380. When Herod had encouraged them by this speech, and he saw with what alacrity they went, he offered sacrifice to God; and after that sacrifice, he passed over the river Jordan with his army, and pitched his camp about Philadelphia, near the enemy, and about a fortification that lay between them. He then shot at them at a distance, and was desirous to come to an engagement presently; for some of them had been sent beforehand to seize upon that fortification: but the king sent some who immediately beat them out of the fortification, while he himself went in the forefront of the army, which he put in battle-array every day, and invited the Arabians to fight. But as none of them came out of their camp, for they were in a terrible fright, and their general, Elthemus, was not able to say a word for fear, - so Herod came upon them, and pulled their fortification to pieces, by which means they were compelled to come out to fight, which they did in disorder, and so that the horsemen and foot-men were mixed together. They were indeed superior to the Jews in number, but inferior in their alacrity, although they were obliged to expose themselves to danger by their very despair of victory.
380. Τούτοις παρακροτήσας τὸν στρατὸν ὡς ἑώρα προθύμους, ἔθυεν τῷ θεῷ καὶ μετὰ τὴν θυσίαν διέβαινεν τὸν Ἰορδάνην ποταμὸν μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως. στρατοπεδευσάμενος δὲ περὶ Φιλαδέλφειαν ἐγγὺς τῶν πολεμίων περὶ τοῦ μεταξὺ φρουρίου πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἠκροβολίζετο βουλόμενος ἐν τάχει συμβαλεῖν· ἔτυχον γὰρ κἀκεῖνοί τινας προπεπομφότες τοὺς καταληψομένους τὸ ἔρυμα. τούτους μὲν οὖν ἀπεκρούσαντο ταχέως οἱ πεμφθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὸν λόφον κατέσχον, αὐτὸς δὲ καθʼ ἡμέραν προάγων τὴν δύναμιν εἰς μάχην παρετάσσετο καὶ προεκαλεῖτο τοὺς Ἄραβας. ὡς δʼ οὐδεὶς ἐπεξῄει, δεινὴ γάρ τις αὐτοὺς κατάπληξις εἶχε καὶ πρὸ τοῦ πλήθους ὁ στρατηγὸς Ἔλθεμος αὖος ἦν τῷ δέει, προσελθὼν ἐσπάραττεν αὐτῶν τὸ χαράκωμα. κἀν τούτῳ συναναγκασθέντες ἐξίασιν ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην ἄτακτοι καὶ πεφυρμένοι τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν οἱ πεζοί. πλήθει μὲν οὖν τῶν Ἰουδαίων περιῆσαν, ἐλείποντο δὲ ταῖς προθυμίαις καίτοι διὰ τὴν ἀπόγνωσιν τῆς νίκης ὄντες καὶ αὐτοὶ παράβολοι.
383. Now while they made opposition, they had not a great number slain; but as soon as they turned their backs, a great many were trodden to pieces by the Jews, and a great many by themselves, and so perished, till five thousand were fallen down dead in their flight, while the rest of the multitude prevented their immediate death, by crowding into the fortification. Herod encompassed these around, and besieged them; and while they were ready to be taken by their enemies in arms, they had another additional distress upon them, which was thirst and want of water; for the king was above hearkening to their ambassadors; and when they offered five hundred talents, as the price of their redemption, he pressed still harder upon them. And as they were burnt up by their thirst, they came out and voluntarily delivered themselves up by multitudes to the Jews, till in five days’ time four thousand of them were put into bonds; and on the sixth day the multitude that were left despaired of saving themselves, and came out to fight: with these Herod fought, and slew again about seven thousand, insomuch that he punished Arabia so severely, and so far extinguished the spirits of the men, that he was chosen by the nation for their ruler.
383. Διὸ μέχρι μὲν ἀντεῖχον οὐ πολὺς ἦν αὐτῶν φόνος, ὡς δʼ ὑπέδειξαν τὰ νῶτα, πολλοὶ μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων πολλοὶ δὲ ὑπὸ σφῶν αὐτῶν συμπατούμενοι διεφθείροντο· πεντακισχίλιοι γοῦν ἔπεσον ἐν τῇ τροπῇ, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν πλῆθος ἔφθη συνωσθὲν εἰς τὸ χαράκωμα. τούτους περισχὼν ἐπολιόρκει, καὶ μέλλοντας ἁλώσεσθαι τοῖς ὅπλοις προκατήπειγεν ἡ δίψα τῶν ὑδάτων ἐπιλειπόντων. ὑπερηφάνει δὲ πρεσβευομένους ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ λύτρα διδόντων πεντακόσια τάλαντα μᾶλλον ἐνέκειτο. τοῦ δὲ δίψους ἐκκαίοντος ἐξιόντες κατὰ πλῆθος ἐνεχείριζον σφᾶς αὐτοὺς τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἑκόντες, ὡς πέντε μὲν ἡμέραις τετρακισχιλίους δεθῆναι, τῇ δʼ ἕκτῃ τὸ λειπόμενον πλῆθος ὑπʼ ἀπογνώσεως ἐξελθεῖν ἐπὶ μάχην· οἷς συμβαλὼν Ἡρώδης πάλιν εἰς ἑπτακισχιλίους κτείνει. τηλικαύτῃ πληγῇ τὴν Ἀραβίαν ἀμυνάμενος καὶ σβέσας τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὰ φρονήματα προύκοψεν ὥστε καὶ προστάτης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔθνους αἱρεθῆναι.
386. BUT now Herod was under immediate concern about a most important affair, on account of his friendship with Antony, who was already overcome at Actium by Caesar; yet he was more afraid than hurt; for Caesar did not think he had quite undone Antony, while Herod continued his assistance to him. However, the king resolved to expose himself to dangers: accordingly he sailed to Rhodes, where Caesar then abode, and came to him without his diadem, and in the habit and appearance of a private person, but in his behavior as a king. So he concealed nothing of the truth, but spike thus before his face: “O Caesar, as I was made king of the Jews by Antony, so do I profess that I have used my royal authority in the best manner, and entirely for his advantage; nor will I conceal this further, that thou hadst certainly found me in arms, and an inseparable companion of his, had not the Arabians hindered me. However, I sent him as many auxiliaries as I was able, and many ten thousand [cori] of corn. Nay, indeed, I did not desert my benefactor after the bow that was given him at Actium; but I gave him the best advice I was able, when I was no longer able to assist him in the war; and I told him that there was but one way of recovering his affairs, and that was to kill Cleopatra; and I promised him that, if she were once dead, I would afford him money and walls for his security, with an army and myself to assist him in his war against thee: but his affections for Cleopatra stopped his ears, as did God himself also who hath bestowed the government on thee. I own myself also to be overcome together with him; and with his last fortune I have laid aside my diadem, and am come hither to thee, having my hopes of safety in thy virtue; and I desire that thou wilt first consider how faithful a friend, and not whose friend, I have been.”
386. Μεταλαμβάνει δὲ αὐτὸν εὐθέως ἡ περὶ τῶν ὅλων πραγμάτων φροντὶς διὰ τὴν πρὸς Ἀντώνιον φιλίαν Καίσαρος περὶ Ἄκτιον νενικηκότος. παρεῖχεν μέντοι δέους πλέον ἢ ἔπασχεν· οὔπω γὰρ ἑαλωκέναι Καῖσαρ Ἀντώνιον ἔκρινεν Ἡρώδου συμμένοντος. ὅ γε μὴν βασιλεὺς ὁμόσε χωρῆσαι τῷ κινδύνῳ διέγνω, καὶ πλεύσας εἰς Ῥόδον, ἔνθα διέτριβεν Καῖσαρ, πρόσεισιν αὐτῷ δίχα διαδήματος, τὴν μὲν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὸ σχῆμα ἰδιώτης, τὸ δὲ φρόνημα βασιλεύς· μηδὲν γοῦν τῆς ἀληθείας ὑποστειλάμενος ἄντικρυς εἶπεν· ἐγώ, Καῖσαρ, ὑπὸ Ἀντωνίου βασιλεὺς γενόμενος ἐν πᾶσιν ὁμολογῶ γεγονέναι χρήσιμος Ἀντωνίῳ. καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ ἂν ὑποστειλαίμην εἰπεῖν, ὅτι πάντως ἄν με μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων ἐπείρασας εὐχάριστον, εἰ μὴ διεκώλυσαν Ἄραβες. καὶ συμμαχίαν μέντοι γε αὐτῷ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν καὶ σίτου πολλὰς ἔπεμψα μυριάδας, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐν Ἀκτίῳ πληγὴν κατέλιπον τὸν εὐεργέτην, ἐγενόμην δὲ σύμβουλος ἄριστος, ὡς οὐκέτι χρήσιμος ἤμην σύμμαχος, μίαν εἶναι λέγων τῶν πταισθέντων διόρθωσιν τὸν Κλεοπάτρας θάνατον· ἣν ἀνελόντι καὶ χρήματα καὶ τείχη πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν καὶ στρατιὰν καὶ ἐμαυτὸν ὑπισχνούμην κοινωνὸν τοῦ πρὸς σὲ πολέμου. τοῦ δʼ ἄρα τὰς ἀκοὰς ἀπέφραξαν οἱ Κλεοπάτρας ἵμεροι καὶ θεὸς ὁ σοὶ τὸ κρατεῖν χαριζόμενος. συνήττημαι δʼ Ἀντωνίῳ καὶ τέθεικα μετὰ τῆς ἐκείνου τύχης τὸ διάδημα. πρὸς σὲ δὲ ἦλθον ἔχων τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς σωτηρίας ἐλπίδα καὶ προλαβὼν ἐξετασθήσεσθαι, ποταπὸς φίλος, οὐ τίνος, ἐγενόμην.
391. Caesar replied to him thus: “Nay, thou shalt not only be in safety, but thou shalt be a king; and that more firmly than thou wast before; for thou art worthy to reign over a great many subjects, by reason of the fastness of thy friendship; and do thou endeavor to be equally constant in thy friendship to me, upon my good success, which is what I depend upon from the generosity of thy disposition. However, Antony hath done well in preferring Cleopatra to thee; for by this means we have gained thee by her madness, and thus thou hast begun to be my friend before I began to be thine; on which account Quintus Didius hath written to me that thou sentest him assistance against the gladiators. I do therefore assure thee that I will confirm the kingdom to thee by decree: I shall also endeavor to do thee some further kindness hereafter, that thou mayst find no loss in the want of Antony.”
391. Πρὸς ταῦτα Καῖσαρ ἀλλὰ σώζου γε, ἔφη, καὶ βασίλευε νῦν βεβαιότερον· ἄξιος γὰρ εἶ πολλῶν ἄρχειν οὕτω φιλίας προϊστάμενος. πειρῶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς εὐτυχεστέροις διαμένειν πιστός, ὡς ἔγωγε λαμπροτάτας ὑπὲρ τοῦ σοῦ φρονήματος ἐλπίδας ἔχω. καλῶς μέντοι γε ἐποίησεν Ἀντώνιος Κλεοπάτρᾳ πεισθεὶς μᾶλλον ἢ σοί· καὶ γὰρ σὲ κεκερδήκαμεν ἐκ τῆς ἀνοίας αὐτοῦ. κατάρχεις δʼ, ὡς ἔοικεν, εὐποιίας διʼ ὧν μοι γράφει καὶ Βεντίδιος συμμαχίαν σε πεπομφέναι πρὸς τοὺς μονομάχους αὐτῷ. νῦν μὲν οὖν δόγματι τὸ βέβαιόν σοι τῆς βασιλείας ἐξαγγέλλω. πειράσομαι δὲ καὶ αὖθις ἀγαθόν τί σε ποιεῖν, ὡς μὴ ζητοίης Ἀντώνιον.
393. When Caesar had spoken such obliging things to the king, and had put the diadem again about his head, he proclaimed what he had bestowed on him by a decree, in which he enlarged in the commendation of the man after a magnificent manner. Whereupon Herod obliged him to be kind to him by the presents he gave him, and he desired him to forgive Alexander, one of Antony's friends, who was become a supplicant to him. But Caesar's anger against him prevailed, and he complained of the many and very great offenses the man whom he petitioned for had been guilty of; and by that means he rejected his petition. After this Caesar went for Egypt through Syria, when Herod received him with royal and rich entertainments; and then did he first of all ride along with Caesar, as he was reviewing his army about Ptolemais, and feasted him with all his friends, and then distributed among the rest of the army what was necessary to feast them withal. He also made a plentiful provision of water for them, when they were to march as far as Pelusium, through a dry country, which he did also in like manner at their return thence; nor were there any necessaries wanting to that army. It was therefore the opinion, both of Caesar and of his soldiers, that Herod's kingdom was too small for those generous presents he made them; for which reason, when Caesar was come into Egypt, and Cleopatra and Antony were dead, he did not only bestow other marks of honor upon him, but made an addition to his kingdom, by giving him not only the country which had been taken from him by Cleopatra, but besides that, Gadara, and Hippos, and Samaria; and moreover, of the maritime cities, Gaza and Anthedon, and Joppa, and Strato's Tower. He also made him a present of four hundred Galls [Galatians] as a guard for his body, which they had been to Cleopatra before. Nor did any thing so strongly induce Caesar to make these presents as the generosity of him that received them.
393. Τούτοις φιλοφρονησάμενος τὸν βασιλέα καὶ περιθεὶς αὐτῷ τὸ διάδημα δόγματι διεσήμαινεν τὴν δωρεάν, ἐν ᾧ πολλὰ μεγαλοφρόνως εἰς ἔπαινον τἀνδρὸς ἐφθέγξατο. ὁ δὲ δώροις ἐπιμειλιξάμενος αὐτὸν ἐξῃτεῖτό τινα τῶν Ἀντωνίου φίλων Ἀλεξᾶν ἱκέτην γενόμενον· ἐνίκα δὲ ἡ Καίσαρος ὀργὴ πολλὰ καὶ χαλεπὰ μεμφομένου τὸν ἐξαιτούμενον οἷς διεκρούσατο τὴν δέησιν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πορευόμενον ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον διὰ Συρίας Καίσαρα παντὶ τῷ βασιλικῷ πλούτῳ δεξάμενος Ἡρώδης τότε πρῶτον καὶ συνιππάσατο ποιουμένου περὶ Πτολεμαΐδα τῆς δυνάμεως ἐξέτασιν εἱστίασέν τε σὺν ἅπασιν τοῖς φίλοις· μεθʼ οὓς καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ στρατιᾷ πρὸς εὐωχίαν πάντα διέδωκεν. προυνόησεν δὲ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀνύδρου πορευομένοις μέχρι Πηλουσίου παρασχεῖν ὕδωρ ἄφθονον ἐπανιοῦσί τε ὁμοίως, οὐδὲ ἔστιν ὅ τι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐνεδέησεν τῇ δυνάμει. δόξα γοῦν αὐτῷ τε Καίσαρι καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις παρέστη πολλῷ βραχυτέραν περιεῖναι Ἡρώδῃ βασιλείαν πρὸς ἃ παρέσχεν. διὰ τοῦτο, ὡς ἧκεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἤδη Κλεοπάτρας καὶ Ἀντωνίου τεθνεώτων, οὐ μόνον αὐτοῦ ταῖς ἄλλαις τιμαῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ προσέθηκεν τήν τε ὑπὸ Κλεοπάτρας ἀποτμηθεῖσαν χώραν καὶ ἔξωθεν Γάδαρα καὶ Ἵππον καὶ Σαμάρειαν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τῶν παραλίων Γάζαν καὶ Ἀνθηδόνα καὶ Ἰόππην καὶ Στράτωνος πύργον· ἐδωρήσατο δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ πρὸς φυλακὴν τοῦ σώματος τετρακοσίους Γαλάτας, οἳ πρότερον ἐδορυφόρουν Κλεοπάτραν. οὐδὲν δὲ οὕτως ἐνῆγεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς δωρεὰς ὡς τὸ μεγαλόφρον τοῦ λαμβάνοντος.
398. Moreover, after the first games at Actium, he added to his kingdom both the region called Trachonitis, and what lay in its neighborhood, Batanea, and the country of Auranitis; and that on the following occasion: Zenodorus, who had hired the house of Lysanias, had all along sent robbers out of Trachonitis among the Damascenes; who thereupon had recourse to Varro, the president of Syria, and desired of him that he would represent the calamity they were in to Caesar. When Caesar was acquainted with it, he sent back orders that this nest of robbers should be destroyed. Varro therefore made an expedition against them, and cleared the land of those men, and took it away from Zenodorus. Caesar did also afterward bestow it on Herod, that it might not again become a receptacle for those robbers that had come against Damascus. He also made him a procurator of all Syria, and this on the tenth year afterward, when he came again into that province; and this was so established, that the other procurators could not do any thing in the administration without his advice: but when Zenodorus was dead, Caesar bestowed on him all that land which lay between Trachonitis and Galilee. Yet, what was still of more consequence to Herod, he was beloved by Caesar next after Agrippa, and by Agrippa next after Caesar; whence he arrived at a very great degree of felicity. Yet did the greatness of his soul exceed it, and the main part of his magnanimity was extended to the promotion of piety.
398. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν πρώτην ἀκτιάδα προστίθησιν αὐτοῦ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τόν τε Τράχωνα καλούμενον καὶ τὴν προσεχῆ Βαταναίαν τε καὶ τὴν Αὐρανῖτιν χώραν ἐξ αἰτίας τοιᾶσδε· Ζηνόδωρος ὁ τὸν Λυσανίου μεμισθωμένος οἶκον οὐ διέλειπεν ἐπαφεὶς τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ Τράχωνος λῃστὰς Δαμασκηνοῖς. οἱ δʼ ἐπὶ Οὐάρρωνα τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῆς Συρίας καταφυγόντες ἐδεήθησαν δηλῶσαι τὴν συμφορὰν αὐτῶν Καίσαρι· Καῖσαρ δὲ γνοὺς ἀντεπέστελλεν ἐξαιρεθῆναι τὸ λῃστήριον. στρατεύσας οὖν Οὐάρρων καθαίρει τε τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἀφαιρεῖται Ζηνόδωρον· ἣν ὕστερον Καῖσαρ, ὡς μὴ γένοιτο πάλιν ὁρμητήριον τοῖς λῃσταῖς ἐπὶ τὴν Δαμασκόν, Ἡρώδῃ δίδωσιν. κατέστησεν δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ Συρίας ὅλης ἐπίτροπον ἔτι δεκάτῳ πάλιν ἐλθὼν εἰς τὴν ἐπαρχίαν, ὡς μηδὲν ἐξεῖναι δίχα τῆς ἐκείνου συμβουλίας τοῖς ἐπιτρόποις διοικεῖν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτελεύτα Ζηνόδωρος, προσένειμεν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν μεταξὺ Τράχωνος καὶ τῆς Γαλιλαίας γῆν ἅπασαν. ὃ δὲ τούτων Ἡρώδῃ μεῖζον ἦν, ὑπὸ μὲν Καίσαρος ἐφιλεῖτο μετʼ Ἀγρίππαν, ὑπʼ Ἀγρίππα δὲ μετὰ Καίσαρα. ἔνθεν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον μὲν εὐδαιμονίας προύκοψεν, εἰς μεῖζον δʼ ἐξήρθη φρόνημα καὶ τὸ πλέον τῆς μεγαλονοίας ἐπέτεινεν εἰς εὐσέβειαν.
401. ACCORDINGLY, in the fifteenth year of his reign, Herod rebuilt the temple, and encompassed a piece of land about it with a wall, which land was twice as large as that before enclosed. The expenses he laid out upon it were vastly large also, and the riches about it were unspeakable. A sign of which you have in the great cloisters that were erected about the temple, and the citadel which was on its north side. The cloisters he built from the foundation, but the citadel he repaired at a vast expense; nor was it other than a royal palace, which he called Antonia, in honor of Antony. He also built himself a palace in the Upper city, containing two very large and most beautiful apartments; to which the holy house itself could not be compared [in largeness]. The one apartment he named Caesareum, and the other Agrippium, from his [two great] friends.
401. Πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ γοῦν ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας αὐτόν τε τὸν ναὸν ἐπεσκεύασεν καὶ περὶ αὐτὸν ἀνετειχίσατο χώραν τῆς οὔσης διπλασίονα, ἀμέτροις μὲν χρησάμενος τοῖς ἀναλώμασιν ἀνυπερβλήτῳ δὲ τῇ πολυτελείᾳ. τεκμήριον δὲ ἦσαν αἱ μεγάλαι στοαὶ περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ τὸ βόρειον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ φρούριον· ἃς μὲν γὰρ ἀνῳκοδόμησεν ἐκ θεμελίων, ὃ δʼ ἐπισκευάσας πλούτῳ δαψιλεῖ κατʼ οὐδὲν τῶν βασιλείων ἔλαττον Ἀντωνίαν ἐκάλεσεν εἰς τὴν Ἀντωνίου τιμήν. τό γε μὴν ἑαυτοῦ βασίλειον κατὰ τὴν ἄνω δειμάμενος πόλιν δύο τοὺς μεγίστους καὶ περικαλλεστάτους οἴκους, οἷς οὐδὲ ναός πῃ συνεκρίνετο, προσηγόρευσεν ἀπὸ τῶν φίλων τὸν μὲν Καισάρειον τὸν δὲ Ἀγρίππειον.
403. Yet did he not preserve their memory by particular buildings only, with their names given them, but his generosity went as far as entire cities; for when he had built a most beautiful wall round a country in Samaria, twenty furlongs long, and had brought six thousand inhabitants into it, and had allotted to it a most fruitful piece of land, and in the midst of this city, thus built, had erected a very large temple to Caesar, and had laid round about it a portion of sacred land of three furlongs and a half, he called the city Sebaste, from Sebastus, or Augustus, and settled the affairs of the city after a most regular manner.
403. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ οἴκοις μόνον αὐτῶν τὴν μνήμην καὶ τὰς ἐπικλήσεις περιέγραψεν, διέβη δὲ εἰς ὅλας πόλεις αὐτῷ τὸ φιλότιμον. ἐν μέν γε τῇ Σαμαρείτιδι πόλιν καλλίστῳ περιβόλῳ τειχισάμενος ἐπὶ σταδίους εἴκοσι καὶ καταγαγὼν ἑξακισχιλίους εἰς αὐτὴν οἰκήτορας, γῆν δὲ τούτοις προσνείμας λιπαρωτάτην καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῷ κτίσματι ναόν τε ἐνιδρυσάμενος μέγιστον καὶ περὶ αὐτὸν τέμενος ἀποδείξας τῷ Καίσαρι τριῶν ἡμισταδίων, τὸ ἄστυ Σεβαστὴν ἐκάλεσεν· ἐξαίρετον δὲ τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ παρέσχεν εὐνομίαν.
404. And when Caesar had further bestowed upon him another additional country, he built there also a temple of white marble, hard by the fountains of Jordan: the place is called Panium, where is a top of a mountain that is raised to an immense height, and at its side, beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; within which there is a horrible precipice, that descends abruptly to a vast depth; it contains a mighty quantity of water, which is immovable; and when any body lets down any thing to measure the depth of the earth beneath the water, no length of cord is sufficient to reach it. Now the fountains of Jordan rise at the roots of this cavity outwardly; and, as some think, this is the utmost origin of Jordan: but we shall speak of that matter more accurately in our following history.
404. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δωρησαμένου τοῦ Καίσαρος αὐτὸν ἑτέρας προσθέσει χώρας, ὁ δὲ κἀνταῦθα ναὸν αὐτῷ λευκῆς μαρμάρου καθιδρύσατο παρὰ τὰς Ἰορδάνου πηγάς· καλεῖται δὲ Πάνειον ὁ τόπος· ἔνθα κορυφὴ μέν τις ὄρους εἰς ἄπειρον ὕψος ἀνατείνεται, παρὰ δὲ τὴν ὑπόρειον λαγόνα συνηρεφὲς ἄντρον ὑπανοίγει, διʼ οὗ βαραθρώδης κρημνὸς εἰς ἀμέτρητον ἀπορρῶγα βαθύνεται πλήθει τε ὕδατος ἀσαλεύτου καὶ τοῖς καθιμῶσίν τι πρὸς ἔρευναν γῆς οὐδὲν μῆκος ἐξαρκεῖ. τοῦ δὲ ἄντρου κατὰ τὰς ἔξωθεν ῥίζας ἀνατέλλουσιν αἱ πηγαί· καὶ γένεσις μέν, ὡς ἔνιοι δοκοῦσιν, ἔνθεν Ἰορδάνου, τὸ δʼ ἀκριβὲς ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς δηλώσομεν.
407. But the king erected other places at Jericho also, between the citadel Cypros and the former palace, such as were better and more useful than the former for travelers, and named them from the same friends of his. To say all at once, there was not any place of his kingdom fit for the purpose that was permitted to be without somewhat that was for Caesar's honor; and when he had filled his own country with temples, he poured out the like plentiful marks of his esteem into his province, and built many cities which he called Cesareas.
407. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἐν Ἱεριχοῖ μεταξὺ Κύπρου τοῦ φρουρίου καὶ τῶν προτέρων βασιλείων ἄλλα κατασκευάσας ἀμείνω καὶ χρησιμώτερα πρὸς τὰς ἐπιδημίας ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ὠνόμασεν φίλων. καθόλου δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅντινα τῆς βασιλείας ἐπιτήδειον τόπον τῆς πρὸς Καίσαρα τιμῆς γυμνὸν εἴασεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν ἰδίαν χώραν ἐπλήρωσεν ναῶν, εἰς τὴν ἐπαρχίαν αὐτοῦ τὰς τιμὰς ὑπερεξέχεεν καὶ πολλαῖς πόλεσιν ἐνιδρύσατο Καισάρεια.
408. And when he observed that there was a city by the sea-side that was much decayed, (its name was Strato's Tower,) but that the place, by the happiness of its situation, was capable of great improvements from his liberality, he rebuilt it all with white stone, and adorned it with several most splendid palaces, wherein he especially demonstrated his magnanimity; for the case was this, that all the sea-shore between Dora and Joppa, in the middle, between which this city is situated, had no good haven, insomuch that every one that sailed from Phoenicia for Egypt was obliged to lie in the stormy sea, by reason of the south winds that threatened them; which wind, if it blew but a little fresh, such vast waves are raised, and dash upon the rocks, that upon their retreat the sea is in a great ferment for a long way. But the king, by the expenses he was at, and the liberal disposal of them, overcame nature, and built a haven larger than was the Pyrecum [at Athens]; and in the inner retirements of the water he built other deep stations [for the ships also].
408. Κατιδὼν δὲ κἀν τοῖς παραλίοις πόλιν ἤδη μὲν κάμνουσαν, Στράτωνος ἐκαλεῖτο πύργος, διὰ δὲ εὐφυίαν τοῦ χωρίου δέξασθαι δυναμένην τὸ φιλότιμον αὐτοῦ, πᾶσαν ἀνέκτισεν λευκῷ λίθῳ καὶ λαμπροτάτοις ἐκόσμησεν βασιλείοις, ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα τὸ φύσει μεγαλόνουν ἐπεδείξατο. μεταξὺ γὰρ Δώρων καὶ Ἰόππης, ὧν ἡ πόλις μέση κεῖται, πᾶσαν εἶναι συμβέβηκεν τὴν παράλιον ἀλίμενον, ὡς πάντα τὸν τὴν Φοινίκην ἐπʼ Αἰγύπτου παραπλέοντα σαλεύειν ἐν πελάγει διὰ τὴν ἐκ λιβὸς ἀπειλήν, ᾧ καὶ μετρίως ἐπαυρίζοντι τηλικοῦτον ἐπεγείρεται κῦμα πρὸς ταῖς πέτραις, ὥστε τὴν ὑποστροφὴν τοῦ κύματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐξαγριοῦν τὴν θάλασσαν. ἀλλʼ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἀναλώμασιν καὶ τῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ νικήσας τὴν φύσιν μείζονα μὲν τοῦ Πειραιῶς λιμένα κατεσκεύασεν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς μυχοῖς αὐτοῦ βαθεῖς ὅρμους ἑτέρους.
411. Now although the place where he built was greatly opposite to his purposes, yet did he so fully struggle with that difficulty, that the firmness of his building could not easily be conquered by the sea; and the beauty and ornament of the works were such, as though he had not had any difficulty in the operation; for when he had measured out as large a space as we have before mentioned, he let down stones into twenty fathom water, the greatest part of which were fifty feet in length, and nine in depth, and ten in breadth, and some still larger. But when the haven was filled up to that depth, he enlarged that wall which was thus already extant above the sea, till it was two hundred feet wide; one hundred of which had buildings before it, in order to break the force of the waves, whence it was called Procumatia, or the first breaker of the waves; but the rest of the space was under a stone wall that ran round it. On this wall were very large towers, the principal and most beautiful of which was called Drusium, from Drusus, who was son-in-law to Caesar.
411. Καθάπαν δʼ ἔχων ἀντιπράσσοντα τὸν τόπον ἐφιλονείκησεν πρὸς τὴν δυσχέρειαν, ὡς τὴν μὲν ὀχυρότητα τῆς δομήσεως δυσάλωτον εἶναι τῇ θαλάσσῃ, τὸ δὲ κάλλος ὡς ἐπὶ μηδενὶ δυσκόλῳ κεκοσμῆσθαι· συμμετρησάμενος γὰρ ὅσον εἰρήκαμεν τῷ λιμένι μέγεθος καθίει λίθους ἐπʼ ὀργυιὰς εἴκοσιν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος, ὧν ἦσαν οἱ πλεῖστοι μῆκος ποδῶν πεντήκοντα, βάθος ἐννέα, εὖρος δέκα, τινὲς δὲ καὶ μείζους. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀνεπληρώθη τὸ ὕφαλον, οὕτως ἤδη τὸ ὑπερέχον τοῦ πελάγους τεῖχος ἐπὶ διακοσίους πόδας ηὐρύνετο· ὧν οἱ μὲν ἑκατὸν προδεδόμηντο πρὸς τὴν ἀνακοπὴν τοῦ κύματος, προκυμία γοῦν ἐκλήθη, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ὑπόκειται τῷ περιθέοντι λιθίνῳ τείχει. τοῦτο δὲ πύργοις τε διείληπται μεγίστοις, ὧν ὁ προύχων καὶ περικαλλέστατος ἀπὸ τοῦ Καίσαρος προγόνου Δρούσιον κέκληται, ψαλίδες τε πυκναὶ πρὸς καταγωγὴν τῶν ἐνορμιζομένων καὶ τὸ πρὸ αὐτῶν πᾶν κύκλῳ νάγμα τοῖς ἀποβαίνουσιν πλατὺς περίπατος.
413. There were also a great number of arches, where the mariners dwelt; and all the places before them round about was a large valley, or walk, for a quay [or landing-place] to those that came on shore; but the entrance was on the north, because the north wind was there the most gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the haven were on each side three great Colossi, supported by pillars, where those Colossi that are on your left hand as you sail into the port are supported by a solid tower; but those on the right hand are supported by two upright stones joined together, which stones were larger than that tower which was on the other side of the entrance. Now there were continual edifices joined to the haven, which were also themselves of white stone; and to this haven did the narrow streets of the city lead, and were built at equal distances one from another. And over against the mouth of the haven, upon an elevation, there was a temple for Caesar, which was excellent both in beauty and largeness; and therein was a Colossus of Caesar, not less than that of Jupiter Olympius, which it was made to resemble. The other Colossus of Rome was equal to that of Juno at Argos. So he dedicated the city to the province, and the haven to the sailors there; but the honor of the building he ascribed to Caesar, and named it Cesarea accordingly.
413. ὁ δʼ εἴσπλους βόρειος, αἰθριώτατος γὰρ ἀνέμων τῷ τόπῳ βορέας· καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος κολοσσοὶ τρεῖς ἑκατέρωθεν ὑπεστηριγμένοι κίοσιν, ὧν τοὺς μὲν ἐκ λαιᾶς χειρὸς εἰσπλεόντων πύργος ναστὸς ἀνέχει, τοὺς δὲ ἐκ δεξιοῦ δύο ὀρθοὶ λίθοι συνεζευγμένοι τοῦ κατὰ θάτερον χεῖλος πύργου μείζονες. προσεχεῖς δʼ οἰκίαι τῷ λιμένι λευκοῦ καὶ αὗται λίθου, καὶ κατατείνοντες ἐπʼ αὐτὸν οἱ στενωποὶ τοῦ ἄστεος πρὸς ἓν διάστημα μεμετρημένοι. καὶ τοῦ στόματος ἀντικρὺ ναὸς Καίσαρος ἐπὶ γηλόφου κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει διάφορος· ἐν δʼ αὐτῷ κολοσσὸς Καίσαρος οὐκ ἀποδέων τοῦ Ὀλυμπίασιν Διός, ᾧ καὶ προσείκασται, Ῥώμης δὲ ἴσος Ἥρᾳ τῇ κατʼ Ἄργος. ἀνέθηκεν δὲ τῇ μὲν ἐπαρχίᾳ τὴν πόλιν, τοῖς ταύτῃ δὲ πλοϊζομένοις τὸν λιμένα, Καίσαρι δὲ τὴν τιμὴν τοῦ κτίσματος· Καισάρειαν γοῦν ὠνόμασεν αὐτήν.
415. He also built the other edifices, the amphitheater, and theater, and market-place, in a manner agreeable to that denomination; and appointed games every fifth year, and called them, in like manner, Caesar's Games; and he first himself proposed the largest prizes upon the hundred ninety-second olympiad; in which not only the victors themselves, but those that came next to them, and even those that came in the third place, were partakers of his royal bounty. He also rebuilt Anthedon, a city that lay on the coast, and had been demolished in the wars, and named it Agrippeum. Moreover, he had so very great a kindness for his friend Agrippa, that he had his name engraved upon that gate which he had himself erected in the temple.
415. Τά γε μὴν λοιπὰ τῶν ἔργων, ἀμφιθέατρον καὶ θέατρον καὶ ἀγοράς, ἄξια τῆς προσηγορίας ἐνιδρύσατο. καὶ πενταετηρικοὺς ἀγῶνας καταστησάμενος ὁμοίως ἐκάλεσεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Καίσαρος, πρῶτος αὐτὸς ἆθλα μέγιστα προθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς ἑκατοστῆς ἐνενηκοστῆς δευτέρας ὀλυμπιάδος, ἐν οἷς οὐ μόνον οἱ νικῶντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοὺς καὶ οἱ τρίτοι τοῦ βασιλικοῦ πλούτου μετελάμβανον. ἀνακτίσας δὲ καὶ Ἀνθηδόνα τὴν παράλιον καταρριφθεῖσαν ἐν πολέμῳ Ἀγρίππειον προσηγόρευσε· τοῦ δʼ αὐτοῦ φίλου διʼ ὑπερβολὴν εὐνοίας καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πύλης ἐχάραξεν τὸ ὄνομα, ἣν αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ ναῷ κατεσκεύασεν.
417. Herod was also a lover of his father, if any other person ever was so; for he made a monument for his father, even that city which he built in the finest plain that was in his kingdom, and which had rivers and trees in abundance, and named it Antipatris. He also built a wall about a citadel that lay above Jericho, and was a very strong and very fine building, and dedicated it to his mother, and called it Cypros. Moreover, he dedicated a tower that was at Jerusalem, and called it by the name of his brother Phasaelus, whose structure, largeness, and magnificence we shall describe hereafter. He also built another city in the valley that leads northward from Jericho, and named it Phasaelis.
417. Φιλοπάτωρ γε μήν, εἰ καί τις ἕτερος· καὶ γὰρ τῷ πατρὶ μνημεῖον κατέθηκεν πόλιν, ἣν ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ τῆς βασιλείας πεδίῳ κτίσας ποταμοῖς τε καὶ δένδρεσιν πλουσίαν ὠνόμασεν Ἀντιπατρίδα, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ Ἱεριχοῦντος φρούριον ὀχυρότητι καὶ κάλλει διάφορον τειχίσας ἀνέθηκεν τῇ μητρὶ προσειπὼν Κύπρον. Φασαήλῳ δὲ τἀδελφῷ τὸν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ὁμώνυμον πύργον, οὗ τό τε σχῆμα καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ μεγέθει πολυτέλειαν διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς δηλώσομεν. καὶ πόλιν ἄλλην κτίσας κατὰ τὸν ἀπὸ Ἱεριχοῦς ἰόντων αὐλῶνα πρὸς βορέαν Φασαηλίδα ὠνόμασεν.
419. And as he transmitted to eternity his family and friends, so did he not neglect a memorial for himself, but built a fortress upon a mountain towards Arabia, and named it from himself, Herodium and he called that hill that was of the shape of a woman's breast, and was sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem, by the same name. He also bestowed much curious art upon it, with great ambition, and built round towers all about the top of it, and filled up the remaining space with the most costly palaces round about, insomuch that not only the sight of the inner apartments was splendid, but great wealth was laid out on the outward walls, and partitions, and roofs also. Besides this, he brought a mighty quantity of water from a great distance, and at vast charges, and raised an ascent to it of two hundred steps of the whitest marble, for the hill was itself moderately high, and entirely factitious. He also built other palaces about the roots of the hill, sufficient to receive the furniture that was put into them, with his friends also, insomuch that, on account of its containing all necessaries, the fortress might seem to be a city, but, by the bounds it had, a palace only.
419. Παραδοὺς δʼ αἰῶνι τούς τε οἰκείους καὶ φίλους οὐδὲ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ μνήμης ἠμέλησεν, ἀλλὰ φρούριον μὲν ἐπιτειχίσας τῷ πρὸς Ἀραβίαν ὄρει προσηγόρευσεν Ἡρώδειον ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ, τὸν δὲ μαστοειδῆ κολωνὸν ὄντα χειροποίητον ἑξήκοντα σταδίων ἄπωθεν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐκάλεσεν μὲν ὁμοίως, ἐξήσκησεν δὲ φιλοτιμότερον. στρογγύλοις μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἄκραν πύργοις περιέσχεν, ἐπλήρωσεν δὲ τὸν περίβολον βασιλείοις πολυτελεστάτοις, ὡς μὴ μόνον τὴν ἔνδον τῶν οἰκημάτων ὄψιν εἶναι λαμπράν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν τοίχοις καὶ θριγκοῖς καὶ στέγαις περικεχύσθαι τὸν πλοῦτον δαψιλῆ· πόρρωθεν δὲ μεγίστοις ἀναλώμασιν ὑδάτων πλῆθος εἰσήγαγεν καὶ βαθμοῖς διακοσίοις λευκοτάτης μαρμάρου τὴν ἄνοδον διέλαβεν· ἦν γὰρ δὴ τὸ γήλοφον ἐπιεικῶς ὑψηλὸν καὶ πᾶν χειροποίητον. κατεσκεύασεν δὲ καὶ περὶ τὰς ῥίζας ἄλλα βασίλεια τήν τε ἀποσκευὴν καὶ τοὺς φίλους δέξασθαι δυνάμενα, ὥστε τῷ μὲν πάντα ἔχειν πόλιν εἶναι δοκεῖν τὸ ἔρυμα, τῇ περιγραφῇ δὲ βασίλειον.
422. And when he had built so much, he showed the greatness of his soul to no small number of foreign cities. He built palaces for exercise at Tripoli, and Damascus, and Ptolemais; he built a wall about Byblus, as also large rooms, and cloisters, and temples, and market-places at Berytus and Tyre, with theatres at Sidon and Damascus. He also built aqueducts for those Laodiceans who lived by the sea-side; and for those of Ascalon he built baths and costly fountains, as also cloisters round a court, that were admirable both for their workmanship and largeness. Moreover, he dedicated groves and meadows to some people; nay, not a few cities there were who had lands of his donation, as if they were parts of his own kingdom. He also bestowed annual revenues, and those for ever also, on the settlements for exercises, and appointed for them, as well as for the people of Cos, that such rewards should never be wanting. He also gave corn to all such as wanted it, and conferred upon Rhodes large sums of money for building ships; and this he did in many places, and frequently also. And when Apollo's temple had been burnt down, he rebuilt it at his own charges, after a better manner than it was before. What need I speak of the presents he made to the Lycians and Samnians? or of his great liberality through all Ionia? and that according to every body's wants of them. And are not the Athenians, and Lacedemonians, and Nicopolitans, and that Pergamus which is in Mysia, full of donations that Herod presented them withal? And as for that large open place belonging to Antioch in Syria, did not he pave it with polished marble, though it were twenty furlongs long? and this when it was shunned by all men before, because it was full of dirt and filthiness, when he besides adorned the same place with a cloister of the same length.
422. Τοσαῦτα συγκτίσας πλείσταις καὶ τῶν ἔξω πόλεων τὸ μεγαλόψυχον ἐπεδείξατο. Τριπόλει μὲν γὰρ καὶ Δαμασκῷ καὶ Πτολεμαΐδι γυμνάσια, Βύβλῳ δὲ τεῖχος, ἐξέδρας τε καὶ στοὰς καὶ ναοὺς καὶ ἀγορὰς Βηρυτῷ κατασκευάσας καὶ Τύρῳ, Σιδῶνί γε μὴν καὶ Δαμασκῷ θέατρα, Λαοδικεῦσι δὲ τοῖς παραλίοις ὑδάτων εἰσαγωγήν, Ἀσκαλωνίταις δὲ βαλανεῖα καὶ κρήνας πολυτελεῖς, πρὸς δὲ περίστυλα θαυμαστὰ τήν τε ἐργασίαν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος· εἰσὶ δʼ οἷς ἄλση καὶ λειμῶνας ἀνέθηκεν. πολλαὶ δὲ πόλεις ὥσπερ κοινωνοὶ τῆς βασιλείας καὶ χώραν ἔλαβον παρʼ αὐτοῦ· γυμνασιαρχίαις δʼ ἄλλας ἐπετησίοις τε καὶ διηνεκέσιν ἐδωρήσατο προσόδους κατατάξας, ὥσπερ Κῴοις, ἵνα μηδέποτε ἐκλείπῃ τὸ γέρας. σῖτόν γε μὴν πᾶσιν ἐχορήγησεν τοῖς δεομένοις, καὶ τῇ Ῥόδῳ χρήματα μὲν εἰς ναυτικοῦ κατασκευὴν παρέσχεν πολλαχοῦ καὶ πολλάκις, ἐμπρησθὲν δὲ τὸ Πύθιον ἰδίοις ἀναλώμασιν ἄμεινον ἀνεδείματο. καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν τὰς εἰς Λυκίους ἢ Σαμίους δωρεὰς ἢ τὴν διʼ ὅλης τῆς Ἰωνίας ἐν οἷς ἐδεήθησαν ἕκαστοι δαψίλειαν; ἀλλʼ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι Νικοπολῖταί τε καὶ τὸ κατὰ Μυσίαν Πέργαμον οὐ τῶν Ἡρώδου γέμουσιν ἀναθημάτων; τὴν δʼ Ἀντιοχέων τῶν ἐν Συρίᾳ πλατεῖαν οὐ φευκτὴν οὖσαν ὑπὸ βορβόρου κατέστρωσέν τε σταδίων εἴκοσι τὸ μῆκος οὖσαν ξεστῇ μαρμάρῳ καὶ πρὸς τὰς τῶν ὑετῶν ἀποφυγὰς ἐκόσμησεν ἰσομήκει στοᾷ.
426. It is true, a man may say, these were favors peculiar to those particular places on which he bestowed his benefits; but then what favors he bestowed on the Eleans was a donation not only in common to all Greece, but to all the habitable earth, as far as the glory of the Olympic games reached. For when he perceived that they were come to nothing, for want of money, and that the only remains of ancient Greece were in a manner gone, he not only became one of the combatants in that return of the fifth-year games, which in his sailing to Rome he happened to be present at, but he settled upon them revenues of money for perpetuity, insomuch that his memorial as a combatant there can never fail. It would be an infinite task if I should go over his payments of people's debts, or tributes, for them, as he eased the people of Phasaelis, of Batanea, and of the small cities about Cilicia, of those annual pensions they before paid. However, the fear he was in much disturbed the greatness of his soul, lest he should be exposed to envy, or seem to hunt after greater filings than he ought, while he bestowed more liberal gifts upon these cities than did their owners themselves.
426. Ταῦτα μὲν ἄν τις εἴποι ἴδια τῶν εὖ παθόντων δήμων ἑκάστου, τὸ δὲ Ἠλείοις χαρισθὲν οὐ μόνον κοινὸν τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀλλʼ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης δῶρον, εἰς ἣν ἡ δόξα τῶν Ὀλυμπίασιν ἀγώνων διικνεῖται. τούτους γὰρ δὴ καταλυομένους ἀπορίᾳ χρημάτων ὁρῶν καὶ τὸ μόνον λείψανον τῆς ἀρχαίας Ἑλλάδος ὑπορρέον, οὐ μόνον ἀγωνοθέτης ἧς ἐπέτυχεν πενταετηρίδος εἰς Ῥώμην παραπλέων ἐγένετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ διηνεκὲς πόρους χρημάτων ἀπέδειξεν, ὡς μηδέποτε ἀγωνοθετοῦσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν μνήμην ἀπολιπεῖν. ἀνήνυτον ἂν εἴη χρεῶν διαλύσεις ἢ φόρων ἐπεξιέναι, καθάπερ Φασηλίταις καὶ Βαλανεώταις καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὴν Κιλικίαν πολιχνίοις τὰς ἐτησίους εἰσφορὰς ἐπεξεκούφισεν. πλεῖστόν γε μὴν αὐτοῦ τῆς μεγαλονοίας ἔθραυσεν ὁ φόβος, ὡς μὴ δόξειεν ἐπίφθονος ἤ τι θηρᾶσθαι μεῖζον εὐεργετῶν τὰς πόλεις πλέον τῶν ἐχόντων.
429. Now Herod had a body suited to his soul, and was ever a most excellent hunter, where he generally had good success, by the means of his great skill in riding horses; for in one day he caught forty wild beasts: that country breeds also bears, and the greatest part of it is replenished with stags and wild asses. He was also such a warrior as could not be withstood: many men, therefore, there are who have stood amazed at his readiness in his exercises, when they saw him throw the javelin directly forward, and shoot the arrow upon the mark. And then, besides these performances of his depending on his own strength of mind and body, fortune was also very favorable to him; for he seldom failed of success in his wars; and when he failed, he was not himself the occasion of such failings, but he either vas betrayed by some, or the rashness of his own soldiers procured his defeat.
429. Ἐχρήσατο δὲ καὶ σώματι πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναλόγῳ, κυνηγέτης μὲν ἄριστος ἀεὶ γενόμενος, ἐν ᾧ μάλιστα διʼ ἐμπειρίαν ἱππικῆς ἐπετύγχανεν· μιᾷ γοῦν ἡμέρᾳ ποτὲ τεσσαράκοντα θηρίων ἐκράτησεν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ συοτρόφος μὲν ἡ χώρα, τὸ πλέον δʼ ἐλάφων καὶ ὀνάγρων εὔπορος· πολεμιστὴς δʼ ἀνυπόστατος. πολλοὶ γοῦν κἀν ταῖς γυμνασίαις αὐτὸν κατεπλάγησαν ἀκοντιστήν τε ἰθυβολώτατον καὶ τοξότην εὐστοχώτατον ἰδόντες. πρὸς δὲ τοῖς ψυχικοῖς καὶ τοῖς σωματικοῖς προτερήμασιν ἐχρήσατο καὶ δεξιᾷ τύχῃ· καὶ γὰρ σπάνιον ἔπταισεν ἐν πολέμῳ, καὶ τῶν πταισμάτων οὐκ αὐτὸς αἴτιος, ἀλλʼ ἢ προδοσίᾳ τινῶν ἢ προπετείᾳ στρατιωτῶν ἐγένετο.
431. HOWEVER, fortune was avenged on Herod in his external great successes, by raising him up domestical troubles; and he began to have wild disorders in his family, on account of his wife, of whom he was so very fond. For when he came to the government, he sent away her whom he had before married when he was a private person, and who was born at Jerusalem, whose name was Doris, and married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus; on whose account disturbances arose in his family, and that in part very soon, but chiefly after his return from Rome. For, first of all, he expelled Antipater the son of Doris, for the sake of his sons by Mariamne, out of the city, and permitted him to come thither at no other times than at the festivals. After this he slew his wife's grandfather, Hyrcanus, when he was returned out of Parthin to him, under this pretense, that he suspected him of plotting against him. Now this Hyrcanus had been carried captive to Barzapharnes, when he overran Syria; but those of his own country beyond Euphrates were desirous he would stay with them, and this out of the commiseration they had for his condition; and had he complied with their desires, when they exhorted him not to go over the river to lierod, he had not perished: but the marriage of his granddaughter [to Herod] was his temptation; for as he relied upon him, and was over-fond of his own country, he came back to it. Herod's provocation was this, - not that Hyrcanus made any attempt to gain the kingdom, but that it was fitter for him to be their king than for Herod.
431. Τάς γε μὴν ὑπαίθρους εὐπραγίας ἡ τύχη τοῖς κατʼ οἶκον ἀνιαροῖς ἐνεμέσησεν, καὶ κακοδαιμονεῖν ἐκ γυναικὸς ἤρξατο περὶ ἣν μάλιστα ἐσπούδασεν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν παρῆλθεν, ἀποπεμψάμενος ἣν ἰδιώτης ἦκτο γαμετήν, γένος ἦν ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων Δωρὶς ὄνομα, γαμεῖ Μαριάμμην τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Ἀριστοβούλου θυγατέρα, διʼ ἣν αὐτῷ στασιασθῆναι συνέβη τὸν οἶκον καὶ τάχιον μέν, μάλιστα δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐκ Ῥώμης ἄφιξιν. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τὸν ἐκ τῆς Δωρίδος υἱὸν Ἀντίπατρον διὰ τοὺς ἐκ Μαριάμμης ἐφυγάδευσεν τῆς πόλεως μόναις ταῖς ἑορταῖς ἀφεὶς κατιέναι· ἔπειτα τὸν πάππον τῆς γυναικὸς Ὑρκανὸν ἐκ Πάρθων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλθόντα διʼ ὑπόνοιαν ἐπιβουλῆς ἀνεῖλεν, ὃν ᾐχμαλωτίσατο μὲν Βαζαφράνης καταδραμὼν Συρίαν, ἐξῃτήσαντο δὲ κατὰ οἶκτον οἱ ὑπὲρ Εὐφράτην ὁμοεθνεῖς. καὶ εἴ γε τούτοις ἐπείσθη παραινοῦσιν μὴ διαβῆναι πρὸς Ἡρώδην, οὐκ ἂν παραπώλετο· δέλεαρ δʼ αὐτῷ θανάτου τῆς υἱωνῆς ὁ γάμος κατέστη· τούτῳ γὰρ πεποιθὼς καὶ περισσόν τι τῆς πατρίδος ἐφιέμενος ἧκεν. παρώξυνεν δὲ Ἡρώδην οὐκ αὐτὸς ἀντιποιούμενος βασιλείας, ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τὸ βασιλεύειν ἐπέβαλλεν αὐτῷ.
435. Now of the five children which Herod had by Mariamne, two of them were daughters, and three were sons; and the youngest of these sons was educated at Rome, and there died; but the two eldest he treated as those of royal blood, on account of the nobility of their mother, and because they were not born till he was king. But then what was stronger than all this was the love that he bare to Mariamne, and which inflamed him every day to a great degree, and so far conspired with the other motives, that he felt no other troubles, on account of her he loved so entirely. But Mariamne's hatred to him was not inferior to his love to her. She had indeed but too just a cause of indignation from what he had done, while her boldness proceeded from his affection to her; so she openly reproached him with what he had done to her grandfather Hyrcanus, and to her brother Aristobulus; for he had not spared this Aristobulus, though he were but a child; for when he had given him the high priesthood at the age of seventeen, he slew him quickly after he had conferred that dignity upon him; but when Aristobulus had put on the holy vestments, and had approached to the altar at a festival, the multitude, in great crowds, fell into tears; whereupon the child was sent by night to Jericho, and was there dipped by the Galls, at Herod's command, in a pool till he was drowned.
435. Τῶν δὲ ἐκ Μαριάμμης πέντε τέκνων γενομένων δύο μὲν θυγατέρες, τρεῖς δʼ ἦσαν υἱεῖς. καὶ τούτων ὁ νεώτατος μὲν ἐν Ῥώμῃ παιδευόμενος τελευτᾷ, δύο δὲ τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους βασιλικῶς ἦγεν διά τε τὴν μητρῴαν εὐγένειαν καὶ ὅτι βασιλεύοντι γεγόνεισαν αὐτῷ. τὸ δὲ τούτων ἰσχυρότερον ὁ Μαριάμμης ἔρως συνήργει καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐκκαίων Ἡρώδην λαβρότερος, ὡς μηδενὸς τῶν διὰ τὴν στεργομένην λυπηρῶν αἰσθάνεσθαι· τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἦν μῖσος εἰς αὐτὸν τῆς Μαριάμμης, ὅσος ἐκείνου πρὸς αὐτὴν ἔρως. ἔχουσα δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀπέχθειαν ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων εὔλογον, τὴν δὲ παρρησίαν ἐκ τοῦ φιλεῖσθαι, φανερῶς ὠνείδιζεν αὐτῷ τὰ κατὰ τὸν πάππον Ὑρκανὸν καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωνάθην· οὐδὲ γὰρ τούτου καίπερ ὄντος παιδὸς ἐφείσατο, δοὺς μὲν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἑπτακαιδεκαέτει, μετὰ δὲ τὴν τιμὴν κτείνας εὐθέως, ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἱερὰν ἐσθῆτα λαβόντι καὶ τῷ βωμῷ προσελθόντι καθʼ ἑορτὴν ἄθρουν ἐπεδάκρυσεν τὸ πλῆθος. πέμπεται μὲν οὖν ὁ παῖς διὰ νυκτὸς εἰς Ἱεριχοῦντα, ἐκεῖ δὲ κατʼ ἐντολὴν ὑπὸ τῶν Γαλατῶν βαπτιζόμενος ἐν κολυμβήθρᾳ τελευτᾷ.
438. For these reasons Mariamne reproached Herod, and his sister and mother, after a most contumelious manner, while he was dumb on account of his affection for her; yet had the women great indignation at her, and raised a calumny against her, that she was false to his bed; which thing they thought most likely to move Herod to anger. They also contrived to have many other circumstances believed, in order to make the thing more credible, and accused her of having sent her picture into Egypt to Antony, and that her lust was so extravagant, as to have thus showed herself, though she was absent, to a man that ran mad after women, and to a man that had it in his power to use violence to her. This charge fell like a thunderbolt upon Herod, and put him into disorder; and that especially, because his love to her occasioned him to be jealous, and because he considered with himself that Cleopatra was a shrewd woman, and that on her account Lysanias the king was taken off, as well as Malichus the Arabian; for his fear did not only extend to the dissolving of his marriage, but to the danger of his life.
438. Διὰ ταῦθʼ Ἡρώδην μὲν ὠνείδιζεν ἡ Μαριάμμη, καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα δειναῖς ἐξύβριζεν λοιδορίαις. ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν πεφίμωτο τοῖς ἱμέροις, δεινὴ δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας ἀγανάκτησις εἰσῄει, καὶ πρὸς ὃ μάλιστα κινήσειν τὸν Ἡρώδην ἔμελλον, εἰς μοιχείαν διέβαλλον αὐτήν, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ πρὸς τὸ πιθανὸν ἐνσκευαζόμεναι καὶ κατηγοροῦσαι διότι τὴν εἰκόνα τὴν ἑαυτῆς πέμψειεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον Ἀντωνίῳ καὶ διʼ ὑπερβολὴν ἀσελγείας ἀποῦσαν δείξειεν ἑαυτὴν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικομανοῦντι καὶ βιάζεσθαι δυναμένῳ. τοῦθʼ ὥσπερ σκηπτὸς ἐμπεσὼν ἐτάραξεν Ἡρώδην, μάλιστα μὲν διὰ τὸν ἔρωτα ζηλοτύπως ἔχοντα, λογιζόμενον δὲ καὶ τὴν Κλεοπάτρας δεινότητα, διʼ ἣν Λυσανίας τε ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνῄρητο καὶ Μάλχος ὁ Ἄραψ· οὐ γὰρ ἀφαιρέσει γαμετῆς ἐμέτρει τὸν κίνδυνον, ἀλλὰ θανάτῳ.
441. When therefore he was about to take a journey abroad, he committed his wife to Joseph, his sister Salome's husband, as to one who would be faithful to him, and bare him good-will on account of their kindred; he also gave him a secret injunction, that if Antony slew him, he should slay her. But Joseph, without any ill design, and only in order to demonstrate the king's love to his wife, how he could not bear to think of being separated from her, even by death itself, discovered this grand secret to her; upon which, when Herod was come back, and as they talked together, and he confirmed his love to her by many oaths, and assured her that he had never such an affection for any other woman as he had for her, - “Yes,” says she, “thou didst, to be sure, demonstrate thy love to me by the injunctions thou gavest Joseph, when thou commandedst him to kill me.”
441. Μέλλων οὖν ἀποδημήσειν Ἰωσήπῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ Σαλώμης τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτοῦ, πιστὸς δὲ ἦν καὶ διὰ τὸ κῆδος εὔνους, παρατίθεται τὴν γυναῖκα, κρύφα δοὺς ἐντολὰς ἀναιρεῖν αὐτήν, εἰ κἀκεῖνον Ἀντώνιος. ὁ δὲ Ἰώσηπος, οὔτι κακοήθως, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἔρωτα τοῦ βασιλέως παραστῆσαι τῇ γυναικὶ βουλόμενος, ὡς οὐδὲ ἀποθανὼν αὐτῆς ὑπομένοι διαζευχθῆναι, τὸ ἀπόρρητον ἐκφαίνει. κἀκείνη πρὸς ἐπανήκοντα τὸν Ἡρώδην πολλά τε περὶ τοῦ πρὸς αὐτὴν συμπαθοῦς ἐν ταῖς ὁμιλίαις ἐπομνύμενον, ὡς οὐδʼ ἐρασθείη ποτὲ γυναικὸς ἄλλης, πάνυ γοῦν, εἶπεν, ταῖς πρὸς τὸν Ἰώσηπον ἐντολαῖς ἐπεδείξω τὸν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔρωτα κτεῖναί με προστάξας.
443. When he heard that this grand secret was discovered, he was like a distracted man, and said that Joseph would never have disclosed that injunction of his, unless he had debauched her. His passion also made him stark mad, and leaping out of his bed, he ran about the palace after a wild manner; at which time his sister Salome took the opportunity also to blast her reputation, and confirmed his suspicion about Joseph; whereupon, out of his ungovernable jealousy and rage, he commanded both of them to be slain immediately; but as soon as ever his passion was over, he repented of what he had done, and as soon as his anger was worn off, his affections were kindled again. And indeed the flame of his desires for her was so ardent, that he could not think she was dead, but would appear, under his disorders, to speak to her as if she were still alive, till he were better instructed by time, when his grief and trouble, now she was dead, appeared as great as his affection had been for her while she was living.
443. Ἔκφρων εὐθέως ἀκούσας τὸ ἀπόρρητον ἦν, καὶ οὐκ ἄν ποτε τὸν Ἰώσηπον ἐξαγγεῖλαι τὴν ἐντολὴν φάμενος εἰ μὴ διαφθείρειεν αὐτήν, ἐνεθουσία τῷ πάθει καὶ τῆς κοίτης ἐξαλλόμενος ἀνέδην ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἀνειλεῖτο. καὶ τοῦτον Σαλώμη ἡ ἀδελφὴ τὸν καιρὸν εἰς τὰς διαβολὰς ἁρπάσασα τὴν εἰς τὸν Ἰώσηπον ἐπεβεβαίωσεν ὑποψίαν. ὁ δʼ ὑπʼ ἀκράτου ζηλοτυπίας ἐκμανεὶς παραχρῆμα κτείνειν προσέταξεν ἀμφοτέρους. μετάνοια δʼ εὐθέως εἵπετο τῷ πάθει, καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ πεσόντος ὁ ἔρως πάλιν ἀνεζωπυρεῖτο. τοσαύτη δʼ ἦν φλεγμονὴ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ὡς μηδὲ τεθνάναι δοκεῖν αὐτήν, ὑπὸ δὲ κακώσεως ὡς ζώσῃ προσλαλεῖν, μέχρι τῷ χρόνῳ διδαχθεὶς τὸ πένθος ἀνάλογον τὴν λύπην ἔσχεν τῇ πρὸς περιοῦσαν διαθέσει.
445. NOW Mariamne's sons were heirs to that hatred which had been borne their mother; and when they considered the greatness of Herod's crime towards her, they were suspicious of him as of an enemy of theirs; and this first while they were educated at Rome, but still more when they were returned to Judea. This temper of theirs increased upon them as they grew up to be men; and when they were Come to an age fit for marriage, the one of them married their aunt Salome's daughter, which Salome had been the accuser of their mother; the other married the daughter of Archclaus, king of Cappadocia. And now they used boldness in speaking, as well as bore hatred in their minds. Now those that calumniated them took a handle from such their boldness, and certain of them spake now more plainly to the king that there were treacherous designs laid against him by both his sons; and he that was son-in-law to Archelaus, relying upon his father-in-law, was preparing to fly away, in order to accuse Herod before Caesar; and when Herod's head had been long enough filled with these calumnies, he brought Antipater, whom he had by Doris, into favor again, as a defense to him against his other sons, and began all the ways he possibly could to prefer him before them.
445. Κληρονομοῦσι δὲ τῆς μητρῴας οἱ παῖδες ὀργῆς καὶ τοῦ μύσους ἔννοιαν λαμβάνοντες ὡς πολέμιον ὑφεώρων τὸν πατέρα, καὶ τὸ πρότερον μὲν ἐπὶ Ῥώμης παιδευόμενοι, πλέον δʼ ὡς εἰς Ἰουδαίαν ὑπέστρεψαν· συνηνδροῦτο δʼ αὐτῶν ταῖς ἡλικίαις ἡ διάθεσις. καὶ ἐπειδὴ γάμων ἔχοντες ὥραν ὁ μὲν τῆς τηθίδος Σαλώμης, ἣ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν κατηγόρησεν, ὁ δʼ ἔγημεν Ἀρχελάου τοῦ Καππαδόκων βασιλέως θυγατέρα, προσελάμβανον ἤδη τῷ μίσει καὶ παρρησίαν. ἐκ δὲ τοῦ θράσους αὐτῶν ἀφορμὰς οἱ διαβάλλοντες ἐλάμβανον, καὶ φανερώτερον ἤδη τῷ βασιλεῖ διελέγοντό τινες ὡς ἐπιβουλεύοιτο μὲν ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν υἱῶν, ὁ δὲ Ἀρχελάῳ κηδεύσας καὶ φυγὴν παρασκευάζοιτο τῷ πενθερῷ πεποιθώς, ἵνʼ ἐπὶ Καίσαρος αὐτοῦ κατηγορήσειεν. ἀναπλησθεὶς δὲ τῶν διαβολῶν Ἡρώδης ὥσπερ ἐπιτείχισμα τοῖς υἱοῖς κατάγει τὸν ἐκ τῆς Δωρίδος Ἀντίπατρον καὶ πάντα τρόπον προτιμᾶν ἄρχεται.
449. But these sons were not able to bear this change in their affairs; but when they saw him that was born of a mother of no family, the nobility of their birth made them unable to contain their indignation; but whensoever they were uneasy, they showed the anger they had at it. And as these sons did day after day improve in that their anger, Antipater already exercised all his own abilities, which were very great, in flattering his father, and in contriving many sorts of calumnies against his brethren, while he told some stories of them himself, and put it upon other proper persons to raise other stories against them, till at length he entirely cut his brethren off from all hopes of succeeding to the kingdom; for he was already publicly put into his father's will as his successor. Accordingly, he was sent with royal ornaments, and other marks of royalty, to Caesar, excepting the diadem. He was also able in time to introduce his mother again into Mariamne's bed. The two sorts of weapons he made use of against his brethren were flattery and calumny, whereby he brought matters privately to such a pass, that the king had thoughts of putting his sons to death.
449. Τοῖς δʼ ἀφόρητος ἦν ἡ μεταβολή, καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἰδιώτιδος μητρὸς ὁρῶντες προκόπτοντα διὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν εὐγένειαν οὐκ ἐκράτουν τῆς ἀγανακτήσεως, ἐφʼ ἑκάστου δὲ τῶν ἀνιαρῶν τὴν ὀργὴν ἐξέφαινον, ὥσθʼ οἱ μὲν καθʼ ἡμέραν προσίσταντο μᾶλλον, ὁ δʼ Ἀντίπατρος ἤδη καὶ διʼ αὑτὸν ἐσπουδάζετο, δεινότατος μὲν ὢν ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα κολακείαις, διαβολὰς δὲ κατὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ποικίλας ἐνσκευαζόμενος καὶ τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς λογοποιῶν, τὰ δὲ τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους φημίζειν καθιείς, μέχρι παντάπασιν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἀπέρρηξεν τῆς βασιλικῆς ἐλπίδος· καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς διαθήκαις καὶ φανερῶς αὐτὸς ἦν ἤδη διάδοχος· ὡς βασιλεὺς γοῦν ἐπέμφθη καὶ πρὸς Καίσαρα τῷ τε κόσμῳ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις θεραπείαις πλὴν διαδήματος χρώμενος. χρόνῳ δʼ ἐξίσχυσεν εἰσαγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν Μαριάμμης κοίτην τὴν μητέρα. δυσὶ δʼ ὅπλοις κατὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν χρώμενος, κολακείᾳ καὶ διαβολῇ, τὸν βασιλέα καὶ περὶ θανάτου τῶν υἱῶν ὑπειργάσατο.
452. So the father drew Alexander as far as Rome, and. charged him with an attempt of poisoning him before Caesar. Alexander could hardly speak for lamentation; but having a judge that was more skillful than Antipater, and more wise than Herod, he modestly avoided laying any imputation upon his father, but with great strength of reason confuted the calumnies laid against him; and when he had demonstrated the innocency of his brother, who was in the like danger with himself, he at last bewailed the craftiness of Antipater, and the disgrace they were under. He was enabled also to justify himself, not only by a clear conscience, which he carried within him, but by his eloquence; for he was a shrewd man in making speeches. And upon his saying at last, that if his father objected this crime to them, it was in his power to put them to death, he made all the audience weep; and he brought Caesar to that pass, as to reject the accusations, and to reconcile their father to them immediately. But the conditions of this reconciliation were these, that they should in all things be obedient to their father, and that he should have power to leave the kingdom to which of them he pleased.
452. Τὸν γοῦν Ἀλέξανδρον σύρας μέχρι Ῥώμης ὁ πατὴρ τῆς ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ φαρμακείας ἔκρινεν ἐπὶ Καίσαρος. ὁ δʼ εὑρὼν μόλις ὀλοφυρμοῦ παρρησίαν καὶ δικαστὴν ἐμπειρότατον Ἀντιπάτρου καὶ Ἡρώδου φρονιμώτερον, τὰ μὲν ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ πατρὸς αἰδημόνως ὑπεστείλατο, τὰς δʼ αὐτοῦ διαβολὰς ἰσχυρῶς ἀπελύσατο. καθαρὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀποδείξας κοινωνοῦντα τῶν κινδύνων, οὕτως ἤδη τό τε Ἀντιπάτρου πανοῦργον καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν ἀτιμίαν ἀπωδύρετο. συνήργει δʼ αὐτῷ μετὰ καθαροῦ τοῦ συνειδότος ἡ περὶ λόγους ἰσχύς· ἦν γὰρ δὴ δεινότατος εἰπεῖν. καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον φάμενος ὡς τῷ πατρὶ κτείνειν αὐτοὺς ἔστιν † ἡδὺ καὶ προτίθεται τὸ ἔγκλημα, προήγαγεν μὲν εἰς δάκρυα πάντας, τὸν δὲ Καίσαρα διέθηκεν οὕτως ὡς ἀπογνῶναι μὲν αὐτῶν τὰ κατηγορημένα, διαλλάξαι δὲ Ἡρώδην εὐθέως. αἱ διαλλαγαὶ δʼ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἦσαν, ὥστε ἐκείνους μὲν τῷ πατρὶ πάντα πειθαρχεῖν, τὸν δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν καταλιπεῖν ᾧ βούλεται.