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[220]
So he gave command that the Jews should bring in seven hundred talents;
whereupon Antipater, out of his dread of Cassius's threats, parted the
raising of this sum among his sons, and among others of his acquaintance,
and to be done immediately; and among them he required one Malichus, who
was at enmity with him, to do his part also, which necessity forced him
to do. Now Herod, in the first place, mitigated the passion of Cassius,
by bringing his share out of Galilee, which was a hundred talents, on which
account he was in the highest favor with him; and when he reproached the
rest for being tardy, he was angry at the cities themselves; so he made
slaves of Gophna and Emmaus, and two others of less note; nay, he proceeded
as if he would kill Malichus, because he had not made greater haste in
exacting his tribute; but Antipater prevented the ruin of this man, and
of the other cities, and got into Cassius's favor by bringing in a hundred
talents immediately. 1
1 It appears evidently by Josephus's accounts, both here and in his Antiquities, B. XIV. ch. 11. sect. 2, that this Cassius, one of Caesar's murderers, was a bitter oppressor, and exactor of tribute in Judea. These seven hundred talents amount to about three hundred thousand pounds sterling, and are about half the yearly revenues of king Herod afterwards. See the note on Antiq. B. XVII. ch. 11. sect. 4. It also appears that Galilee then paid no more than one hundred talents, or the seventh part of the entire sum to be levied in all the country.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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