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ABOUT this time it was that Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came
to Caesar, and became, in a surprising manner, the occasion of Antipater's
further advancement; for whereas he ought to have lamented that his father
appeared to have been poisoned on account of his quarrels with Pompey,
and to have complained of Scipio's barbarity towards his brother, and not
to mix any invidious passion when he was suing for mercy; besides those
things, he came before Caesar, and accused Hyrcanus and Antipater, how
they had driven him and his brethren entirely out of their native country,
and had acted in a great many instances unjustly and extravagantly with
relation to their nation; and that as to the assistance they had sent him
into Egypt, it was not done out of good-will to him, but out of the fear
they were in from former quarrels, and in order to gain pardon for their
friendship to [his enemy] Pompey.
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Hereupon Antipater threw away his garments, and showed the multitude
of the wounds he had, and said, that as to his good-will to Caesar, he
had no occasion to say a word, because his body cried aloud, though he
said nothing himself; that he wondered at Antigonus's boldness, while he
was himself no other than the son of an enemy to the Romans, and of a fugitive,
and had it by inheritance from his father to be fond of innovations and
seditions, that he should undertake to accuse other men before the Roman
governor, and endeavor to gain some advantages to himself, when he ought
to be contented that he was suffered to live; for that the reason of his
desire of governing public affairs was not so much because he was in want
of it, but because, if he could once obtain the same, he might stir up
a sedition among the Jews, and use what he should gain from the Romans
to the disservice of those that gave it him.
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When Caesar heard this, he declared Hyrcanus to be the most worthy
of the high priesthood, and gave leave to Antipater to choose what authority
he pleased; but he left the determination of such dignity to him that bestowed
the dignity upon him; so he was constituted procurator of all Judea, and
obtained leave, moreover, to rebuild
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those walls of his country that had been thrown down. These honorary grants
Caesar sent orders to have engraved in the Capitol, that they might stand
there as indications of his own justice, and of the virtue of Antipater.
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But as soon as Antipater had conducted Caesar out of Syria he returned
to Judea, and the first thing he did was to rebuild that wall of his own
country [Jerusalem] which Pompey had overthrown, and then to go over the
country, and to quiet the tumults that were therein; where he partly threatened,
and partly advised, every one, and told them that in case they would submit
to Hyrcanus, they would live happily and peaceably, and enjoy what they
possessed, and that with universal peace and quietness; but that in case
they hearkened to such as had some frigid hopes by raising new troubles
to get themselves some gain, they should then find him to be their lord
instead of their procurator; and find Hyrcanus to be a tyrant instead of
a king; and both the Romans and Caesar to be their enemies, instead of
rulers; for that they would not suffer him to be removed from the government,
whom they had made their governor. And, at the same time that he said this,
he settled the affairs of the country by himself, because he saw that Hyrcanus
was inactive, and not fit to manage the affairs of the kingdom. So he constituted
his eldest son, Phasaelus, governor of Jerusalem, and of the parts about
it; he also sent his next son, Herod, who was very young,
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with equal authority into Galilee.
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Now Herod was an active man, and soon found proper materials for
his active spirit to work upon. As therefore he found that Hezekias, the
head of the robbers, ran over the neighboring parts of Syria with a great
band of men, he caught him and slew him, and many more of the robbers with
him; which exploit was chiefly grateful to the Syrians, insomuch that hymns
were sung in Herod's commendation, both in the villages and in the cities,
as having procured their quietness, and having preserved what they possessed
to them; on which occasion he became acquainted with Sextus Caesar, a kinsman
of the great Caesar, and president of Syria. A just emulation of his glorious
actions excited Phasaelus also to imitate him. Accordingly, he procured
the good-will of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, by his own management of
the city affairs, and did not abuse his power in any disagreeable manner;
whence it came to pass that the nation paid Antipater the respects that
were due only to a king, and the honors they all yielded him were equal
to the honors due to an absolute lord; yet did he not abate any part of
that good-will or fidelity which he owed to Hyrcanus.
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However, he found it impossible to escape envy in such his prosperity;
for the glory of these young men affected even Hyrcanus himself already
privately, though he said nothing of it to any body; but what he principally
was grieved at was the great actions of Herod, and that so many messengers
came one before another, and informed him of the great reputation he got
in all his undertakings. There were also many people in the royal palace
itself who inflamed his envy at him; those, I mean, who were obstructed
in their designs by the prudence either of the young men, or of Antipater.
These men said, that by committing the public affairs to the management
of Antipater and of his sons, he sat down with nothing but the bare name
of a king, without any of its authority; and they asked him how long he
would so far mistake himself, as to breed up kings against his own interest;
for that they did not now conceal their government of affairs any longer,
but were plainly lords of the nation, and had thrust him out of his authority;
that this was the case when Herod slew so many men without his giving him
any command to do it, either by word of mouth, or by his letter, and this
in contradiction to the law of the Jews; who therefore, in case he be not
a king, but a private man, still ought to come to his trial, and answer
it to him, and to the laws of his country, which do not permit any one
to be killed till he hath been condemned in judgment.
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Now Hyrcanus was, by degrees, inflamed with these discourses, and
at length could bear no longer, but he summoned Herod to take his trial.
Accordingly, by his father's advice, and as soon as the affairs of Galilee
would give him leave, he came up to [Jerusalem], when he had first placed
garrisons in Galilee; however, he came with a sufficient body of soldiers,
so many indeed that he might not appear to have with him an army able to
overthrow Hyrcanus's government, nor yet so few as to expose him to the
insults of those that envied him. However, Sextus Caesar was in fear for
the young man, lest he should be taken by his enemies, and brought to punishment;
so he sent some to denounce expressly to Hyrcanus that he should acquit
Herod of the capital charge against him; who acquitted him accordingly,
as being otherwise inclined also so to do, for he loved Herod.
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But Herod, supposing that he had escaped punishment without the consent
of the king, retired to Sextus, to Damascus, and got every thing ready,
in order not to obey him if he should summon him again; whereupon those
that were evil-disposed irritated Hyrcanus, and told him that Herod was
gone away in anger, and was prepared to make war upon him; and as the king
believed what they said, he knew not what to do, since he saw his antagonist
was stronger than he was himself. And now, since Herod was made general
of Coelesyria and Samaria by Sextus Caesar, he was formidable, not only
from the good-will which the nation bore him, but by the power he himself
had; insomuch that Hyrcanus fell into the utmost degree of terror, and
expected he would presently march against him with his army.
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Nor was he mistaken in the conjecture he made; for Herod got his
army together, out of the anger he bare him for his threatening him with
the accusation in a public court, and led it to Jerusalem, in order to
throw Hyrcanus down from his kingdom; and this he had soon done, unless
his father and brother had gone out together and broken the force of his
fury, and this by exhorting him to carry his revenge no further than to
threatening and affrighting, but to spare the king, under whom he had been
advanced to such a degree of power; and that he ought not to be so much
provoked at his being tried, as to forget to be thankful that he was acquitted;
nor so long to think upon what was of a melancholy nature, as to be ungrateful
for his deliverance; and if we ought to reckon that God is the arbitrator
of success in war, an unjust cause is of more disadvantage than an army
can be of advantage; and that therefore he ought not to be entirely confident
of success in a case where he is to fight against his king, his supporter,
and one that had often been his benefactor, and that had never been severe
to him, any otherwise than as he had hearkened to evil counselors, and
this no further than by bringing a shadow of injustice upon him. So Herod
was prevailed upon by these arguments, and supposed that what he had already
done was sufficient for his future hopes, and that he had enough shown
his power to the nation.
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In the mean time, there was a disturbance among the Romans about
Apamia, and a civil war occasioned by the treacherous slaughter of Sextus
Caesar, by Cecilius Bassus, which he perpetrated out of his good-will to
Pompey; he also took the authority over his forces; but as the rest of
Caesar's commanders attacked Bassus with their whole army, in order to
punish him for the murder of Caesar, Antipater also sent them assistance
by his sons, both on account of him that was murdered, and on account of
that Caesar who was still alive, both of which were their friends; and
as this war grew to be of a considerable length, Marcus came out of Italy
as successor to Sextus.