Herod Keeps His Crown

Herod’s other affairs were now very prosperous, and he could not easily be attacked from any side. Yet a danger came upon him that put his whole dominion at risk, after Antony had been beaten by Caesar at the battle of Actium. For at that time his affairs were despaired of by Herod himself and by those around him, enemies and friends alike, since it was not likely that a man who had shown so much friendship to Antony would go unpunished. So his friends despaired and had no hope of his escape; as for his enemies, they all outwardly appeared troubled at his situation but were secretly very glad of it, hoping to gain a change for the better. As for Herod himself, he saw that there was no one of royal rank left but Hyrcanus, and so he thought it would be to his advantage not to let him stand in his way any longer. If he himself survived and escaped the danger he was in, he thought it safest to put it out of the power of such a man, one more worthy of the kingdom than himself, to make any attempt against him at so critical a time; and if he should be killed by Caesar, his envy moved him to want to kill the man who would otherwise be king after him. [a]

While Herod had these things on his mind, an occasion was offered him. Hyrcanus was by nature so considerate, both then and at other times, that he had no wish to meddle in public affairs or to concern himself with any change, but left everything to fortune and was content with what it gave him. But Alexandra was a lover of strife and extremely eager for a change of government. She urged her father not to bear Herod’s abuse of their family forever, but to secure their future hopes ahead of time, as he safely could; and she wanted him to write about this to Malchus, who was then governor of Arabia, asking him to receive them and keep them safe. For if they got away, and Herod’s affairs turned out as they were likely to because of Caesar’s hostility toward him, they would then be the only persons who could take the government, both because of the royal family they belonged to and because of the people’s goodwill toward them. While she pressed these arguments, Hyrcanus put her off. But as she showed herself a woman, and a contentious woman at that, who would not stop night or day but kept talking to him about these matters and about Herod’s treacherous designs, she at last prevailed on him to entrust Dositheus, one of his friends, with a letter declaring his decision. In it he asked the Arabian governor to send him some horsemen who would receive him and escort him to Lake Asphaltites, which is about thirty-seven miles from the borders of Jerusalem. He entrusted this letter to Dositheus because he was a careful attendant on him and on Alexandra, and had no small reason to bear Herod ill will; for he was a kinsman of a certain Joseph whom Herod had killed, and a brother of those who had earlier been killed at Tyre by Antony. Yet these motives could not persuade Dositheus to serve Hyrcanus in this affair; preferring the hopes he had from the present king to those he had from Hyrcanus, he gave Herod the letter. Herod took his kindness in good part, and told him besides to go on doing what he had already done, that is, to keep serving him: to roll up the letter, seal it again, and deliver it to Malchus, and then to bring back his letter in reply; for it would be much better if he could know Malchus’s intentions too. Dositheus was very ready to serve him in this as well, and the Arabian governor sent back the answer that he would receive Hyrcanus and all who came with him, and even all the Jews of his party; that he would also send forces enough to keep them safe on their journey; and that Hyrcanus would lack nothing he wanted. As soon as Herod had received this letter, he sent for Hyrcanus at once and questioned him about the agreement he had made with Malchus. When he denied it, Herod showed his letter to the sanhedrin and put the man to death immediately. [c]

This is the account we give the reader as it is contained in King Herod’s own memoirs. But other historians do not agree with them. They suppose that Herod did not find but rather made this occasion for putting him to death, bringing the charge against Hyrcanus by laying a trap for him, as was his way. For this is how they write: Herod and Hyrcanus were once at a banquet, and Herod, having given no cause for suspicion, put this question to Hyrcanus: had he received any letters from Malchus? He answered that he had received letters, but only letters of greeting. When Herod asked further whether he had not received any presents from him, he replied that he had received nothing but four horses to ride, which Malchus had sent him. They claim that Herod charged these against him as the crimes of bribery and treason, and gave orders for him to be strangled. To show that he had committed no offense when he was brought to this end, they point to how considerate his character had been: even in his youth he had never given any sign of boldness or rashness, and the same was true when he came to be king, for even then he left the management of most public affairs to Antipater. He was now more than eighty years old, and knew that Herod’s government was secure. He had also come back across the Euphrates, leaving those beyond that river who greatly honored him, though he was going to be entirely under Herod’s rule. It was a most incredible thing, they say, that he should attempt any kind of revolt, and not at all in keeping with his temper; this was a pretext of Herod’s. [g]

This was the fate of Hyrcanus, and so he ended his life, after enduring many and various turns of fortune in the course of it. He was made high priest of the Jewish nation at the very beginning of the reign of his mother Alexandra, and held that honor nine years. When after his mother’s death he took the kingdom himself and held it three months, he lost it through his brother Aristobulus. He was then restored by Pompey, received every kind of honor from him, and enjoyed them forty years. But when he was deposed again by Antigonus and maimed in his body, he was made a captive by the Parthians, and returned home from there after some time because of the hopes Herod had given him. None of these came about as he expected; he struggled with many misfortunes through the whole course of his life, and, what was the heaviest calamity of all, as we have already related, he came in his old age to an end he did not deserve. He seems to have been considerate and moderate in everything, a man who generally let the administration of affairs be carried on by others under him. He disliked much meddling in public affairs, and he did not have shrewdness enough to govern a kingdom. Both Antipater and Herod rose to greatness because he was so considerate, and in the end he met at their hands with an end that agreed with neither justice nor piety. [h]

As soon as Herod had put Hyrcanus out of the way, he hurried to Caesar. Since he could have no hope of kindness from him because of his friendship with Antony, he was suspicious of Alexandra, fearing that she would take this opportunity to bring the people to revolt and stir up sedition in the affairs of the kingdom. So he entrusted the care of everything to his brother Pheroras, and placed his mother Cypros, his sister, and the whole family at Masada, and charged Pheroras that if he should hear any bad news about him, he should take over the government. But as for his wife Mariamne, because of the bad feeling between her and his sister and his mother, which made it impossible for them to live together, he placed her at Alexandrium with her mother Alexandra, and left his treasurer Joseph and Sohemus of Iturea in charge of them. These two had been very faithful to him from the beginning, and were now left, on the pretext of doing the women honor, to guard them. They also had orders that if they should hear that any harm had come to him, they were to kill both women at once, and, as far as they were able, to preserve the kingdom for his sons and for his brother Pheroras. [j]

When he had given them these orders, he hurried to Rhodes to meet Caesar. When he had sailed to that city, he took off his diadem, but laid aside nothing else of his usual dignity. And when, at their meeting, he was allowed to speak with Caesar, he showed in this a far nobler example of a great soul. He did not resort to pleading, as people usually do on such occasions, nor did he present any petition as if he were an offender, but fearlessly gave an account of what he had done. For he spoke to Caesar like this: he had had the greatest friendship for Antony and had done everything he could to help him gain the government; he had not indeed been with him in the army, because the Arabians had drawn him off, but he had sent him both money and grain, which was far too little in comparison with what he ought to have done for him. “For if a man acknowledges himself to be another’s friend, and knows him to be his benefactor, he is bound to risk everything for him, to use every faculty of his soul, every limb of his body, and all the wealth he has; and in this I confess I have fallen far short. Yet I am conscious that I have done right this far: I did not desert him after his defeat at Actium, nor, when his fortune plainly changed, did I transfer my hopes from him to another. I have kept myself, if not as a valuable fellow soldier, then certainly as a very able counselor to Antony, when I showed him that the only way he had to save himself and not lose all his authority was to kill Cleopatra. For once she was dead, there would be room for him to keep his authority, and rather to bring you to come to terms with him than to remain at enmity any longer. He would listen to none of this advice, but preferred his own rash resolution to it, which has turned out unprofitably for him but profitably for you. Now therefore, if you decide about me, and about my eagerness in serving Antony, according to your anger at him, I admit there is no room for me to deny what I have done, nor will I be ashamed to admit, and publicly too, that I had a great affection for him. But if you will set him aside, and only examine how I behave toward my benefactors in general and what sort of friend I am, you can learn what we are from the proof of what has already happened; for with only the name changed, the firmness of our friendship will be able to win your approval no less.” [l]

By this speech, and by his bearing, which showed Caesar the frankness of his mind, he won him over greatly, for Caesar was himself of a generous and magnificent temper; so much so that the very actions that were the ground of the accusation against him gained him Caesar’s goodwill. So Caesar restored his diadem to him, urged him to show himself as great a friend to him as he had been to Antony, and held him in great esteem. He added, moreover, that Quintus Didius had written to him that Herod had very readily helped him in the affair of the gladiators. Having obtained so kind a reception, and having had his crown, beyond all his hopes, settled on him more completely and firmly than ever by Caesar’s gift, as well as by the decree of the Romans that Caesar took care to obtain for his greater security, Herod escorted Caesar on his way to Egypt, gave presents beyond his means both to him and to his friends, and in general behaved with great magnanimity. He also asked Caesar not to put to death a certain Alexander, who had been a companion of Antony; but Caesar had sworn to put him to death, and so Herod could not obtain that request. And now he returned to Judea with greater honor and confidence than ever, and dismayed those who had expected otherwise, since by God’s favor toward him he seemed to gain still greater splendor from his very dangers. So he prepared to receive Caesar as he was going out of Syria to invade Egypt; and when Caesar came, he entertained him at Ptolemais with all royal magnificence. He also gave presents to the army and brought them provisions in abundance. He proved to be one of Caesar’s most cordial friends: he rode alongside Caesar as he reviewed his army, and he received him and his friends in a hundred and fifty banqueting halls, all furnished in a rich and sumptuous manner. He also provided them with what they needed as they crossed the dry desert, so that they lacked neither wine nor water, the latter of which the soldiers needed most. Besides this, he presented Caesar with eight hundred talents, and won the goodwill of them all, because he was helping them on a much greater and more splendid scale than the kingdom he had obtained could afford. By this means he showed Caesar more and more the firmness of his friendship and his readiness to help him; and what was of the greatest advantage to him was that his generosity came at a timely moment as well. And when they came back out of Egypt, his help was in no way inferior to the services he had done them before. [n]