The Revolt of Trachonitis

When Herod had been to Rome and had come back again, a war arose between him and the Arabians, for the following reason. The inhabitants of Trachonitis, after Caesar had taken the country away from Zenodorus and added it to Herod’s, no longer had the power to rob, but were forced to plow the land and to live quietly. They did not like this, and when they did take the trouble, the ground did not produce much for them. At first, however, the king would not allow them to rob, and so they kept from that unjust way of living off their neighbors, which won Herod a great reputation for his care. But when he was sailing to Rome (this was the time he went to accuse his son Alexander and to commend Antipater to Caesar’s protection), the Trachonites spread a report that he was dead, revolted from his rule, and went back again to their accustomed way of robbing their neighbors. The king’s commanders subdued them in his absence; but about forty of the chief robbers, terrified by the fate of those who had been captured, left the country and withdrew into Arabia. Sylleus, after he had failed to marry Salome, took them in and gave them a stronghold to live in. So they overran not only Judea but all of Coele-Syria as well, carrying off plunder, while Sylleus gave them bases to raid from and freedom from punishment for their wicked doings. When Herod came back from Rome, he saw that his territories had suffered greatly from them. He could not reach the robbers themselves, because of the secure refuge they had in that country, which the Arabian government gave them; yet he was very angry at the harm they had done him, so he went all over Trachonitis and killed their relatives. At this the robbers were angrier than before, since it was a law among them to take vengeance by every possible means on those who killed their relatives; so they went on tearing and ravaging everything under Herod’s rule with impunity. Then he spoke about these robberies with Caesar’s governors, Saturninus and Volumnius, and demanded that the robbers be punished. On that account they entrenched themselves all the more in their robberies and grew more numerous, throwing everything into turmoil to the ruin of Herod’s kingdom. They laid waste its districts and villages and killed the men they caught, until these lawless doings came to be like a real war; for the robbers had now become about a thousand. Herod was very displeased at this, and demanded the robbers, and also the money he had lent Obodas through Sylleus, which was sixty talents; since the time for payment was now past, he wanted it paid. But Sylleus, who had set Obodas aside and was managing everything himself, denied that the robbers were in Arabia and put off paying the money. There was a hearing about it before Saturninus and Volumnius, who were then the governors of Syria. At last, through them, it was agreed that within thirty days Herod should be paid his money and that each side should hand over the other’s subjects in turn. As for Herod, not one of the other side’s subjects was found in his kingdom, either for wrongdoing or on any other account; but it was proved that the Arabians had the robbers among them. [a]

When the day appointed for payment of the money had passed without Sylleus carrying out any part of his agreement, and he had gone to Rome, Herod set about exacting reprisals for the money and for the robbers who were among the Arabians; and with the permission of Saturninus and Volumnius he carried out the judgment himself against those who refused to comply. He took the army he had and led it into Arabia, and in three days he marched the distance of seven stages, about 140 miles. When he came to the stronghold where the robbers were, he attacked them, took them all, and demolished the place, which was called Raepta; but he did no harm to anyone else. But when the Arabians came to their help under their commander Naceb, a battle followed in which a few of Herod’s soldiers fell, together with Naceb, the Arabian commander, and about twenty-five of his men, while the rest took to flight. When he had punished these men, he settled three thousand Idumeans in Trachonitis, and so held in check the robbers who were there. He also sent an account to the commanders who were around Phoenicia, showing that he had done nothing but what he ought in punishing the defiant Arabians; and on careful inquiry they found this to be no more than the truth. [f]

However, messengers hurried off to Sylleus at Rome and told him what had been done, exaggerating everything, as is usual. Now Sylleus had already made himself known to Caesar and was then about the palace. As soon as he heard these things, he changed into black clothes and went in and told Caesar that Arabia was afflicted with war and his whole kingdom in great confusion, because Herod was laying it waste with his army. He said, with tears in his eyes, that two thousand five hundred of the leading men among the Arabians had been killed; that their commander Naceb, his close friend and kinsman, had been slain; that the wealth at Raepta had been carried off; and that Obodas had been treated with contempt, since his feeble health made him unfit for war, so that neither he nor the Arabian army had been present. When Sylleus had said this, he added spitefully that he would not have left the country himself unless he had believed that Caesar would see to it that they all kept peace with one another, and that if he had been there, he would have made sure the war did not turn out to Herod’s advantage. Caesar was provoked when he heard this, and asked only this one question, of Herod’s friends who were there and of his own friends who had come from Syria: whether Herod had led an army into Arabia. When they were forced to admit it, Caesar, without waiting to hear why he had done it and how it had been done, grew very angry and wrote sharply to Herod. The gist of his letter was this: that whereas in the past he had treated him as a friend, he would now treat him as a subject. Sylleus also wrote an account of this to the Arabians, who were so elated by it that they neither handed over the robbers who had fled to them nor paid the money that was owed. They also kept the pastures they had rented from Herod, holding them without paying the rent, and all this because the king of the Jews was now brought low by Caesar’s anger with him. The people of Trachonitis too seized the opportunity and rose against the Idumean garrison, and took up robbing together with the Arabians, plundering the land of the settlers; and they were the more ruthless in their lawless doings, not only for gain but also out of a grudge. [i]

Herod was forced to bear all this, for the confidence that Caesar’s favor used to give him was quite gone. Caesar would not even put up with the embassy he sent to make his defense, but sent the envoys back with nothing accomplished. So he was cast into sadness and fear. The position of Sylleus grieved him exceedingly, for Sylleus was now believed by Caesar and was present at Rome, and was now reaching for still greater things. Now it happened that Obodas died, and Aeneas, whose name was afterward changed to Aretas, took the government. Sylleus tried by slanders to get him turned out of his rule so that he might take it himself. With this aim he gave much money to the courtiers and promised much money to Caesar, who was indeed angry that Aretas had not sent to him first before he took the kingdom. Yet Aeneas sent Caesar a letter and presents, including a gold crown worth many talents. The letter accused Sylleus of having been a wicked servant who had killed Obodas by poison; who, while Obodas was alive, had governed him as he pleased; who had also committed adultery with the wives of Arabians; and who had borrowed money in order to obtain the rule for himself. Yet Caesar paid no attention to these accusations, but sent his envoys back without accepting any of his presents. Meanwhile the affairs of Judea and Arabia grew worse and worse, partly because of the lack of any government there, and partly because, bad as they were, no one had the power to govern them. Of the two kings, one was not yet confirmed in his kingdom and so lacked the authority to restrain the evildoers; and as for Herod, Caesar had been immediately angry with him for avenging himself, and so he was forced to bear all the injuries done to him. At last, seeing no end to the troubles that surrounded him, he decided to send envoys to Rome again, to see whether his friends had succeeded in softening Caesar, and to appeal to Caesar himself; and the envoy he sent there was Nicolaus of Damascus. [j]