Mariamme, with the same fatal directions as formerly to Joseph. Again Mariamme learnt

the secret; again the old calumnies were raised - this time not only by Salome, but also by

Kypros, Herod's mother; and again Herod imagined he had found corroborative evidence.

Soemus was slain without a hearing, and the beautiful Mariamme executed after a mock

trail. The most fearful paroxysm of remorse, passion, and longing for his murdered wife

now seized the tyrant, and brought him to the brink of the grave. Alexandra, the mother

of Mariamme, deemed the moment favorable for her plots - but she was discovered, and

executed. Of the Maccabean race the re now remained only distant members, the sons of

Babas, who had found an asylum with Costobarus, the Governor of Idumæa, who had

wedded Salome after the death of her first husband. Tired of him, as she had been of

Joseph, Salome denounced her second husba nd; and Costobarus, as well as the sons of

Babas, fell victims to Herod. Thus perished the family of the Maccabees.

The hand of the maddened tyrant was next turned against his own family. Of his ten

wives, we mention only those whose children occupy a place in this history. The son of

Doris was Antipater; those of the Maccabean Mariamme, Alexander and Aristobulus;

another Mariamme, whose father Herod had made High-Priest, bore him a son named

Herod (a name which other of the sons shared); Malthake, a Samaritan, was the mother of

Archelaus and Herod Antipas; and, lastly, Cleopatra of Jerusalem bore Philip. The sons

of the Maccabean princess, as heirs presumptive, were sent to Rome for their education.

On this occasion Herod received, as reward for many servic es, the country east of the

Jordan, and was allowed to appoint his still remaining brother, Pheroras, Tetrarch of

Peræa. On their return from Rome the young princes were married: Alexander to a

daughter of the King of Cappadocia, and Aristobulus to his cousin Berenice, the daughter

of Salome. But neither kinship, nor the yet nearer relation in which Aristobulus now

stood to her, could extinguish the hatred of Salome towards the dead Maccabean princess

or her children. Nor did the young princes, in their pride of descent, disguise their

feelings towards the house of their father. At first, Herod gave not heed to the

denunciations of his sister. Presently he yielded to vague apprehensions. As a first step,

Antipater, the son of Doris, was recalled from exile, and sent to Rome for education. So

the breach became open; and Herod took his sons to Italy, to lay formal accusation

against them before Augustus. The wise counsels of the Emperor restored peace for a

time. But Antipater now returned to Palestine, and joined his calumnies to those of

Salome. Once more the King of Cappadocia succeeded in reconciling Herod and his sons.

But in the end the intrigues of Salome, Antipater, and of an infamous foreigner who had

made his way at Court, prevailed. Alexander and Aristobulus were imprisoned, and an

accusation of high treason laid against them before the Emperor. Augustus gave Herod

full powers, but advised the convocation of a mixed tribunal of Jews and Romans to try

the case. As might have been expected, the two princes were condemned to death, and

when some old soldiers ventured to intercede for them, 300 of the supposed adherents of

the cause were cut down, and the two princes strangled in prison. This happened in

Samaria, where, thirty years before, Herod had wedded their ill- fated mother.

Antipater was now the heir presumptive. But, impatient of the throne, he plotted with

Herod's brother, Pheroras, against his father. Again Salome denounced her nephew and