Antony’s Letters for the Jews

Ptolemy son of Mennaeus now brought Antigonus son of Aristobulus back into Judea, because of their kinship by marriage. Antigonus had already raised an army and had made Fabius his friend with money. Marion also gave him help. Cassius had left Marion as tyrant of Tyre, for Cassius held Syria by dividing it up among tyrants. Marion also marched into Galilee, which bordered on his territory, took three of its fortresses, and put garrisons into them to hold them. But when Herod came, he took them all from him. The Tyrian garrison, however, he dismissed very courteously, and to some of the soldiers he even gave presents, out of the goodwill he bore that city. When he had finished these affairs, he went to meet Antigonus, joined battle with him and defeated him, and drove him out of Judea when he had hardly set foot within its borders. When he came to Jerusalem, Hyrcanus and the people crowned him with garlands. For he had already been joined by betrothal to Hyrcanus’s family, and for that reason Herod took the greater care of him; he was to marry the daughter of Alexander son of Aristobulus, the granddaughter of Hyrcanus, by whom he became the father of three sons and two daughters. Before this he had also married another wife, a woman of humbler family from his own nation, named Doris, by whom he had his eldest son, Antipater. [a]

Now Antony and Caesar had defeated Cassius near Philippi, as others have related. After the victory Caesar went to Italy, and Antony set out for Asia. When he arrived in Bithynia, ambassadors met him from every quarter. The leading men of the Jews also came there to accuse Phasael and Herod, saying that Hyrcanus had indeed the appearance of reigning, but that these men had all the power. But Antony paid great respect to Herod, who had come to him to answer his accusers, so that his opponents could not even obtain a hearing; and Herod had gained this favor from Antony with money. Still, when Antony had come to Ephesus, Hyrcanus the high priest and our nation sent an embassy to him, which brought a crown of gold and asked him to write to the governors of the provinces to set free those Jews whom Cassius had carried off as captives, though not by the law of war, and to restore to them the land that had been taken from them in Cassius’s time. Antony judged that the Jews’ requests were just, and he wrote at once to Hyrcanus and to the Jews. At the same time he also sent a decree to the people of Tyre to the same effect. [d]

“Marcus Antonius, imperator, to Hyrcanus the high priest and ethnarch, and to the nation of the Jews, greetings. If you are well, it is good; I too am well, with the army. Lysimachus son of Pausanias, Joseph son of Mennaeus and Alexander son of Theodorus, your ambassadors, met me at Ephesus. They have renewed the embassy they carried out earlier at Rome, and they have diligently discharged the present embassy, which you and your nation entrusted to them, and have fully declared the goodwill you have toward us. I am therefore persuaded, both by your actions and by your words, that you are on the closest terms with us, and I understand that your way of life is steadfast and reverent toward God; so I count you as my own. But our adversaries, and those of the Roman people, overran all of Asia, sparing neither cities nor shrines, and did not keep the agreements they had confirmed by oath. It was not only for the sake of our own contest with them, but for the sake of all mankind in common, that we took vengeance on those who were guilty of great injustice toward men and great wickedness toward the gods. For this reason, we believe, the sun itself turned away its light from us, as though unwilling to look on the horrible crime committed against Caesar. We have also overcome their conspiracies, which made war on the gods themselves, and which Macedonia received as if its very air were suited to impious and insolent attempts. We overcame that confused mob of men, half mad with malice against us, which they gathered at Philippi in Macedonia, where they seized the places that suited their purpose, walled in, as it were, by mountains as far as the sea, so that the way through was open by a single gate. We gained this victory because the gods had condemned those men for their wicked undertakings. Brutus, having fled together with the rest to Philippi, was shut in by us and shared the same destruction as Cassius. Now that these men have received their punishment, we expect to enjoy peace for the time to come, and that Asia will be at rest from war. We therefore share with our allies also the peace that God has given us, so that the body of Asia is now recovering, as from a great sickness, by means of our victory. Keeping in mind, then, both you and your nation, I will take care to advance whatever is to your advantage. I have also sent letters to the various cities, so that if any persons, whether free or slaves, have been sold at auction by Gaius Cassius or by the officers under him, they may be set free. And it is my will that you make full use of the favors that Dolabella and I have granted you. I also forbid the Tyrians to use any violence against you, and I order them to restore whatever places of the Jews they now hold. I have accepted the crown you sent me.” [f]

“Marcus Antonius, imperator, to the magistrates, senate and people of Tyre, greetings. The ambassadors of Hyrcanus, the high priest and ethnarch, appeared before me at Ephesus and told me that you are in possession of part of their land, which you entered when our adversaries were in power. Since we undertook a war for the supreme command, and took care to do what was in keeping with piety and justice, and have punished those who neither remembered the kindnesses they had received nor kept their oaths, it is my will that you also be at peace with our allies, and that whatever you have taken by means of our adversaries shall not be counted yours, but be returned to those from whom you took it. For none of those men received their provinces or their armies by gift of the senate; they seized them by force and bestowed them by violence on those who made themselves useful to them in their unjust proceedings. Since those men have received the punishment due to them, we desire that our allies keep without disturbance whatever they formerly possessed. And if you now hold any places that belonged to Hyrcanus, the ethnarch of the Jews, even one day before Gaius Cassius began an unauthorized war against us and entered our province, you are to restore them to him. Nor are you to use any force against them, to weaken them so that they cannot control what is their own. But if you have any dispute with him about your respective rights, you will be allowed to plead your case when we come to the places concerned, for we shall preserve the rights of all our allies alike and hear all their causes.”

“Marcus Antonius, imperator, to the magistrates, senate and people of Tyre, greetings. I have sent you my decree, and it is my will that you take care that it be engraved on the public tablets in Roman and Greek letters, and that it stand engraved in the most conspicuous place, so that it can be read by all. Marcus Antonius, imperator, one of the three men appointed over public affairs, made this declaration: Since Gaius Cassius, in this revolt he has made, has plundered a province that did not belong to him, held by garrisons encamped there, and its people who were our allies, and has besieged and plundered the nation of the Jews, which was a friend of the Roman people; and since we have overcome his madness by arms, we now correct by our decrees and judgments what he has laid waste, so that those things may be restored to our allies. As for whatever of the Jews’ property has been sold, whether persons or possessions, let it be released: the persons to the freedom they had at first, and the possessions to their former owners. It is also my will that whoever does not obey this decree of mine be prosecuted for his disobedience; and if such a man is convicted, I will see to it that the offender is punished as the matter deserves.” [i]

Antony wrote the same thing to the people of Sidon, Antioch and Aradus. We have included these decrees, then, as proofs for the future of what we have said: that the Romans took great care for our nation. [j]