671
[Whiston sect. 1] [sect. 1] AS king Herod was very zealous in the administration of his entire
government, and desirous to put a stop to particular acts of injustice
which were done by criminals about the city and country, he made a law,
no way like our original laws, and which he enacted of himself, to expose
house-breakers to be ejected out of his kingdom; which punishment was not
only grievous to be borne by the offenders, but contained in it a dissolution
of the customs of our forefathers; for this slavery to foreigners, and
such as did not live after the manner of Jews, and this necessity that
they were under to do whatsoever such men should command, was an offense
against our religious settlement, rather than a punishment to such as were
found to have offended, such a punishment being avoided in our original
laws; for those laws ordain, that the thief shall restore fourfold; and
that if he have not so much, he shall be sold indeed, but not to foreigners,
nor so that he be under perpetual slavery, for he must have been released
after six years. But this law, thus enacted, in order to introduce a severe
and illegal punishment, seemed to be a piece of insolence of Herod, when
he did not act as a king, but as a tyrant, and thus contemptuously, and
without any regard to his subjects, did he venture to introduce such a
punishment. Now this penalty, thus brought into practice, was like Herod's
other actions, and became a part of his accusation, and an occasion of
the hatred he lay under.
[Whiston sect. 2] [sect. 6] Now at this time it was that he sailed to Italy, as very desirous
to meet with Caesar, and to see his sons who lived at Rome; and Caesar
was not only very obliging to him in other respects, but delivered him
his sons again, that he might take them home with him, as having already
completed themselves in the sciences; but as soon as the young men were
come from Italy, the multitude were very desirous to see them, and they
became conspicuous among them all, as adorned with great blessings of fortune,
and having the countenances of persons of royal dignity. So they soon appeared
to be the objects of envy to Salome, the king's sister, and to such as
had raised calumnies against Mariamne; for they were suspicious, that when
these came to the government, they should be punished for the wickedness
they had been guilty of against their mother; so they made this very fear
of theirs a motive to raise calumnies against them also. They gave it out
that they were not pleased with their father's company, because he had
put their mother to death, as if it were not agreeable to piety to appear
to converse with their mother's murderer. Now, by carrying these stories;
that had indeed a true foundation [in the fact], but were only built on
probabilities as to the present accusation, they were able to do them mischief,
and to make Herod take away that kindness from his sons which he had before
borne to them; for they did not say these things to him openly, but scattered
abroad such words, among the rest of the multitude; from which words, when
carried to Herod, he was induced [at last] to hate them, and which natural
affection itself, even in length of time, was not able to overcome; yet
was the king at that time in a condition to prefer the natural affection
of a father before all the suspicions and calumnies his sons lay under.
So he respected them as he ought to do, and married them to wives, now
they were of an age suitable thereto. To Aristobulus he gave for a wife
Bernice, Salome's daughter; and to Alexander, Glaphyra, the daughter of
Archelaus, king of Cappadocia.
Ch. 2
