this
his promise, he tarried still at Cesarea. But after Archelaus was sailed
for Rome, and Varus was removed to Antioch, Sabinus went to Jerusalem,
and seized on the king's palace. He also sent for the keepers of the garrisons,
and for all those that had the charge of Herod's effects, and declared
publicly that he should require them to give an account of what they had;
and he disposed of the castles in the manner he pleased; but those who
kept them did not neglect what Archelaus had given them in command, but
continued to keep all things in the manner that had been enjoined them;
and their pretense was, that they kept them all for Caesar,
1 This passover, when the sedition here mentioned was moved against Archelaus, was not one, but thirteen months after the eclipse of the moon already mentioned.
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