in all those affairs For I was D Captian of the Galileans amongst our Nation so long as any resistance could be made against the Romans and then it so fell out that I was taken by the Romans and being Prisoner to Titus and Vespasian they caused me to be an eye-witness of all things that past First In bonds and fretters and afterwards freed from them I was brought from Alexandria with Titus when he went to the Seige of Jerusalem So that nothing could then pass whereof I had not notice For beholding the Roman Army I committed to writing all things with all possible diligence My self did only manage all matters disclosed to the Romans by such as yielded themselves Joseph writ the History of the Jews wars being at Rome for that I only did perfectly understand them Lastly Being at Rome and having leisure after all business was past I used the help of some Friends for the skill of the Greek tongue and so I published a E History of all that had hapened in the foresaid War which History of mine is so true that I fear not to call Vespasian and Titus the chief Commanders in that War to witness for them I first gave a Copy of that Book to them and afterwards to many noble Romans who also were present in the War I sold also many of them to our own Nation to such as understood the Greek language amongst whom were Julius Archelaus Herod Some do derogate from Josephs History a Man of great vertue and to the most worthy King Agrippa who all do testify that my History containeth nothing but truth and who would not have been silent if either for ignorance or flattery I had changed or omitted any particular Yet notwithstanding all this some ill disposed Persons endeavour to discredit my History as though they were disputing pro and contra amongst children in schools never considering F that he who promiseth other men a true Relation of things past must either be privy to them by his own knowledg as having been present in the affairs or else have that which he speaketh from other mens mouths by report of those who know them both which I have done For I gathered my other Books of Antiquity out of holy Scripture being my self a Priest and skilful in our Law and the History of our War I have written my self being an Agent in many matters therein contained and an eye-wirness of the rest so that nothing was said or done whereof I had not notice How then can any one excuse them from impudency and malice who labour against me to prove my Relation false Perhaps they alledge that they have read the Commentaries of Vespasian and Titus yet for all this they were not present in any action repugnant G to that which my History recounteth Thus as I thought necessary I have made a digression to shew how they are able to H perform their word who discrediting my History promise to set down the truth in writing I have also sufficiently as I think demonstrated that the registring of things is more ancient amongst other Nations than amongst the Greeks I will now first of all dispute against those who labour to prove our Nation of no Antiquity because as they say no Greek Writer maketh any mention of it Two things which Joseph intendeth This done I will bring forth proof and testimony of the Antiquity thereof out of other Writers and so I will shew that their malice who seek to discredit our Nation First therefore our Nation neither inhabiteth a Country bordering upon the Sea nor are we delighted in merchandise nor for this cause wearied with pilgrimages from place to place The Jews care to bring up their Children But our Cities lye far from the Sea in a most fertile soil which we cultivate with all industry and our I whole endeavours are how to get food for our Children The ancient Jews had no need to traffick with the Grecians and to keep our country Laws and to leave to our posterity the knowledg of Piety in which work we think all our Age ought to be employed Beside all this we have a form of living different from all other Nations All which concurring together we had no need to traffick with the Greeks as the Egyptians and the Phoenicians do who give themselves to bargaining and merchandise only for the covetousness of money Neither were our Ancestors delighted in thefts and robberies nor did our Fathers make war upon any Nation for desire of larger possessions nowithstanding our Country was furnished with many thousands of strong warlike men Wherefore the Phoenicians sailing to the Greeks to traffick with them they were thus made known to them and by them the Egyptians K and all other Nations sailing upon the Seas brought Merchandise into Greece The Medes also and Persians were known to them after such time as they reigned over Asia and the Persians brought war even into Europe Moreover the Greeks knew the Thracians because they were their Neighbours and the Scythians by sailing to Pontus and finally all that were disposed to write knew all the Nations bordering either upon the Eastern and Western Seas but such as dwelt far from the Sea-coast were long time unknown as also appears in Europe For neither Thucidides nor Herodotus nor any other of that time make any mention of Rome notwithstanding that so long since it was mighty and made so great Wars because it was but lately that the Greeks heard of it The Romans were lately known to the Greeks Yea their most exact Writers L and particularly Ephorus were so ignorant of the French and Spaniards that they thought the Spaniards to be a People only denominated from one City Certain Historiographers report Spain to be only one City wherein they inhabited whereas the whole World now knoweth them to inhabit a vast Country and a great part of the Western World Likewise the said Greek Writers relate the manners of the foresaid People to be such as neither are nor were ever used among them And the only cause why they were ignorant of the Truth was the distance of place and these Writers would seem to tell something which others of former time had not spoken of No marvel therefore though our Nation was unknown and none of them in their Writings made any mention of us being both so far from the Sea and living after a different manner M Suppose therefore I should deny the Greeks to be of any antiquity and to prove my assertion should conclude their Nation to be modern because our Histories make no mention of them Arguments to prove the Jews of more antiquity than the Greeks would they not laugh at this reason and use the Testimony of their neighbour Nations to prove their Antiquity I therefore may argue in like manner and use the Testimony of the Egyptians and Phoenicians whose Record the Greeks cannot
of Laws and their Application to write History with some care But for the Egyptians Chaldees and Phoenicians without mentioning us they themselves confess the memory of their Writings is most ancient and credible For all these Nations dwell in such Countries as are not subject to the corruption of Air and have carefully provided that none of those things that have been done by them should sleep in obscurity but be kept in memory in publick Writings of the learnedst men whereas innumerable corruptions have crept in among the Greeks by which the memory O of things past is defaced A But alwayes those who have established new estates have supposed in their own behalf Innumerable corruptions invaded Greece that whosoever was the Founder of theirs he was the first of the world Yet they have had the knowledge of Letters very late and have attained the same with very great difficulty For they that speak of the most ancient use of the same The Phoenicians and Cadmus the first Inventers of Letters boast that they received the knowledge thereof from the Phoenicians and from Cadmus Notwithstanding there is not any one of them that can shew any Record of that time either in their Temple or in their publick Registers whereas there is still great doubt and question whether those Letters were in use during their time who managed the siege of Troy B And indeed their opinion who affirm that they were ignorant of the use of those Letters which are at present allowed and accustomed among us Among the Greeks there is not any writing more ancient than Homers Poem is not to be refuted For it is most manifest that there is not any Writing extant among the Greeks that is more ancient than Homers Poem which as is most manifest was compos'd since the time of the siege of Troy And yet it is reported that he left no part of that his Poem in writing but that it was composed of divers Songs and only sung by roat by which means it came to pass that there are so many contradictions in the same And as for those who have undertaken to write Histories among them I mean Cadmus the Milesian and Acusilaus the Argive and others They lived but very little time before the passage of the Persians into Greece C Furthermore they who among the Greeks were the first that introduced Philosophy and the knowledge of Celestial and Divine things namely Pherecydes the Syrian Pythagoras and Thales all of them confess with one accord that they were instructed by the Egyptians and Chaldees and they published some few writings which are supposed to be the most ancient among the Greeks and it is hardly believed also that they were written by them What reason therefore have the Greeks to be so proud as if there were none but themselves only who knew the affaires of Antiquity and could exactly write the truth thereof Or who cannot easily conjecture by their own Writers themselves that their Writings were founded only upon hearsay and supposition and that they followed only vain conjectures Hence it commeth to pass that in their Books D they cavil and reprove one another and make no conscience to maintain and write contradictions about one and the same thing But it may be said that I should oblige my self to a fruitless labour if I should go about to inform those who are better experienced than my self in how many points Helicanus differeth from Acusilaus touching the Genealogies in how many places Acusilaus hath corrected Herodotus or how Ephorus hath proved that Helicanus was a liar in the greater part of that which he hath recited Ephorus hath been reproved by Timeus and in general all have taxed Herodotus Neither hath Timeus vouchsafed to accord with Antiochus or Philistus or Callias in the Histories of Sicily Neither do those who have writ the Histories of Athens and Argos agree better together E What need I reckon up the differences amongst those who in particular have treated of Cities or of less matters since in the Relation of the Persian War and the exploits performed therein Thucydides writ a most exact History of his time those of greatest authority are most at odds Thucydides is accused by some for a liar in divers places notwithstanding that he seemeth to have written the History of his time most exactly But the Causes of this discord are divers as they who shall narrowly pry into them shall find The causes of discord among the Jews For my own part those two which I shall here set down in my opinion are of greatest weight The first and in my judgement the chiefest is that amongst the Greeks from the beginning they have not been industrious to keep publick Registers of such matters as happened in any time or place which hath occasion'd them to erre and given those a priviledge F to lye who afterwards went about to write any thing of such matters as were acted long â—ince Neither are only other People of Greece to be accused of negligence for not making account of such Registers but amongst the Athenians also who glory in the antiquity of their Country and who are most exercised in Sciences there is no mention of them For it is said that the most ancient and publick Writings which they have are those Capital Laws which were set down by their Law-maker Draco who lived but a little time before Pisistratus the Tyrant What need we speak of the Arcadians who vaunt themselves of their Antiquity for who knows not that they have learned the use of Letters long after those before mentioned Whereas therefore there was not any Writing published before that time which G might instruct those that would learn or reprehend those that disguis'd the Truth from thence it is that so many differences have happened amongst Historians A second cause is Another cause of their discord recorded by the Grecian historigraphers for that they who addicted themselves to compose Histories did H not busie themselves about the inquisition of the Truth notwithstanding that all of them ordinarily promised no less but they laboured to shew how eloquent they were and fixed their whole study thereon as the only means whereby they hoped to obtain reputation above others Some of them therefore applyed their Stile to Fables others by flattering praises thought to curry favour with Kings and Cities The rest employed their studies to accuse and calumniate the works of other Writers in hope to build their own reputation upon the ruine of others In effect they have followed that course in composing their History that was every way different from the true nature thereof The sign of a true History For the assured sign of a perfect and true I History is when all men accord in setting down the same thing whereas these Writers have endeavoured to make men believe that they were the truest of all the rest because they contradicted
by reason that he flying unto the enemy M menac'd them with the surprizal and utter ruine of their City The King in regard of the natural humanity and justice that was in him was not any wayes hereby provoked against Jeremy Jer. 39. 11 12. yet to the intent that he might not seem utterly to oppose the Governors The reward of godly Preachers in this life he deliver'd the Prophet into their hands to deal with him howsoever they pleased Who having obtained this liberty from the King entred the Prison on the sudden and laying hold on Jeremy they let him down into a Pit full of mud to the intent he might die in that place and be strangled by the filth in effect he was set therein up to the neck But one of the Kings servants an Ethiopian by Nation certifi'd the King of the Prophets affliction assuring him That his Friends and Governors did not justly so to thrust and bury the Prophet in the mud and cursedly to conspire against him N tiring him with bonds and tortures worse than death Whereupon the King hearing this was sorry that he had deliver'd the Prophet to the Governors and commanded the Ethiopian to take 30 men of his Court with him with cords and such other things necessary as might concern the safety of the Prophet charging him with all expedition to deliver him from that captivity Hereupon the Ethiopian furnish'd with men and necessary means drew the Prophet out of the mud and dismiss'd him without any guard That done the King sent for him in private demanding of him If he had any message to deliver him from God Zedechias neglecteth the Prophets good counsel for fear of the Governors praying him to let him understand whatsoever he knew as touching the success of the siege The Prophets answer was That although he should tell him yet it would not be believed and that if he should exhort him he would not give ear or listen unto him O But said he O King thy friends have condemned me to death as if I had been a most wicked Malefactor But where are they now at this present that have deceived thee and born thee in hand The year of the World 3354. before Christ's Nativity 610. saying That the Babylonian would not come and besiege thee Now will I take heed how A I tell thee the truth for fear lest thou condemn me to death Hereupon the King swore unto him That he should not die neither that he would deliver him into the hands of the Governors For which cause Jeremy grounding himself upon the faith which he had plighted unto him counselled the King to yield up the City to the Babilonians because that God had willed him to signifie unto the King that if he would save his life and avoid the imminent danger and save his City from utter ruine and preserve the Temple from burning he should submit or otherwise that none but he should be reputed to be the cause of all those evils that should happen unto the City and Citizens and of that calamity that should confound both him and all his family When the King heard this he told him B That he would do according as he had counselled him and perform whatsoever he thought necessary to be done but that he feared that his Subjects who were already gone over to the King of Babylon would do him ill offices with that King and that by their means he might be accused and deliver'd unto death But the Prophet encourag'd him telling him That his fear was in vain assuring him that he should suffer no evil if so be he yielded up the City and that neither his wife nor children nor the sacred Temple should suffer any mischief Upon these words the King dismissed Jeremy charging him to communicate the counsel that was held between them to no one of the Citizens no not to the Princes if they should ask of him wherefore the King had sent for him advising him to answer if so be they were inquisitive That he resorted to the King to request him that he might be no more imprisoned all which the Prophet performed but they pressed him very much to know C for what cause the King had sent for him CHAP. X. Jerusalem is taken and the People carried into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor MEan-while the Babylonian continued his violent siege against the City of Jerusalem 2 Kings 25. 1. c. and having raised Towers upon certain Bulwarks Jerusalem besieged eighteen months and at length taken he drave away by this means D all those that approached near unto the walls he raised also round about the City divers platforms that equalled the walls in height Mean-while the City was as valiantly and couragiously defended by the Inhabitants for neither Pestilence nor Famine plucked down their spirits And although that within the City they were tormented with these scourges yet were not their resolutions broken nor did the enemies inventions astonish them nor their engines afright them so that all the battel betwixt the Babylonians and Jews seem'd to be a tryal both of valor and art whil'st these do assuredly hope to surprize the City Ver. 5 6 7. and the other thought their safety consisteth herein Zedechias flieth by night and is surprized by the enemy if they ceased not by new inventions to frustrate their enemies endeavors And in this state continu'd they both for the space of 18 months until they were consumed by Famine E and by the darts that were shot against them by those that shot from the Towers At length the City was taken by the Princes of Babylon in the eleventh year of the Reign of Zedechias the ninth day of the fourth month who were put in trust by Nabuchodonosor to manage the siege for he himself made his abode in the City of Reblata Now if any man be desirous to know the names of them that had command at such time as Jerusalem was surpriz'd these they be Nergelear Aremantus Emegar Nabosar and Echarampsor The City being taken about midnight the Princes of the Enemies Army entred into the Temple which when Zedechias understood he took his wives and his children with the Princes and his friends and fled thorow a great valley by the desart which when the Babylonians understood by certain Jews that were revolted and had submitted themselves F unto them they arose early in the morning to pursue them and overtook and surprized them near unto Jericho Whereupon those Princes and friends of Zedechias that had taken their flight with him seeing the Enemies near unto them forsook him and scattering themselves here and there endeavour'd each of them to save himself When therefore the Enemies had apprehended him attended by a few followers only and accompanied by his children and wives they brought him unto the Kings presence who no sooner beheld him but he called him wicked and perfidious and upbraided him
the four Winds of the World He hath written also that from them there shall arise another little one also which as God L who presented the Vision to him told him being grown to perfection should war against the whole Nation of the Jews and take the City by force and confound the Estate of the Temple and hinder the Sacrifices for one thousand two hundred ninety and six days Daniel writeth that he saw these things in the field of Susa and hath declared that God himself told him what that Vision signified which was that the Ram signified the Kingdoms of the Persians and the Medes His Horns signified the Kings that were to Reign in those Kingdoms and that the last Horn signified the last King who should surpass all the rest in Riches and Glory That the Goat signified that there should come a certain King among the Greeks who should fight at two several times with the Persian M and should overcome him in War and afterwards possess the whole Government And that by the great Horn that grew in the forehead of the Goat the first King was represented and how that after he was taken away four other should spring out of it And whereas every one of these turned themselves towards the four corners of the World it was a signe that after the death of the first he should have four successors that should part the Kingdom between them who neither should be his Allies or Children yet such notwithstanding as should command the world for many years That from them there should arise a certain King that should oppose himself against the Hebrew Nation and their Laws and should overthrow their policy spoil their Temple and be a lett that for three years space the Sacrifices should not be solemnized Now so hath it N happened that our Nation hath been so handled under Antiochus the famous as Daniel had foreseen and hath written divers years before all that which should happen At the same time Daniel wrote concerning the Empire of the Romans Daniels Predictions of the Roman Empire how it should destroy our Nation and hath left all these things in writing according as God declared them unto him so that they who read and consider those things that have happened Dan. 9. per totum admire Daniel for the Honour God dignified him with and find thereby that the Epicureans are mistaken who exclude all Divine Providence from intermedling with the concerns of humane life and affirm that God Governeth not the affairs of the World or that the World is ruled by a happy and incorruptible Essence which causeth all things to continue in their Being but say that the world is managed by O it self by casualty without any Conductor or such a one that hath care thereof For if it were so The Epicures error convicted and that it were destitute of a Soveraign Governor as we see Ships destitute of their Pilots to be drowned by the Winds and Chariots that have no Drivers to conduct them The year of the World 3416. before Christ's Nativity 538. to beat one against another even so should it perish and ruinate A it self by such an irregular motion By these things therefore that Daniel hath foretold I judge that they are far estranged from the Truth that affirm that God hath no care of humane affairs for if we see that all things happen casual then happen they not according to his Prophecy The Epicures error convicted But I have written hereof according as I have found and read and if any one will think otherwise let him continue his opinion as long as he pleaseth The Eleventh Book of the Antiquities of the JEWS Written by FLAVIVS JOSEPHVS B The Contents of the Chapters of the Eleventh Book 1. Cyrus King of Persia dismisseth the Jews from Babylon and permitteth them to return into their Countrey and contributeth towards the reparation of the Temple 2. The Kings Governours hinder the building of the Temple C 3. Cambyses commandeth the Jews that they should not build the Temple 4. Darius Hystaspis Son buildeth a Temple for the Jews 5. The bounty of Xerxes Darius Son toward the Hebrew Nation 6. How during Artaxerxes Reign the whole Nation of the Jews were almost extinguished through Amans treachery 7. Bagoses General of Artaxerxes the younger's Army doth much injury to the Jews 8. How bountiful Alexander of Macedon was unto the Jews CHAP. I. D Cyrus King of Persia dismisseth the Jews from Babylon and permitteth them to return into their Countrey and contributeth towards the building of the Temple THE first year of the Reign of Cyrus which was the 70 after that our Nation was translated from Judea to Babylon God had compassion on the captivity and calamity of his afflicted People The end of the Babylonian captivity after 70 years and accomplish'd that which he had foretold by the Prophet Jeremy Ezra 1. per totum before the destruction of the City The Edict of Cyrus King of Persia viz. That after they had served Nabuchodonosor and his posterity E for 70 years he would again restore them to their native Countrey where they should build a Temple and enjoy their former felicity For he awakened the Spirit of Cyrus and put it into his heart to write Letters throughout all Asia to this effect Thus saith King Cyrus since Almighty God hath made me King of the whole world I am perswaded that it is he whom the Jewish Nation do adore for he hath declared my name by his Prophets before I was born and hath said that I should build his Temple in Jerusalem which is in the Countrey of Judea Now Cyrus knew these things by Reading of a Book of Prophecies Esay Chap. 44. Ver. 5. ad 10. written by Esay two hundred and ten years before his time For he saith that God did secretly reveal these things unto F him Chap. 45. Ver. 1. ad 8. speaking to this effect I will that Cyrus whom I have declared King over many Nations shall send my people back into their Countrey of Judea and shall build my Temple Prophecy of Cyrus These things did Esay foretell one hundred and forty years before the ruine of the Temple Cyrus in reading these things being ravished in admiration of the Majesty of God was carried on with a great affection and zeal to finish that which was written He therefore called for all the Men of greatest account among the Jews that were in Babylon and told them that he gave them Licence to return into their Countrey Ver. 3. and to repair the City of Jerusalem Cyrus permitteth the Jews to return into their Countrey to build their Temple and City and to rebuild the Temple of God promising them that he himself would assist them And to that effect he wrote unto his Governnours and Princes of those Countreys that confined upon Judea charging them to
from building the City or Temple and wrote back again after this manner The King Cambyses to Rathymus the Chancellour and to Belsen and Semelius Scribes and to all his other Counsellors and Inhabitants of Samaria and Phoenicia Health Having read your Letters I have commanded the Records of mine Ancestors to be examined and I find that the City of Jerusalem hath been always an enemy to their Kings and that the inhabitants thereof have always raised Sedition and Wars I have likewise found that their Kings have been mighty and that they have exacted from Syria and Phoenicia continual C Tributes Hedio Ruffinus cap. 9. alias cap. 4. For this cause I have ordained that the Jews shall not be permitted to re-edify their City for fear lest the boldness of that people being thereby encouraged they should according to their former custom Darius the Son of Hystaspis made Emperour of the Persians practice a new Rebellion After the receipt of these Letters Rathymus and the Scribe Semâ—lius and those of their faction took horse and rode speedily to Jerusalem leading with them a great number of People and prohibiting the Jews from the building their City or Temple Thus was this work interrupted until the second year of the Reign of Darius Ezra 5. v. 6. ad finem King of Persia for the space of nine years For Cambyses reigned six years during which time he subdued Egypt and upon his re-return from thence he dyed in Damascus And after the death of Cambyses the Magi that held the Empire of the Persians for the space of one year being taken away the D chief of the seven principal Families of Persia made Darius the Son of Hystaspis King CHAP. IV. Darius gives leave to Zerobabel a Prince of the Jews to re-build the Temple a great number return to Jerusalem under his conduct and apply themselves to the work The Samaritans and others write to Darius to forbid them but he acts contrary to their desires E DArius Darius voweth to send the sacred Vessels to Ierusalem during the time that he lived a private life made a vow unto God that if he obtained the Kingdom he would send back unto the Temple of Jerusalem all those Vessels which were as yet remaining in Babylon It fell out that about the same time that he was made King Zerobabel Zerobabel who was appointed Governor over the Captive Jews came unto him from Jerusalem And being the Kings antient friend he with two others had three of the Principal Offices of the King's House conferred upon them and were placed the nearest about his person The first year of the Reign of Darius he entertained all his Courtiers with great pomp and magnificence both those of his Houshold and those also that were his Governors and Princes of Media and Persia and the Commanders in India confining upon Ethiopia with all the Chieftains F of his Army in one hundred twenty and seven Provinces Now after they had Feasted and were full of Wine they departed each of them unto their Lodgings to betake themselves to rest Darius propoundeth three questions to three of his Guard but King Darius being laid in his Bed reposed very little all the night long but passed the time without sleep Whereupon seeing he could not compose himself to rest he began to discourse with these three great Officers promising unto him that should most truly and aptly answer those questions that he should demand to grant him licence by way of reward to wear a Purple Garment and to drink in a Golden Cup to lye on a Golden Bed and to ride in a Chariot whose Horses should be harnassed with Gold and to wear the Tiara or linnen Wreath and a Golden Chain about his neck and sit in the next place to the King and should likewise G be called his Kinsman in regard of his Wisdom After he had made these large promises he demanded of the first whether Wine were the strongest of the second H Whether the King were stronger The year of the World 3443 before Christ's Nativity 521. of the third Whether Women or Truth were the strongest of the three As soon as he had deliver'd them these questions to deliberate upon he laid him down to rest Upon the morrow he sent for the Princes Chieftains and Governors of Persia and Media and afterwards sitting aloft in that Throne from whence he was accustomed to determine controversies between his subjects he commanded those three young men in the presence of that Princely Assembly publickly to resolve those questions which he had proposed Whereupon the first of them began after this manner to express the force of Wine The first expresseth the power of wine Noble Princes when I consider the force of Wine I find nothing that can surpass it for Wine disturbeth the judgment and maketh the Princes understanding like to that of a Child who hath I need of one that should always direct him It giveth the slave that freedom in discourse which his thraldom had deprived him of It equalleth the poor man to the rich It changeth and transformeth the soul assuageth the miserable mans grief and maketh the Prisoners forget their bonds and think themselves very rich so that they think not on mean things but talk of Talents and such things as appertain unto the most wealthy It causeth them to lose all apprehension both of Princes and Kings and taketh from them the remembrance of their friends and familiars It armeth them against their greatest friends and maketh them suppose their nearest relations to be strangers and when the Wine concocted by night and sleep hath forsaken them they rise and know not what they have committed in their drunkenness When the first of them had spoken thus in favor of Wine The second extolleth the Kings power he that had undertaken to K shew that nothing was equal to the power of Kings began after this manner Kings saith he have dominion over men Esdr 3 4. who govern the earth and at their pleasure can command the Sea to serve them Kings have power and dominion over those men who master and command the most untamed and mightiest creatures it therefore appeareth that their force and puissance exceedeth that of all these If they command their subjects to wage War and to expose themselves to danger they are obedient and if they send them out against their enemies they willingly obey them by reason of their force By their command they level Mountains beat down Walls and raze Towers And if they command their subjects to kill or be killed they resist not for fear lest they should seem to transgress the Kings commandment When they have obtained the victory all the glory and profit of the War redoundeth unto the King They likewise L that bear no Arms but intend the tillage of the earth after they have born all the toil they reap and
and to fortifie the houses near the Temple First therefore Pompey offer'd the besieged certain conditions of peace which when they refus'd he shut them in on every side Pompey maketh preparation to besiege the Temple being in all these his endeavors assisted by Hircanus Pompey incamped with his Army on the North-side of the Temple which was the easiest to be assaulted on this side also there were certain high Towers and a huge Trench besides a deep Valley that begirt the Temple For on the City-side there was such Precipices that M there was no passage the bridge being broken The Romans wrought vigorously in cutting down of Trees to make Bulwarks which being done they planted great Machines and Engines that Pompey had caused them to bring from Tyre they threw great stone Bullets with them to batter the Temple The Romans had hardly got their Works accomplished if the strict keeping of the Sabbath had not hinder'd the besieged to make any opposition that day For the Law permitteth them to defend themselves against their Enemies being assaulted but not to assail them when they intend any other work Which when the Romans understood they neither gave assault nor proffered skirmish on those dayes which we call Sabbaths but they built their Fortifications and Towers and planted their Engines so that the next day they were ready to put them in N execution against the Jews The Jews intermitted not their sâ—crifice notwithstanding the sieâ—e And hereby it is easie to conjecture how incredible the piety of our Nation is and how studious and industrious it is in observing the Divine Laws For notwithstanding any present or imminent danger they never desisted to offer their solemn Sacrifices twice a day in the morning and about the ninth hour the Priests offered duly upon the Altar Theâ—â— king of the Temple For when the Temple was taken in the third month and on a fasting day in the hundred seventy nine Olympiade in the year wherein Cajus Antonius and Marcus Tullius Cicero were Consuls the Enemy entred the Temple by force and kill'd all they met Yet notwithstanding all this the Priests ceased not to offer their accustomed Sacrifice and neither the hazard of their lives nor the great number of those that were kill'd could force them to flie they held it more convenient for them O to indure all things that might befall them in attending upon the Altar than to transgress or vary one jot from their ordinances And that this may seem to be no fable or H praise of their dissembled devotion The year of the World 3093. before Christ's Nativity 61. but the exact and perfect truth all those that write the Histories concerning Pompey and his acts do witness no less amongst the number of which are Strabo Nicholas and Titus Livius the Roman Historiographer the most famous among the rest The greatest of these Towers was battered by these Engines and fell bearing a great Pane of the Wall to the Earth with it which was the cause that the Enemies in multitudes brake in by the breach The first that ascended the Wall was Cornelius Faustus the son of Sylla with his Soldiers After him mounted the Centurion Furius accompanied with those that follow'd him on the other side and through the midst of the breach did the Centurion Fabius enter with a strong Squadron The whole circuit was filled with dead bodies and some of the Jews dyed by the Romans swords others I slew one another the rest cast themselves down headlong from the precipices many likewise set their houses on fire and consumed themselves therein lest they should behold the executions that were performed by their Enemies There fell about 12000 Jews and very few Romans Absalom also who was Aristobulus's Father-in-law and Uncle was taken Prisoner Twelve thousand Jews slain The holiness of the Temple likewise was not a little prophaned For whereas before that time no prophane man either entred or beheld that which was in the Temple Pompey and divers others that accompanied him entred the same and saw that which was not lawful to be beheld by any other but the High-Priests only But although he found a Table of gold and a sacred Candlestick with divers other vessels and perfumes Pompey entering the Temple neither toucheth nor taketh away any thing in great quantity and whereas besides there was about 2000 Talents of silver K in the sacred Treasury in the Temple yet his piety was such that he would touch none of it neither did he any thing in this occasion but what was worthy of his singular virtue The next day he commanded those that had the charge of the Temple to purifie it Aliâ—â— cap. 9. and to offer Sacrifices unto God according to the Law committing the High-Priesthood to Hircanus â—ompey bestoweth the Priesthood on Hircanus both because he had been very useful in many things and for having hindred the Jews to join with Aristobulus After this he beheaded the Authors of this War and honour'd Faustus and the rest with gifts sutable to their valor for having been the first that entred the breach As for Jerusalem he made it tributary to the Romans taking away from the Jews those Cities they had conquer'd in Coelosyria and assigning them a proper and peculiar government Jerusalem tributary to Rome After this he inclosed the Nation within L certain limits whereas before-time their Dominions were of a large extent Not long after this Gadara restored he repaired Gadara that not long before was destroyed all which he performed in favor of Demetrius the Gadarenian his late servant and bondman And as touching Hippon Cities taken from the Jews Scythopolis Dion Samaria Marissa Azot Jamnia and Arethusa he restored them to the ancient Inhabitants thereof all which were scituate in the heart of the Land Besides Gaza Joppa Dora and the Tower of Straton Cities scituate upon the Sea-coasts and ruinated formerly with divers Wars he set at liberty and annex'd them unto the Province As for the Tower of Straton it was magnificently built by Herod and adorned with Gates and fair Temples and the name thereof was changed and called Caesarea Thus Hircanus and Aristobulus through their dissentions and civil broyles were the cause M of that servitude and misery that fell upon the Jews For we have lost our liberty and have been subdu'd by the Romans Besides that we have been enforced to surrender up those Cities unto the Syrians which we had formerly conquer'd by force of Arms. And that which is to be lamented the Romans in a little time have drawn from us more than 10000 Talents and the Royalty which before-time was an honour reserved for those that were of the Race of the High-Priests hath been bestowed on men of mean extraction whereof we will speak in place convenient After that Pompey had given Coelosyria to Scaurus Scaurus President of Coelosyria from Euphrates to
do in the design they had in writing For such as in times past published any worthy History endeavoured to write that which they themselves had seen and they were Eye-witnesses of those Affairs they committed to writing they more effectually performed all that they promised because they accounted it an act of dishonesty to report and publish Lyes in stead of History And truly in my opinion that man is worthy commendation who striveth by his studious endeavours to Register not only the Occurrences of times past but also those memorable events that have happened in N his own days And he only and truly is to be accounted industrious not that altereth and pruneth at his pleasure another man's Works but he that of himself compileth an History whereof no man hath before written For my own part being a stranger I have spared no labour and expence to declare the truth of these events in the ears of the Greeks and Romans For as touching their own learned men their mouths are always open where their own interest publick or private is concerned but if they come to a History Who may rightly be called a Historiographer wherein they should both tell truth and with great labour enquire of those things that are past here the travel is too tedious the bit is in their teeth so that they leave the matter to their performance who are uncapable and unapt both in stile and study to register the Actions of Princes and great O Captains whereby it appears that the Grecians make as little account of the truth of History as we esteem and seek it A Now to discover unto you the Original of the Jews what their Estate hath been in times past and after what manner they departed out of Egypt to shew what Countreys they conquered and what Colonies they planted were in my judgment both impertinent and to little purpose considering that divers of mine own Nation have before my time written an exact History of the actions of our Ancestors yea many Greeks also have translated these men's Writings into their own Tongue without much deviating from the truth I will therefore begin my History in that time where these Writers and our own Prophets have ended theirs and set down at large all those Wars that happened in my time As for those things that precede B my particular knowledge I will only touch them briefly and in a word or two First I will relate how Antiochus Antiochus Epiphanes the first Author and Fountain of the Wars of the Jews surnamed Epiphanes took the City of Jerusalem and possessed the same for the space of three years and six months and how he was driven out of that Countrey at last by the Asmoneans After this I will set down the Dissentions that happened amongst Antiochus's Successors for the Kingdom and how by this means they drew Pompey and the Romans into their Affairs The Epitome of the Wars of the Jews How Herod likewise the Son of Antipater being assisted by Sosius put an end to the Rule of the Asmonean Princes And how in Augustus Caesar's time after the death of Herod and during the Government of Quintilius Varus a Sedition was raised among the people And how in the twelfth year of Nero's Reign the War began What C likewise happened in Cestius's time and what Warlike Exploits the Jews performed in their first Attempts and Revolts how they strengthened the Cities and Forts about them and how Nero hearing of the great Overthrow which his Army received under Cestius their General and fearing lest he should lose all made Titus Vespasian General of his Army who being attended by his eldest Son came into Judaea accompanied with as great a number of Romans as he could possibly gather how a great number of his Allies were defeated in Galilee what Cities they took in that Province either by Assault or by Composition Besides all these things I will express what Order and Discipline the Romans observe in their Wars and how they are accustomed to exercise their Soldiers I will describe also the places and nature D of the Countrey of Galilee and Judaea together with the Mountains Lakes and Fountains thereof with all the Properties of the same not forgetting those miseries which the Captive Cities suffered and how they were surprized All which together with all those evils and miseries which during those troubles befell my self I will discourse with all truth and diligence the rather because I publish them to many who are no ways ignorant of them After this The signs and changes after Nero's death I will set down how upon the declining and downfall of the Jews Nero died and how at such time as Vespasian had undertaken the Expedition to Jerusalem he was recalled from it to receive the Imperial Dignity and how when E he returned into Egypt to establish that Province the Jews began to mutiny among themselves how many Tyrants arose among them who hatched much civil discord and debate in their Government Moreover how Titus departing out of Egypt came the second time into Judaea and ranged over the Countrey and how and where he levied and encamped his Armies How and how often the City was vexed by Seditions especially at such time as he himself was present What Onsets he gave Titus besiegeth Jerusalem and how many Mounts he raised in begirting the City with a triple Wall The strength and Provision of the City The manners and Sacrifices of the Jews The Scituation and Plat-form of the Temple and the Altars therein The Rites and Ceremonies used on Festival days The seven Purifications and the Offices of the Priests The Garments also of the High F Priest and the Holy Sanctuary of the Temple All which I will recount without any dissimulation or swerving from the truth of History After this I will relate what cruelty the Tyrants used towards their own Countrey-men The Humanity of the Romans towards the Jews what Humanity the Romans shewed to strangers and how often Titus who desired to save both the City and Temple exhorted the Seditious to mutual Amity Furthermore I will report how the people of the Jews after the many and grievous Calamities which they suffered in the Siege by War Sedition and Hunger were at length reduced into servitude after the taking of that great and potent City Neither will I omit the slaughter of such as deserted their Nation neither the punishment inflicted on those that were Captive The burning of the Temple and the overthrow of the City I will set down how the Temple was burnt against Caesar's Will and G what an infinite Mass of Sacred Treasure was consumed by the Fire and what signs and wonders happened before the same The Captivity also of the Tyrants themselves and the number of those that were led away into Captivity and what miseries they H endured How the Romans continuing their Wars utterly ruined the
marry her as she hoped who having an Army at Babylon warred against Antioch and had taken the City and that she fled into Selucia whereas she might have made a C speedier escape by water but was forewarned to the contrary in a sleep and that she was there taken and died c. Agatarchides having used this Preface and inveighed against Stratonices superstition useth an Examyle of our Nation on this manner The People that are called Jews inhabit a most strong City which they call Jerusalem these People are wont to rest upon the seventh day The Jews Sabbath and do neither bear Arms nor till their Grounds nor any other business on that day hut their custom is to remain in their Temple and there with stretched out armes continue in prayer till night And so upon a time they persevering in that foolery whilst they should have defended their City Ptolomeus Lagus entred it with a great Army and greatly tyrannized over them instructing them by experience that the solemnity appointed by their Law was prejudicial unto them Such like Churches as this did teach D them and all Nations else to flie unto dreams which their Law teacheth neither considering that humane policy cannot prevail against that which must necessarily happen Agatarchides thought this which he reports of us to be ridiculous but they that weigh it with indifferency shall perceive that it is greater commendation to our Nation who rather suffer their Country and safety to be lost and endamaged Why certain Writers omit to speak of the Jews than to violate the Laws of God I think I am thus able to shew that many Writers omitted to make mention of our Nation not for that they knew us not but for envy For Jerom writ a Book of the Successors in the same time that Hecateus lived and being a friend to King Antigonus and President of Syria never mentioneth us in all his History notwithstanding he was brought up almost in our Country whereas Hecateus writ an entire Book of us so E different are the minds of men for one of them thought our Nation worthy to be diligently recorded the other through malice was hindred from speaking the truth yet the Histories of the Chaldeans Egyptians and Phoenicians may suffice to prove our Antiquity together with the Greek Writers for besides those before mentioned Theophrastus also Theodotus Manaseas Ariphanes Hermogenes Euemeus Conon Zepyrion and many others no doubt for I have not perused all mens Books have manifestly testified of us For many of the foresaid men were blinded with errors as not having read our holy Scriptures yet they all joyntly testify our Antiquity for which I now alledge them Truly Demetrius Phalerius Philon the elder and Eupolemus did not much erre from the truth and therefore reason it is they should be born withal for they were not so skilful F as to teach our Writings with so much curiosity Being come thus far it resteth that I now present one point more whereof I made mention in the beginning of this Book The last part against certain detractions and slanders to wit that I declare the detractions and slanderous reports of divers concerning our Nation to be false and void of truth and I will use the Testimony of those Writers who record that the lying Historigraphers at such time as they committed to writing the foresaid detractions did also even against themselves register such like slanders as they did against us And I doubt not but that all those who are conversant in Histories can testifie that the like hath been done by most Writers upon private hatred or such like respects For some of the Gentiles have attempted to deface the honour and reputation of the most renowned Cities and to defame G the manners of their Inhabitants Thus did Theopompus to Athens and Ptolicrates to Lacedemon and the Author that writ Tripoliticum for it was not Theopompus as some suppose used the City Thebes very hardly And Timeus in his Histories of the foresaid H places doth many times detract both them and others And this they do calumniating the most excellent that are in something or other some for envy and malice others that their fond babling may make them famous and so indeed it doth among fools that are known to have no sound judgment but wise men will condemn their malice To be short The cause of malice between the Egyptians and Jews this is the cause of so many slanderous reports forged against our Nation some to gratify the Egyptians have attempted to deprave the truth and so have neither reported the Circumstances concerning our Ancestors coming into Egypt nor touching their departure from thence and they have had many causes of malice and envy urging them hereto And chiefly for that our Progenitors in their Country waxed mighty I and so departing to their own Country were made happy and fortunate Secondly The Egyptians Idolatry the diversity of our two Religions made great discord and variance amongst us our Religion so far excelling theirs in piety as the divine Essence GOD excelleth unreasonable Creatures for they commonly worship such bruit beasts for gods and every one worshipeth divers kinds vain and foolish men who from the beginning have been accustomed to such sottish opinions as would not permit them to imitate us in our divine Religion and comformable to Reason and yet seeing many favour and follow our Religion they were hereby incited to such hatred that to derogate from us they feared not to falsify their own ancient Records not considering that in so doing they were led through a blind passion to write against themselves Moreover I will prove K all I have spoken to be true Manethon an Egyptian Historiographer by one mans words whom a little before being a famous Historigrapher we have produced as a witness of our Antiquity Manethon therefore who confesseth himself to have gathered the Egyptian History out of their holy Writings having by way of Preface recounted how our Predecessours came into Egypt with many thousands and there conquered the Inhabitants afterward confesseth Manethons fabulous reports of the Egyptian Lepers that losing all their Possessions in Egypt they got the Country which is now called Jury and in it builded a City named Jerusalem and a Temple and thus far he followeth ancient Writers And then usurping to himself authority to lye protesting that he will insert into his History certain reports divulged amongst the common People he reports things of the Jews altogether incredible intending to mix with our L Nation the Lepers of the Egyptians and other sick people of other Countries who as he saith being abominable to the Egyptians fled to us affirming also that they had a King named Amenophis which being a feigned name he durst not presume to speak determinately of the time of his Reign though he speaketh exactly of the Reign of all other Kings Hereupon also
The Jews Laws are of great Antiquity But seeing the Antiquity of Laws is the greatest Argument to prove their goodness I will set down of what Antiquity our Laws are together with our Law-makers opinion of the Deity if therefore any one compare our Laws with the Laws of all Nations he shall find that ours are of more Antiquity than theirs by many Ages The Laws of the Gentiles For our Laws established amongst us have been imitated of all other Nations For though the first Greeks did pretendedly observe their own Laws yet all their Philosophers did imitate ours and our Opinions of God and taught others L the same manners and conversation yea the common people did long since imitate our Piety Neither is there any Nation either Greek or Barbarian who have not after some manner observed a Sabbath as we do and fasting days and Lamps all which they learned of us yea many do also observe our Customs concerning their meats and our unity and concord wherein we excel all other Nations our community also and industry in Arts and Labours and sufferance for our Laws And which is most to be admired our Law The Epilogue of this Book not having any to force us to observe it hath so obliged our hearts that as God is of all the world honoured without compulsion so are our Laws amongst us without any violence or force And whosoever doth diligently consider his own Nation and Family shall find that which I have reported to be true I will now generally M reprehend the voluntary malice of all men for either they mean that we having these good Laws do yet little esteem them and follow worse or if they do not so mean let them hold their malicious tongue from any further Calumniation For I do not take upon me the defence of this cause for that I bear any hatred to any man but for that I and all the Jews do honour and reverence our Law-maker The cause why â—â—seph writ these Books against Appion and believe that whatsoever he prophesied proceeded from God yea although our selves did not know the goodness of our Laws yet the multitude of them that imitate them were a sufficient motive to induce us thereunto A brief rehearsal of all that is abovesaid But I have at large and with all sincerity discoursed of our Laws and Common-wealth in my Books of our Antiquity And now again I have made mention of them neither in contumely of other Nations nor in praise of our own but N only to reprove such as have most malitiously and impudently belied us contrary to the known truth And I think I have already fully performed that which I have promised For I have shewed our Nation contrary to their affirmations to be most ancient The intention of the Jews Laws which I have proved by the testimony of many ancient Writers who in their Works have mentioned us Our Adversaries affirm us to have come of Egyptians I have shewed that our fore-fathers came into Egypt out of some other place They alledge that we were expelled Egypt for that we were infected with diseases I have proved that our Predecessors came from thence to their own Country by means of their own prowess and force of their own accord Others labour to defame our Law-maker as a wicked O person whose virtue many of ancient times and so long time as hath been since him do witness A It is not needful to speak more largely of our Laws for they by themselves appear pious and good and such as do not invite or incite us to the hatred of other Nations but rather to communion and friendship being both enemies to Iniquity and commanders of Justice banishers of Luxuriousness and teachers of Frugality and Labour forbidding all Wars enterprized for Avarice and preparing the people to shew Fortitude in them and for them inflicting inevitable punishment upon their transgressors not easily to be deceived by glozing speeches and executing in action all that they in word command yet amongst us the execution of them and observation is more ready than the words of them I therefore confidently affirm The Origine of the Jews Laws that we do teach more pious and virtuous manners than B other Nations do For what can be better than inviolate Piety What more just than to obey the Law What more profitable and commodious than to be at Unity and Peace amongst our selves and neither to forsake one another in calamity nor injure one another in prosperity to contemn and despise death in time of War and in Peace to labour and till our Grounds and to use other Arts and Works and always to think and believe that God beholdeth all our actions and ruleth and disposeth all things If this be either written or observed by any one before this time we are then to thank them as being their Scholars but if they were never extant before then we are known to be the first Authors Inventers of it Let therefore Appion and Molon perish and all others that with them are convicted of lying and slandering us This Book is written to thee C Epaphroditus who lovest the truth and to others who by thee will or are desirous to know the same D E F G DESIDERIUS ERASMUS H ROTERODAMUS To the most Virtuous and Learned Father HELIAS MARCEUS The Maccabetian Ruler of the Renowned Colledge of the I MACCABEES I Have not grudged vertuous Father to Dedicate unto thee a days labour wherein I have perused and what in me lieth amended the Book which Joseph writ of the seven Maccabees brethren and would it had lien in my power more abundantly to have answered your expectation I have now for that I counted the Greek Coppy by the Latine conjectured the Greek and altered some things yet but very few Joseph doth not falsly K boast himself to have attained to the excellency of the Greek tongue and this Book will sufficiently witness the same wherein he shewed great variety and emphasis insomuch as he esteemeth to have handled that famous work with eloquent stile and the Ornament of discourse Saint Jerome for this cause entituleth this Book Great Eloquence Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of them both we amend the corrupted Stile and call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The Rule of Reason For the scope of this Book tendeth all to prove that Reason is of no force in man except it bear Soverignty over all inordinate appetites This is most evidently proved by the Books of the Maccabees in the Scripture which Books the Jews did not receive as Canonical yet do they account it among their sacred Writ I cannot but congratulate this worthy Colledg which though famous for many other things yet is more happy L for that it is so blessed as to enjoy so worthy and unspeakable a Treasure Or rather all Colonia Agrippina that happy
and fortunate City yet in nothing more happy than for that it alone doth in her bosom shrine so many so sacred and excellent Pledges of Piety yet should it be more happy if it could express their Virtues whose sacred Reliques it so Religiously keepeth and imitate their Manners whose Bodies it possesseth to wit if in sincerity of Religion it imitated the Piety of three Kings and the sacred purity of the eleven Virgins if it resembled the most Valiant young Men the Maccabees and the invincible Courage of that Woman whose valorous Constancy no misery could conquer And this best portion and part of her felicity this worthy City might bestow upon her self yea and double the same Do thou go forward in that which thou hast in hand to wit in spreading the praise of those Martyrs making that M virtuous example more commendable and your City more famous Farewel N O A FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS OF THE B RULE of REASON A most Eloquent Book corrected by DESIDERIUS ERASMUS Most lively setting down the Martyrdom of the C MACCABEES I Am at the instant request of Polibius of Megalopolis to put in writing the constant Sufferings of the Maccabees worthy all admiration not in a Rhetorical and pleasing stile but rather after our own country fashion thereby to exhort our Nation to patience in their Calamities Reason hath dominion over our passions But first of all it is necessary to speak something of Reason and assign unto it the power and virtue to deliberate For he who hath once fully determined to suffer all misery for D Gods sake is in my opinion already a Martyr It is therefore great merit to have so determined and therefore as above-said Reason governeth our inferiour passions and though destiny deny us opportunity to suffer yet have we suffered all in purposing to suffer all Whoso therefore will renounce the World and aspire only to Coelestial things must exercise Sobriety banish Gluttony Lasciviousness and all other such Vices as may possess and captivate the mind He must likewise mount up to the top of Virtues Tower that from thence he may resist and impugn the Vices of his Body Grief and Fear E There are many examples of the Valiant Souldiers of God which I could produce but the brave persons descended from one single Woman not at one but several births may suffice And first I will speak of Eleazar and seven Brethren The death of the seven brethren and their mother and relate what Tortures and Torments their Mother endured yet cannot man but only God determine who amongst them was first and who last in this noble agony They therefore being all of one opinion resembling one another more in mind than in body duely considered the frailty of this Life and neither delighted in the flatteries of the World nor the alluring enchantments thereof They valued not torments fetters nor any other sort of tortures imposed upon them To return they resolved upon patience and to endure whatsoever F the Judges cruelty could devise I will therefore praise the fortitude of these Brethren or rather with all truth rehearse the noble conflicts of these holy men and setting all adulation apart prosecute with a bare Historical narration the manner of their Martyrdome But before I begin to declare the death of these brave men I will a little treat of Reason The description of Reason and Wisdom which as I have affirmed is no small motive to Martyrdom Reason it is that maketh us observe Fasts and Abstinence Reason makes us despise Money by it we are taught not to account of Dignities and Honours which all men generally aim at yea Reasons gift it is that we do resist the heat of lustful desires Hence cometh it that having once overcome such things as the flesh delights in we find our selves a little able to resist we also learn to despise pains and torments and by degrees resolve to suffer G all things that shall be imposed upon us Which that it may more plainly appear let us search out the cause of this order and wee shall find wisdom to be the cause hereof For no man can determine and distinguish H good from evil that is not endued with wisdom this wisdom is always accompanied with justice and justice is still joyned with vertue and vertue and temperance cannot be seperated so that this wisdom consisteth upon four parts Besides these Grief and pain cause or hinder passion there are two things that either do cause or hinder passion to wit pain and pleasure one of which we do always refuse and the other we do always desire yet where pleasure ariseth and is presently by reasons rule put away the mind is there strengthened and pain compared with glory is through hope of a greater reward contemned before it come and being come our mind is ashamed not to suffer that which before it was resolved to do Reason therefore is the guide of all our actions Reason resembleth a skilful Gardiner and by it we despise torments and I detest vice like a skilful Husbandman it pruneth and cutteth away superfluous branches and killeth the heat of all corrupt and hurtful humours only leaving that which may some way be profitable to us Thus reason corrects our passion encourages us to suffer and supports us in our sufferings Who is not desirous to eat the flesh of wild Beasts and Fishes And who lusteth not to eat of feathered Fouls nay do not the dainty dishes either from Sea or Land invite us to eat them What then causeth us to abstain from them what makes us all desire them and yet none of us eat them even reason by which the mind is taught to overcome it self in delightful objects and pleasure that when occasion of Martyrdom is offered setting aside all vanities we will not for a little pleasure K forget our accustomed virtue By reason it was that Joseph to his great praise master'd his concupiscence An instance of Joseph's chastity and suffered not himself to be overcome by his lust which was but too incident to his age Reason so worketh with sound advice and mature counsel that it again recovereth lost friendship gaineth new and suffereth no cruelty to be committed Of this we have also the example of Moses who had he not had just occasion to be angry against Dathan and Abiram reason no doubt would have caused him to have smothered his passion Did not our father Jacob with great vehemency reprove his Sons Simeon and Levi who without reason had used such cruelty saying Cursed be your anger Which anger had it been bridled with reason neither had they been cursed nor the other L had perished For this cause God the maker of mankind when he fashioned us and our manners having finished the lineaments of our body he placed the mind in it to rule it with certain concomitant precepts to wit temperance pursuance of
Letters he had usurped the Crown and Kingdom and he was minded also E to bestow Arabia upon Herod but the Letters which Herod sent him changed his mind For Olympus and Volumnius as soon as they understood that Caesar's wrath towards Herod was pacified presently they delivered unto him the Letters as they were commanded wherein were contained the Arguments whereby his Sons were convicted of Treason against him Which Caesar having read he thought it not convenient to trouble the old man unfortunate with his Sons with another Kingdom and so he admitted Aretas his Ambassadours The year of the World 3961. before Christ's Nativity 3. and chiding them that their King had rashly usurped the Kingdom without his Authority and knowledge not expecting his pleasure he received their gifts and confirmed him in the Kingdom by his Authority This done being now reconciled unto Herod he writ unto him that he was sorry for him that F he had such Children Hedio Ruffinus chap. 3. and that he should if they had attempted any Treason against him Aretas's Ambassadors unto Caesar punish them as men that desired to murther their Father for he gave him free and full Authority but if they only attempted to fly he should also be satisfied with a less punishment Caesar allowed Herod to punish malefactors Wherefore he counselled him to call a Council at Berytum together with the Roman Presidents and Archelaus King of Cappadocia and the rest of his friends and the Nobility thereabout according as they should advise him so to do And this was the effect of Caesar's Letter CHAP. XVII H How Herod's Sons were condemned in the Council of Berytum HErod receiving this Letter rejoyced above measure both for that he had again obtained Caesar's favour and for that Caesar had given him full Authority to do what he pleased unto his Sons And yet I know not how it came to pass that he who in his prosperity was a hard Father yet did shew himself not rash in putting his Sons to death and though his affairs were in a very flourishing condition yet he was very moderate in his revenge Herod assembleth all that Caesar willed except Archelaus Wherefore by Letters he called together all those I whom Caesar appointed only Archelaus excepted either for that he hated the man or else for that he feared he would have withstood his purpose And when they were all come together as well the Presidents as the rest who were called out of divers Cities he would not bring his Sons into the Council but kept them in a Village of the Sidonians named Platan not far distant from the City to the intent that if they were called for he might bring them forth Then Herod himself alone entring into the Council before an hundred and fifty men there assembled for that purpose began to accuse his Sons before them and used a speech not only pitiful for his own calamities but also little becoming a Father For he was very vehement in inveighing against their offence neither did he sufficiently express his mind shewing K many signs of fury and anger Herod accused his Sons neither did he deliver in writing any proofs of the Accusations unto the Judges but undecently himself alledged there the Father against the Son himself also reading before them certain Letters written by them wherein was contained no impiety nor Treason but only a consultation to flee away and certain hard speeches whereby they shewed themselves offended which when he came unto he exclaimed as though hereby they confessed their treacherous practices greatly exaggerating the matter and protesting that he had rather die than hear such speeches Lastly affirming that both Nature and Caesar gave him authority against them and his Countrey Laws so commanded that if any one being accused his Father or Mother should lay their hands upon his head and the standers L by must presently stone him to death which though he might easily do in his own Countrey and Kingdom yet he thought good also to expect their censures Yet he came unto them not for that they were to judge his Sons who were taken in a manifest crime but that by this occasion they might add their suffrages to the just indignation of a Father offended and that they might leave an example unto all posterity that such Treasons ought not to be left unpunished The King having thus spoken and not permitting the young Princes to be brought in to answer all seeing what the King intended and that there was no hope to reconcile them unto their Father or save their lives they all confirmed his authority And first of all Saturninus one that had been Consul and had been adorned with many M honours Saturninus doth pronounce an indifferent sentence pronounced an indifferent sentence limited with circumstances to wit that he condemned Herod's Sons yet not to die for quoth he my self have Sons and I would not add this calamity to Herod's misfortune past After him also his three Sons who were their Father's Legates pronounced the same sentence But Volumnius pronounced that they had deserved death Volumnius and other of Herods friends pronounce Herod's Sons to be beheaded Herod asked of Nicholaus what his friends at Rome thought of his Sons who were so impious towards their Father whose sentence after him the most part followed so that it seemed that they were now ordained to be put to death Presently Herod carried them with him to Tyre where he met Nicholaus who was there arrived returning from Rome unto whom the King first relating what was done at Berytum he asked him what his friends at Rome thought of his Sons He answered that they judged the Princes intents impious and that they N ought to be bound and imprisoned and then after due consideration if it were thought expedient to be put to death lest the King might be thought to have given more way to his anger than to reason yet if it might so please him they thought it best to acquit them lest otherwise he do that which hereafter he may repent when it is too late And this was the opinion of most of his friends at Rome Then the King a long time pondered these words and made no reply but commanded him to go along in his company At his arrival in Caesarea all men were doubtful what would become of his Sons expecting an end of that Tragedy for they greatly feared that by reason of the old discord he would cut them off and notwithstanding they were sorry for them yet it was dangerous either to speak rashly or to hear any thing spoken freely concerning O them but in their hearts compassionating them they concealed their griefs Only one amongst all the rest an old Souldier named Tyro others dissembling their grief A spake freely what he thought The year of the World 3961. before Christ's Nativity 3. This Tyro had a Son of Alexander's
age and beloved of him whom Alexander much accounted of This fellow many times amidst the multitudes exclaimed that truth and equity were banished out of the world and that in their stead malice and untruth reigned Whereby there was such a mist and a fog caused over the whole world that no man could see his own errors This his free Speech though it was not without danger yet all men hereat were moved for that he had some reason to shew his fortitude in so dangerous a time and every one was willing to hear his Speech and though themselves for fear were silent yet did they not reprehend him for speaking freely For the expectation of the event of so great mischief was able to have wrested from every one of them words of commiseration B Tyro with great audacity also came unto the King and begged of him that he might talk with him alone Tyro speaketh to Herod and not observing modesty he and the Captains were imprisoned which the King granting he used these words with great lamentation I can no longer O my King suppress this my grief which causeth me so boldly to speak though with my own peril yet if it please thee my King that which I intend to speak shall be for thine advantage Where now my Lord are thy wits Where is thy couragious mind ever hitherto able to match all difficult businesses whatever How happeneth it that thou hast so few Friends and Kindred For I account not them Kinsmen or Friends that permit such wickedness and hatred in thy Court which was most happy and fortunate And what art thou unto thy self Wilt thou not look and see what is done Wilt thou put to death C the two young Princes born unto thee by the Queen thy Wife who abound in all vertue and commit thy self now in thy old age unto one only Son who nourisheth impious Hopes and Designs and to thy Kindred who by thy own censure have often deserved death Dost thou not perceive that the people keeping themselves quiet and still do both condemn the errour of thy Friends and also pity and compassionate the two Princes Moreover all thy Soldiers and the Captains themselves have compassion on them and curse the Authors of this unfortunate calamity The King at first took these words of Tyro in good part as being admonished of the perfidious dealing of them about him and his own calamity But Tyro immodestly and Soldier like urging the King and for his own simplicity not able to D discern what fitted that time the King at last thought this rather a turbulent upbraiding him than a friendly adomonition and asking who those Captains and Soldiers were he commanded them all and Tyro also to be bound and kept in prison Then one Tripho the Kings Barber taking hereat occasion told the King that Tyro had often sollicited him Tyro is by his Son and a Barber accused to have practised Treason against the King as he shav'd the King to cut his throat with his razor promising him for recompence great rewards and that he should be one of Alexander's chief Friends Having spoken these words the King commanded him to be apprehended and the Barber and Tyro and his Son to be tortured Tyro his Son seeing his Father in most miserable torments and that he still persisted in them and by the Kings displeasure conjecturing that there was no hope of life told them that tortured E his Father that he would confess all the truth conditionally that his Father and himself might be no more tormented and having his request granted he told them that it was agreed that Tyro with his own hand should have killed the King for he could get opportunity to come unto the King when no man else was with him and so he would kill him and for Alexander's sake endure any torments whatsoever This spoken he delivered himself and his Father from further tortures but it is uncertain whether the tale he told was true or whether he devised it to free them both from torments Then Herod now laying all doubt aside if before he were in any thought what death his Sons should die Tyro with 300 Captains are accused before the people and slain Alexander and Aristobulus strangled at Sebaste and buried in Alexandrium and leaving no place to repentance and mercy he hastened to execute his purpose and producing 300 Captains and Tyro and F his Son and the Barber his accuser he accused them all before the people and the people throwing any thing that came to their hands at them they killed them every one And Alexander and Aristobulus was carried unto Sebaste and there by their Fathers command were strangled and their bodies carried by night into the Castle Alexandrium where there Grand-father by their Mothers side and many of their Progenitors lay buried But perhaps some will not marvel that a hatred so long a breeding should in the end so prevail that it overcame natural affections But one may justly doubt whether the fault were in the young Princes who exasperated by a hard Father so long time The cause of these calamities was Destiny and Gods Providence fell into such a hatred of him or whether it is to be imputed unto his unkindness and immoderate desire of Honour and Rule who could G not abide any to be his equal but rather chusing to do all at his own pleasure Or rather unto Fortune whose power the wisest living is not able to resist Wherefore I am perswaded Fortune hath predestinated all humane actions so that they must have a necessary event And this inevitable force we call Fate or fatal Destiny H for that there is nothing which it effecteth not But it sufficeth briefly to have touched this high matter which of it self is very difficult which attributeth something unto our actions and examineth the causes of the variety of our actions which speculation is already comprised in the two Volumes of our Law Wherein Alexander and Aristobulus offended Furthermore touching the Princes fault we may accuse their youthful arrogancy and their pride who did give too great ear to their Father's accusers and for that they were unjust searchers into his life and actions and that they maliciously suspected him and could not rule their tongues Herod's shameful errour not to be excused but hereby gave double occasion to their Adversaries and matters unto those tale-bearers that sought to get the King's favour But their Father 's shameful fault cannot be excused who suffered himself so to be over-ruled with passion that he I put them to death that were begotten of his own body without any proof or argument of the crimes laid unto their charge yea two young Princes of excellent feature of body not only beloved of their own Nation but also of strangers they were dextrous in all Exercises and commendable in Military Affairs and eloquent in Civil Discourses For in all these things