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WHEN Cassius was gone out of Syria, another sedition arose at Jerusalem,
wherein Felix assaulted Phasaelus with an army, that he might revenge the
death of Malichus upon Herod, by falling upon his brother. Now Herod happened
then to be with Fabius, the governor of Damascus, and as he was going to
his brother's assistance, he was detained by sickness; in the mean time,
Phasaelus was by himself too hard for Felix, and reproached Hyrcanus on
account of his ingratitude, both for what assistance he had afforded Maliehus,
and for overlooking Malichus's brother, when he possessed himself of the
fortresses; for he had gotten a great many of them already, and among them
the strongest of them all, Masada.
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However, nothing could be sufficient for him against the force of
Herod, who, as soon as he was recovered, took the other fortresses again,
and drove him out of Masada in the posture of a supplicant; he also drove
away Marion, the tyrant of the Tyrians, out of Galilee, when he had already
possessed himself of three fortified places; but as to those Tyrians whom
he had caught, he preserved them all alive; nay, some of them he gave presents
to, and so sent them away, and thereby procured good-will to himself from
the city, and hatred to the tyrant. Marion had indeed obtained that tyrannical
power of Cassius, who set tyrants over all Syria
2
and out of hatred to Herod it was that he assisted Antigonus, the son of
Aristobulus, and principally on Fabius's account, whom Antigonus had made
his assistant by money, and had him accordingly on his side when he made
his descent; but it was Ptolemy, the kinsman of Antigonus, that supplied
all that he wanted.
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When Herod had fought against these in the avenues of Judea, he was
conqueror in the battle, and drove away Antigonus, and returned to Jerusalem,
beloved by every body for the glorious action he had done; for those who
did not before favor him did join themselves to him now, because of his
marriage into the family of Hyrcanus; for as he had formerly married a
wife out of his own country of no ignoble blood, who was called Doris,
of whom he begat Antipater; so did he now marry Mariamne, the daughter
of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, and the granddaughter of Hyrcanus,
and was become thereby a relation of the king.
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But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi, and Caesar
was gone to Italy, and Antony to Asia, amongst the rest of the cities which
sent ambassadors to Antony unto Bithynia, the great men of the Jews came
also, and accused Phasaelus and Herod, that they kept the government by
force, and that Hyrcanus had no more than an honorable name. Herod appeared
ready to answer this accusation; and having made Antony his friend by the
large sums of money which he gave him, he brought him to such a temper
as not to hear the others speak against him; and thus did they part at
this time.
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However, after this, there came a hundred of the principal men among
the Jews to Daphne by Antioch to Antony, who was already in love with Cleopatra
to the degree of slavery; these Jews put those men that were the most potent,
both in dignity and eloquence, foremost, and accused the brethren.
3
But Messala opposed them, and defended the brethren, and that while Hyrcanus
stood by him, on account of his relation to them. When Antony had heard
both sides, he asked Hyrcanus which party was the fittest to govern, who
replied that Herod and his party were the fittest. Antony was glad of that
answer, for he had been formerly treated in an hospitable and obliging
manner by his father Antipater, when he marched into Judea with Gabinius;
so he constituted the brethren tetrarchs, and committed to them the government
of Judea.
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But when the ambassadors had indignation at this procedure, Antony
took fifteen of them, and put them into custody, whom he was also going
to kill presently, and the rest he drove away with disgrace; on which occasion
a still greater tumult arose at Jerusalem; so they sent again a thousand
ambassadors to Tyre, where Antony now abode, as he was marching to Jerusalem;
upon these men who made a clamor he sent out the governor of Tyre, and
ordered him to punish all that he could catch of them, and to settle those
in the administration whom he had made tetrarchs.
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But before this Herod, and Hyrcanus went out upon the sea-shore,
and earnestly desired of these ambassadors that they would neither bring
ruin upon themselves, nor war upon their native country, by their rash
contentions; and when they grew still more outrageous, Antony sent out
armed men, and slew a great many, and wounded more of them; of whom those
that were slain were buried by Hyrcanus, as were the wounded put under
the care of physicians by him; yet would not those that had escaped be
quiet still, but put the affairs of the city into such disorder, and so
provoked Antony, that he slew those whom he had in bonds also.