fallen a victim to the apprehensions of the Sanhedrin - only too well grounded - had he

not been persuaded to withdrawn from the city. He returned at the head of an army, and

was with difficulty persuaded by his father to spare Jerusalem. Meantime Cæsar had

named him Governor of Coelesyria.

On the murder of Cæsar, and the possession of Syria by Cassius, Antipater and Herod

again changed sides. But they rendered such substantial service as to secure favour, and

Herod was continued in the position conferred on him by Cæsar. Antipater was, indeed,

poisoned by a rival, but his sons Herod and Phasaelus repressed and extinguished all

opposition. When the battle of Philippi placed the Roman world in the hands of Antony

and Octavius, the former obtained Asia. Once more the Idumæans knew how to gain the

new ruler, and Phasaelus and Herod were named Tetrarchs of Judæa. Afterwards, when

Antony was held in the toils of Cleopatra, matters seemed, indeed, to assume a different

aspect. The Parthians entered the land, in support of the rival Maccabean prince

Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus. By treachery, Phasaelus and Hyrcanus were induced

to go to the Parthian camp, and made captives. Phasaelus shortly afterwards destroyed

himself in his prison,5 while Hyrcanus was deprived of his ears, to unfit him for the High-

Priestly office. And so Antigonus for a short time succeeded both to the High-Priesthood

and royalty in Jerusalem. Meantime Herod, who had in vain warned his brother and

Hyrcanus against the Parthian, had been able to make his escape from Jerusalem. His

family he left to the defence of his brother Joseph, in the inaccessible fortress of Masada;

himself fled into Arabia, and finally made his way to Rome. There he succeeded, not only

with Antony, but obtained the consent of Octavius, and was proclaimed by the Sena te

King of Judæa. A sacrifice on the Capitol, and a banquet by Antony, celebrated the

accession of the new successor of David.

But he had yet to conquer his kingdom. At first he made way by the help of the Romans.

Such success, however, as he had gained, was more than lost during his brief absence on

a visit to Antony. Joseph, the brother of Herod, was defeated and slain, and Galilee,

which had been subdued, revolted again. But the aid which the Romans rendered, after

Herod's return from Antony, was much more hearty, and his losses were more than

retrieved. Soon all Palestine, with the exception of Jerusalem, was in his hands. While

laying siege to it, he went to Samaria, there to wed the beautiful Maccabean princess

Mariamme, who had been betrothed to him five years before.6 That ill- fated Queen, and

her elder brother Aristobulus, united in themselves the two rival branches of the

Maccabean family. Their father was Alexander, the eldest son of Aristobulus, and brother

of that Antigonus whom Herod now besieged in Jerusalem; and their mother, Alexandra,

the daughter of Hyrcanus II. The uncle of Mariamme was not long able to hold out

against the combined forces of Rome and Herod. The carnage was terrible. When Herod,

by rich presents, at length induced the Romans to leave Jerusalem, they took Antigonus

with them. By desire of Herod he was executed.