Herod Fights for His Kingdom

By this time Herod had sailed from Italy to Ptolemais and had gathered no small army, both of foreigners and of his own countrymen, and he marched through Galilee against Antigonus. Silo and Ventidius also came to help him, persuaded by Dellius, whom Antony had sent to help bring Herod back. Ventidius, however, was busy settling the disturbances the Parthians had caused in the cities; and Silo was in Judea indeed, but bribed by Antigonus. Still, as Herod went along his army grew every day, and all Galilee, with a few small exceptions, came over to him. But as he was on his way to those in Masada (for he was bound to try to save those in that fortress, now that they were besieged, because they were his relatives), Joppa stood in his way. He had to take that place first, since it was a city hostile to him, so that no stronghold would be left in his enemies’ hands behind him when he went on to Jerusalem. When Silo made this an excuse to withdraw and was pursued by the Jews, Herod fell on them with a small body of men, put the Jews to flight, and rescued Silo, who was very poorly able to defend himself. And when Herod had taken Joppa, he hurried to set free those of his family who were in Masada. Of the people of the country, some joined him because of the friendship they had had with his father, some because of the splendid figure he made, and others to repay the benefits they had received from them both; but the greatest number came to him hoping to get something from him later, once he was firmly settled in the kingdom. [a]

Herod now had a strong army. As he marched on, Antigonus laid traps and ambushes in the passes and the places best suited for them; but in truth he did the enemy little or no harm by them. So Herod received his family out of Masada, took the fortress of Ressa, and then went on toward Jerusalem. Silo’s soldiers also went with him the whole way, as did many of the citizens, out of fear of his power. As soon as he had pitched his camp on the west side of the city, the soldiers posted to guard that part shot arrows and threw javelins at him; and when some sallied out in a crowd and came to fight hand to hand with the front ranks of Herod’s army, he gave orders first of all that a proclamation be made around the wall: that he had come for the good of the people and for the preservation of the city, not to bear any old grudge even against his most open enemies, but ready to forget the wrongs his greatest adversaries had done him. But Antigonus, in reply to what Herod had proclaimed, and that before the Romans and before Silo too, said that they would not be acting justly if they gave the kingdom to Herod, who was no more than a private man and an Idumean, that is, a half-Jew, when they ought to give it to one of the royal family, as their custom was. For even if at present they bore him ill will and had resolved to deprive him of the kingdom because he had received it from the Parthians, there were many others of his family who might lawfully take it, men who had in no way offended the Romans; and since they were of the priestly family, it would be an unworthy thing to pass them over. While they were saying these things to each other and fell to trading insults on both sides, Antigonus let his own men on the wall defend themselves; and they, using their bows and showing great eagerness against their enemies, easily drove them away from the towers. [d]

And now Silo showed that he had taken bribes. He set a good number of his soldiers to complain loudly of the lack of provisions they were in and to demand money to buy food, and to say that it was right to let them go to places suitable for winter quarters, since the places near the city were a desert, Antigonus’s soldiers having carried everything away. So he set the army moving and tried to march off. But Herod pressed Silo not to leave, and urged Silo’s captains and soldiers not to desert him, when Caesar, Antony and the senate had sent him there; for he would supply them plentifully with all they wanted and easily obtain a great abundance of what they required. After this appeal he went out at once into the country and left Silo not the least pretext for leaving. For he brought in an unexpected quantity of provisions, and sent to his friends who lived around Samaria to bring grain, wine, oil, cattle and all other provisions down to Jericho, so that there would be no lack of supplies for the soldiers in time to come. Antigonus learned of this and at once sent men throughout the country to stop and ambush those who went out for provisions. These men obeyed Antigonus’s orders: they gathered a great number of armed men around Jericho, sat on the mountains, and watched for those bringing the provisions. Herod, however, was not idle in the meantime. He took ten companies of soldiers, five of Romans and five of Jews, with some mercenaries among them and a few horsemen, and came to Jericho. They found the city deserted, but five hundred of its people had settled themselves on the hilltops with their wives and children; these he took and sent away. The Romans fell on the city and plundered it, and found the houses full of all sorts of good things. So the king left a garrison at Jericho and came back, and sent the Roman army to take its winter quarters in the districts that had come over to him: Idumea, Galilee and Samaria. And this much Antigonus gained from Silo for the bribes he had given him: that part of the army should be quartered at Lydda, to please Antony. So the Romans laid their weapons aside and lived in plenty of everything. [f]

But Herod was not content to lie still. He sent his brother Joseph against Idumea with two thousand armed foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen, while he himself came to Samaria and left his mother and his other relatives there, for they had by now left Masada. Then he went into Galilee to take certain places held by Antigonus’s garrisons. He went on to Sepphoris in a snowfall God sent, while Antigonus’s garrisons withdrew, and he had great plenty of provisions. From there he set out, resolved to destroy the robbers who lived in the caves and did much harm in the country. He sent a troop of horsemen and three companies of armed foot soldiers against them. They were very near a village called Arbela, and on the fortieth day after, he came himself with his whole army. When the enemy boldly sallied out against him, the left wing of his army gave way; but he appeared with a body of men, put to flight those who were already winning, and called back his men who were running away. He also pressed hard on his enemies and pursued them as far as the river Jordan, though they fled by different roads. So he brought all Galilee over to his side, except those who lived in the caves. He paid each of his soldiers a hundred and fifty drachmas, and much more to their captains, and sent them into winter quarters. At this time Silo came to him, and his commanders with him, because Antigonus would no longer give them provisions; he had supplied them for no more than one month. Indeed, he had sent word to all the country around to carry off the provisions there and withdraw to the mountains, so that the Romans would have nothing to live on and would die of famine. But Herod put the care of that matter into the hands of Pheroras, his youngest brother, and told him also to repair Alexandrium. Pheroras quickly supplied the soldiers with great plenty of provisions, and rebuilt Alexandrium, which had been lying desolate. [g]

About this time Antony was staying for a while at Athens, and Ventidius, who was now in Syria, sent for Silo and ordered him first to help Herod finish the present war, and then to send for their allies for the war the Romans themselves were engaged in. As for Herod, he hurried against the robbers in the caves, and sent Silo away to Ventidius while he marched against them. These caves were in mountains that were exceedingly steep, with nothing in their middle but sheer precipices, and certain entrances into the caves; and the caves were ringed with sharp rocks. In them the robbers lay hidden with all their families. The king had certain chests made to destroy them, to be let down from the top of the mountain by a machine, hung on iron chains; for it was impossible to climb up to them because of the steepness of the mountains, or to creep down to them from above. These chests were filled with armed men who had long hooks in their hands, with which they could pull out those who resisted them, throw them down, and kill them that way. But lowering the chests proved very dangerous, because of the vast depth they had to go down, even though the men had their provisions in the chests with them. When the chests had been let down, not one of those in the mouths of the caves dared come near them; they lay still out of fear. Then one of the armed men, impatient at the delay caused by the robbers not daring to come out, girded on his sword, took hold with both hands of the chain from which his chest hung, and let himself down to the mouths of the caves. When he reached one of those mouths, he first beat back with javelins many of those standing at it, then pulled those who resisted toward him with his hook and pushed them down the precipice; after that he fell on those inside and slaughtered many, and then went back into his chest and rested there. At this, terror seized the rest when they heard the wailing, and they despaired of escaping. When night came on, however, it put an end to the whole work; and when the king proclaimed by a herald a pardon to all who surrendered to him, many accepted the offer. The same method of attack was used the next day. The men in the chests went out against them still more boldly, fought them at their doors, and threw fire in among them; and the caves were set on fire, for there was a great deal of fuel inside. Now there was one old man caught inside one of these caves with seven children and a wife. They begged him to let them go out and surrender to the enemy; but he stood at the cave’s mouth and killed each of his children as he came out, until he had destroyed them all; after that he killed his wife, threw their dead bodies down the precipice, and himself after them, and so chose death rather than slavery. But before he did this, he bitterly reproached Herod with the lowness of his family, even though the king, who could see what was being done, was stretching out his hand to him and offering him every assurance of his life. In this way all these caves were at last entirely subdued. [j]

When the king had set Ptolemy over these parts of the country as his general, he went to Samaria with six hundred horsemen and three thousand armed foot soldiers, intending to fight Antigonus. But this command of the army did not go well for Ptolemy: those who had troubled Galilee before attacked him and killed him, and when they had done this they fled into the marshes and places almost impossible to reach, laying waste and plundering whatever they could get at there. But Herod soon came back and punished them for what they had done. Some of these rebels he killed; others had fled to the strongholds, and he besieged them, killed them, and demolished their strongholds. When he had ended their rebellion in this way, he laid a fine of a hundred talents on the cities. [k]

In the meantime Pacorus had fallen in battle and the Parthians had been defeated, and Ventidius sent Machaeras to Herod’s aid with two legions and a thousand horsemen, while Antony urged him to make haste. But Machaeras, at Antigonus’s instigation and without Herod’s approval, having been bribed, went off to look over Antigonus’s situation. Antigonus, however, suspected the purpose of his coming and would not let him into the city, but kept him at a distance by throwing stones at him, and plainly showed what he himself had in mind. When Machaeras realized that Herod had given him good advice, and that he had made a mistake in not listening to it, he withdrew to the city of Emmaus; and whatever Jews he met he killed, whether enemies or friends, in his rage at the hardships he had suffered. The king was angered at this conduct of his. He went to Samaria, resolved to go to Antony about these matters and to tell him that he had no need of such helpers, who did him more harm than they did his enemies, and that he was able to beat Antigonus on his own. But Machaeras followed him and begged him not to go to Antony; or, if he was determined to go, to join his brother Joseph to them and let them fight Antigonus together. So at his earnest pleading Herod was reconciled to Machaeras. Accordingly he left Joseph there with his army, but charged him to run no risks and not to quarrel with Machaeras. [m]

For his own part, Herod hurried to Antony, who was then besieging Samosata, a place on the Euphrates, with his troops, both horse and foot, to serve him as auxiliaries. When he came to Antioch, he found a great number of men gathered there who very much wanted to go to Antony but dared not set out for fear, because the barbarians were falling on people on the road and had killed many; so he encouraged them and became their guide on the road. When they were within two days’ march of Samosata, the barbarians had laid an ambush there to harass those who were coming to Antony. Where the woods made the passes narrow as they led down to the plains, they posted a good many of their horsemen, who were to lie still until the travelers had gone by into the open ground. As soon as the front ranks had gone by (for Herod was bringing up the rear), those lying in ambush, about five hundred of them, fell on them suddenly; and when they had put the foremost to flight, the king came riding hard with the forces around him and at once drove the enemy back. By this he put courage into his own men and emboldened them to go on, so that those who had run away before now came back, and the barbarians were cut down on every side. The king also went on killing them and recovered all the baggage, among which were a great many pack animals and slaves, and he continued his march. And since there were a great many in the woods who had attacked them and were near the passage leading into the plain, he made a sally against these too with a strong body of men, put them to flight, killed many of them, and so made the road safe for those who came after; and these called Herod their savior and protector.

When he was near Samosata, Antony sent his army out in full array to meet him, to pay Herod this respect and to give him support; for he had heard of the attacks the barbarians had made on him. He was also very glad to see him there, having been told of the great deeds he had done on the road. So he entertained him very kindly and could not help admiring his courage. Antony embraced him as soon as he saw him, greeted him most affectionately, and gave him the place of honor, as one he had himself lately made a king. In a short time Antiochus surrendered the fortress, and with that the war was over. Then Antony handed over the rest to Sosius, ordered him to help Herod, and went himself to Egypt. Accordingly Sosius sent two legions ahead into Judea to help Herod, and followed himself with the main body of the army. [n]

Joseph had already been killed in Judea, in the following way. He forgot the charge his brother Herod had given him when he went to Antony. When he had pitched camp among the mountains (for Machaeras had lent him five regiments), he went hastily with these to Jericho to reap the grain belonging to it. Because the Roman regiments were newly raised and unskilled in war, being collected in large part out of Syria, he was attacked by the enemy and caught in that difficult ground. He himself was killed fighting bravely, and the whole force was lost: six regiments were cut down. When Antigonus had got possession of the dead bodies, he cut off Joseph’s head, although Pheroras his brother would have ransomed it for fifty talents. After this defeat the Galileans revolted and drowned in the lake those of their own leading men who sided with Herod, and a great part of Judea rose in revolt. But Machaeras fortified the place called Gitta. [o]

At this time messengers came to Herod and told him what had been done. When he reached Daphne near Antioch, they told him of the misfortune that had befallen his brother; yet he had expected it from certain visions he had in his dreams, which plainly foretold his brother’s death. So he hurried his march. When he came to Mount Lebanon he took on about eight hundred men of that place, having one Roman legion with him already, and with these he came to Ptolemais. From there he marched by night with his army and went on through Galilee. There the enemy met him and fought him, and were beaten and shut up in the same stronghold from which they had sallied out the day before. He attacked the place in the morning, but because of a great storm then raging he could do nothing, and drew his army off into the neighboring villages. Yet as soon as the other legion Antony had sent him arrived to help him, those garrisoning the place took fright and deserted it in the night. Then the king marched hastily to Jericho, intending to avenge himself on the enemy for the slaughter of his brother. When he had pitched his tents, he gave a feast for the leading commanders; and after the meal was over and he had dismissed his guests, he went to his own room. And here one may see what kindness God had for the king: the upper part of the house fell in when no one was in it, and so killed no one; so that all the people believed Herod was beloved of God, since he had escaped so great and surprising a danger. [q]

But the next day six thousand of the enemy came down from the mountaintops to fight the Romans, which greatly terrified them. Their light-armed troops came close and pelted the king’s guards, who had come out, with javelins and stones, and one of them struck him in the side with a javelin. Antigonus also sent a commander named Pappus with a large force against Samaria, wanting to show the enemy how strong he was and that he had men to spare in his war with them. Pappus sat down to oppose Machaeras. But Herod, when he had taken five cities, took those who were left in them, about two thousand, and killed them, and burned the cities themselves. Then he turned back to go against Pappus, who was encamped at a village called Isanas. Many came flocking to Herod out of Jericho and the rest of Judea, and as he drew near, the enemy, so bold were they at this time, fell on his men and joined battle with them. But he beat them in the fight, and to avenge himself on them for the slaughter of his brother he pursued them hotly into the village, killing them as they ran. The houses were full of armed men, and many had run as far as the rooftops. He got them into his power, pulled down the roofs of the houses, and saw the lower rooms full of soldiers who had been caught and lay all in a heap. So they threw stones down on them as they lay piled one on another, and killed them that way. There was no more frightful sight in all the war than this, where within the walls an immense multitude of dead men lay heaped one on another. It was this action above all that broke the spirit of the enemy, who now expected what would come; for a great number of people from far-off places, who had gathered around the village, now ran away. And had it not been for the depth of winter, which held them back then, the king’s army would have gone straight to Jerusalem, so encouraged were they by this success, and the whole work would have been done at once; for Antigonus was already looking about for a way to flee and leave the city. [r]

At this point the king ordered the soldiers to go to supper, for it was late at night, while he went into a room to bathe, for he was very weary. And here he was in the greatest danger, which yet, by God’s providence, he escaped. As he was naked, with only one servant following him to attend him while he bathed in an inner room, certain of the enemy were in the place in their armor, having fled there out of fear. While he was bathing, the first of them came out with his naked sword drawn and went out through the doors, and after him a second and a third, armed in the same way. They were in such a panic that they did the king no harm, and thought themselves well off to suffer no harm themselves in getting out of the house. The next day Herod cut off the head of Pappus, who had already been killed, and sent it to Pheroras as punishment for what their brother had suffered at his hands; for Pappus was the man who had killed him with his own hand.

When the harshness of winter was over, Herod moved his army and came near Jerusalem, and pitched his camp close to the city. This was the third year since he had been made king at Rome. As he moved his camp up to the part of the wall where it could most easily be attacked, he pitched it before the temple, intending to make his assaults in the same way Pompey had. So he surrounded the place with three earthworks, raised towers, set a great many hands to the work, and cut down the trees all around the city. When he had appointed suitable men to oversee the works, he himself, even while the army lay before the city, went to Samaria to complete his marriage and take as his wife the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus; for he had already been betrothed to her, as I have related before. [s]