eanus's courtiers. Among who was Antipater, father to Herod the Great: who at length pursuaded Hyacanus to fly to and solicit troops from Aretas king of Arabia. From him he was supplied with 50,000 men, with which he entered Judæa, and gained a compleat victory over Aristobulus. But while he was besieging him in the temple, whither he had filed, Aristobulus, with the promise of a large sum of money, engaged Scaurus, a lieutenan of Pompey, the general of the Roman army, then at Damascus, to oblige Aretas to withdraw his forces: Aristobulas was hereby for the present delivered from his brother. But he afterwards prevaricated from time to time in so many instances with Pompey and the two brothers maintained their pretensions so vigorously, that they were the cause of a most terrible slaughter, and of great calamities to the nation. For Pompey in the cause of Hyrcanus took the temple sword in hand, in which near 12,000 Jews perished; and he made Aristo. bulus with his children, two sons and two daughters, prisoners; he afterwards retreenhed the dignity and power of the principality, destroyed the fortifications, undermined the.r liberties, ordered an annual tribute to be paid to the Romans, restored Hyanus to the pontificate, and inade him prince of the country, but would not permit him wear the diadem.

Pompey having settled the govern ment of Judea in this manner, .eturned in his way to Rome with Aristobulus, his sons Alexander and Antigonus, and his two daughters to adorn his triumph. Alexander in the way thither, fonad means to escape ; and in about three years after arrivСс

ed in Judes, and raised some disturbances there; but he was defeated in all his attempts by Gabinius, the Roman governor in Syria: who, coming to Jerusalein, confirmed Hyrcanus in the biph priesthood, but transferred the civil administration from the Sanhedrim, and placed it in five courts of Justice, of his own erecting, according to the number of five provinces, into which he divided the whole kand. After Aristobulus had been confined five years prisher at Rome, he with Lis son escaped into Judea, and endeavoured to raise fresh troubles; but Gabinius soon took them prisoners again, and they being remanded to Rofne, the father was kept close confined; but the children were released.

It was about this time that the civil war between Pompey and Cacsur broke out. And when Aristobulus was on the point of setting out, in the interest of Cæsar, and to take on him the command of an army, in order to secure Judea from Pompey's attempts, he was poisoned by some of Pompey's party.

When Cæsar was returned from the Alexandrian war, he was inuch solicited to depuse Hyrcanus, in favoar of Antigonus, the surviving son of Aristobulus; but Cæsar, instead of complying therewith, not only confirmed Hyrcanus in the high-priesthood and principality of Judea, and decreed both to descend after him to his family; but he abolished the form of government lately set up by Gabinius, restored the na tion to its ancient form, and appointed Antipater procurator of Judea under him.

designs, and deep penetration, mude Antipater, who wasia man of just

order and determination in this af. fair, he retained fifteen of the deputies for hostages of the people's fidelity and obedience. The Jews how ever, when Antony arrived at Tyre, renewed their complaints, and sent 1000 deputies to back and enforce their accusations. Antony looking upon them only as a daring and tumultuous assembly, ordered his sol. diers to fall upon them, so that some of them were killed, and many wounded. But upon Herod's going to Jerusalem, the citizens revenged this affront in the same manner upon his retinue. The news hereof so, enraged Antony, that he ordered the fifteen hostages whom he had detained to be immediately put to death; and threatened severe revenge against the whole faction.

After Antony was returned to Rome, the Parthians, at the solicitation of Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, who had promised them a reward yf a thousand talents, and eight hundred of the most beautiful women in the country, if they would set him on the throne of Judea, entered that country; and being joined by the factious and discontented Jews, took Jerusalem without resistance, and therein Phasael and Hyrcanus, whom they put in chains: but Herod had escaped under cover of the night; and having taken with him about 800 relations and friends, and lodged them in the impregnable fortress Massada, near the lake Asphaltites, under the care of his brother Joseph, he himself went directly to Petra in Arabia, and from thence to Rome to demand protection

and succours.

Antigonus was now in possession of all the country, and was declared

king of Judea; and the Pa delivered up to him Hyrcanus Phasael. Phasael impatient of bonds and the servile chains with which he was loaded, and of the ignominious death which he apprehended they would inflict on him,dashed his brains out against the wall of the prison.— Antigonus however spared Hyrca. nus's life, and only cut off his cars to incapacitate him by being thus maimed, for the high-priesthood, and returned him again to the Parthians who left him at Scleucia in their return to the east.

Herod on this occasion availed him

self so well of the former friendship which had long subitsted between bis father, himselfand Antony, and which he enforced by the promise of a round sum of money, that in seven days time he obtained a decree of the se. nate, constituting him king of Jndea, with troops to support his claim, and declaring Antigonus an enemy to the Roman state. Hercupon he imme. diately left Rome, and proceeded to Ptolemais, and having got together a large body of mercenary and auxiliary troops, he soon reduced best part of the country; took Joppa : relieved Massada, which was beseiged by Antigonus; stormed the castle of Ressa, & must at that time have taken Jeru., salem also, had not Ventidius and Silo the Roman generals, that were directed to assist him, been bribed by Antigonus,and treacherously obstructed his success. Herod perceiving the collusion, contented himself for the present, with the reduction of Galilee; and hearing afterwards of Antony's beseiging Samosata, on the Euphrates, he went in person to him to represent the conduct and ill treatment of these two generals. Herod

the defen contrary to rg to reduce ¡ most of his his defcat lost

mara again.

command enemies, which he employed for that er Joseph, purpose. For he began his reign with cutting off all the members of the great Sanhedrim, except Pollio end Sameas, otherwise called Hillel and Shammai. After this he raised Ananel, of the pontifical family at Babylon, to the office of high-priest: but Antony at the intercession of Cleopatra queen of Egypt, who was solicited thereto by Alexandra, Maramne's mother, prevailed with him to annul this nomination, and to prefer Aristobulus to the pontificate ; and to this he was also much solicited by his beloved Mariamne, sisterto Aristobulus. But as Hyrcanus was yet alive, and the Jews, in the neighbourhood of his exile, paid him all the honours and reverence they thought due to their king and highpriest; IIerod under a pretence of gratitude for his former good servi ces and friendship, wrote to him to slicit leave of Phraates, king of Parthia, for his return to Jerusalem, intending only thereby to get him wholly in his power, with a view to cut him off at a fit opportunity; which he did soon after the battle of Actium,on a pretence of holding treasonable correspondence with Malchus king of Arabia.

Antony Larmented Herod he requested, he directed his march to Jerusalem; but the army which Antony had spared him was ronghly handled, and he himself wounded, in the attempt he first made; but he :fterwards had the good fortune to kill Pappus, Antigonu's general, a d entirely defeated the troops under him: and in the next campaign, after a siege of several months, assisted by Sosius, the Roman general, he took the city of Jerusalem by storm. The soldiers expect. ing the spoils of the city as their Que; and exasperated by the fatigues which the long resistance and opposition of the citizens gave them, spared neither age nor sex in their rav. aging the city, and would have utterly exterminated and destroyed evCrything they met with, had not Heand redeemed them with the promise f a very large sum of money. Antigonus surrendered himself to Sosius, who carried nim in chains to Antony; and he, in consideration of a good sum of money, and hearing that the Bation grew seditious, and that cut of their hatred to Herod, they continued to express a kindness for Antigonus, he resolved to behead him at Antioch. And thus in him the Asmonæan family, which had lasted 129 years, became extinct.

By this event Herod found himself once more in full power, and at liberberty to revenge himself upon his

In the mean time Alexandra, too confident of the influence and interest she had with Cleopatra, formed a design of obtaining the regal dignity also for her son Aristobulus, as she had now procured for him the pontificate. But the intrigues used on this score, ended in the dɛath of Aristobulus, and at length in her own and Mariamne's death; though these tragic acts were perpetrated at different periods, and under sundry disguises. Aristobulus was drowned

at Jericho, as it were accidentally, while he bathed himself with Herod; Mariamne was put to death in a fit of jealousy; and Alexandra was order. ed to be executed, prejudiced by calumnies raised against her, and a presumption that she wished his death; and the same unhappy fate pursued his innocent children, Alexander and Aristobulus, prejudiced by calumnies and suspicions, and for expressing their abhorrence of their father's cruelty to Mariamne, their mother.

Herod fearing probably that he might fall a sacrifice to Octavianus's resentment after the battle, and the utter defeat of Antony at Actium, hastened to the conquerer at Rhodes to pay homoge to him, and congratulate him on his success, with a tender of his services to support his interest in those parts. He was thereupon well received, and obtained from Octavianus a confirmation of his authority, and assurance of his amity. It was soon after his return home from Octavianus that he put to death his wife Mariamne, and Alexandra, his nother-in-law, &c. The guilt how ever of such unnatural acts of cruclty exercised on those of his own flesh and blood, made way at length to his breast- and filled his mind with the bitterest agonies of reflection and remorse, and brought him into a languishing condition. And what helped to increase his affliction was the conspiracy formed against him by Antipater, his eldest son by Doris, born to him whilst he was a private man. Herod having discovered the plot, laid an accusation against his son before Quintilius Varus, the Roman governor of Sy. ria, and put him to death. These Cc 2

barbaritics some think occasion that severe remark of the Emperor Octavianus, that it was better to be Herod's hog, than his son.'

Herod was so devoted to pay court to the vanity and ambition of his protector Octavianus, that he complimented him with giving his name to two new cities he built; the one built on the spot, where Samaria stood before Hyrcanus destroyed it, which he called Sebaste, the Greek word for Augustus; the other Cæsaria, once called the tower of Straton, on the sea coast of Ponicia. After this he built a theatre and amphitheatre within the city of Jerusalem, to celebrate games and exhibit shews in honour of Augustus and set up a golden eagle, the Roman ensign, on the gate of the temple, to the great scandal of the whole nation; and carried his flatte ry to the pitch at last of idolatry and superstition, and built a temple of white marble, which he dedicated to commemorate the favours he had received from Octavianus Augustus.Such bold advances to idolatry and prophanation of the city, were the foundation of a conspiracy of ten men, who bound themselves with an oath to assassinate him in the very thertre; but Herod having timely information thereof, seized the conspirators, and put them to death with the most exquisite torments.

Herod, willing to do some public act, that might recommend him to and ingratiate himself with the Jews, formed the design of rebuilding the temple; which after its having stood the shock of 500 years, and the assaults of its enemies, had suffered much, and was now falling into decay. Two years was Herod in pro