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fearing an accusation and the enmity of Cleopatra, as he was leaving, Joseph left his uncle as governor of the affairs there, having secretly commanded that, if he himself should suffer anything from Antony, to kill Mariam immediately, so that after his death she might not become another's on account of her beauty. So Herod departed, and Joseph, administering the affairs of the kingdom, and constantly meeting with Mariam and Alexandra, related the king's disposition towards Mariam. But as they responded ironically 1.367 to his words, he was led to reveal even the secret of the command. This drove the women into even greater despair. And a report also arose from those who hated Herod that Antony had killed him. Amidst these things, letters arrived from Herod describing Antony's honor toward him, and how he sat with him in judgment and how he dined with him, and that he obtained these things even though Cleopatra was hostile to him with slander. When these letters were delivered, the false rumor ceased. But when King Herod, after sending Antony off against the Parthians, returned to Judea, immediately his sister Salome and their mother accused Alexandra and Mariam. And Salome also brought an accusation against her own husband, that he was having intercourse with Mariam; this was Joseph, the governor of the kingdom's affairs. She said these things being very angry with her because she reproached their low birth. Herod was immediately disturbed, and being jealous, questioned Mariam in private. But when she swore it was not so, he relaxed his anger, and was overcome by love, and was convinced of her affection for him. But she said it was not the act of a loving husband to have commanded that I too should be killed, if indeed anything harsh were to befall you from Antony. This statement disturbed Herod, and he cried out that Joseph's love for her was clearly revealed by this. For he would not have told the secret, he said, unless a great affection had joined them. And he would have killed his wife immediately, had he not been enslaved by his love for her. 1.368 But he ordered Joseph to be put to death without even bringing him into his sight, and he bound Alexandra as the cause of all these things and kept her under guard. But Antony, corrupted by his love for Cleopatra, or rather by her potions, was enslaved to her wishes. She had destroyed her brother, to whom the kingdom belonged, with poison, and had her sister Arsinoe killed through Antony; moreover, she was pressing Antony to assign Judea and Arabia to her. But he, being ashamed of the manifest injustice, and being compelled to gratify her on account of his passion and her sorceries, cutting off parts from both countries, with these he soothed her greed. So Antony campaigned in Armenia, and she, on her return, came to Judea, where Herod met with her. And as she became familiar with Herod, she invited him to her bed, being intemperately disposed to intercourse, perhaps also feeling some amorous passion for him, or, what is more probable, contriving the intimacy with him as the beginning of a plot against the man. But Herod rejected her proposals, and having attended to her with gifts, sent her on her way to Egypt. And now in the seventh year of Herod's reign, the land of the Jews was shaken as never before, and there was great destruction of both cattle, and about thirty thousand people were buried in the collapsed houses. And when Herod had farmed the taxes of the regions assigned to Cleopatra from Arabia and Judea, the Arab was ungrateful concerning the payment of the tribute. Therefore the king decided to move against the Arab, and 1.369 being permitted this by Antony, and having engaged in battle many times, he was at last victorious, and was chosen by the Arabs to be ruler of the nation. And he returned to his own country, having acquired a great name through his exploits and being full of pride. But just as Caesar defeated Antony in the battle at Actium, Herod's affairs were thrown into confusion or were completely desperate. For there was no hope, since his friendship with Antony was so great

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αἰτίαν δεδοικὼς καὶ τὴν Κλεοπάτρας δυσμένειαν, ἀπιὼν ̓Ιωσὴφ τὸν θεῖον αὐτοῦ ἐπίτροπον τῶν ἐκεῖ πραγμάτων κατέλιπεν, ἐντειλάμενος λάθρᾳ, εἰ πάθοι τι παρ' ̓Αντωνίου αὐτός, αὐτίκα τὴν Μαριὰμ ἀνελεῖν, ινα μὴ τεθνηκότος αὐτοῦ ἑτέρῳ διὰ τὴν ὡραιότητα γένηται. ̔Ηρώδης μὲν ουν ἀπῄει, ̓Ιωσὴφ δὲ τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς διοικῶν, καὶ συνεχῶς ἐντυγχάνων τῇ Μαριὰμ καὶ τῇ ̓Αλεξάνδρᾳ, τὴν πρὸς τὴν Μαριὰμ διηγεῖτο τοῦ βασιλέως διάθεσιν. εἰρωνευομένων δ' ἐκείνων 1.367 πρὸς τοὺς λόγους, προήχθη καὶ τὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἐκφῆναι ἀπόρρητον. τὸ δὲ μᾶλλον εἰς πλείω τὰς γυναῖκας ἐνῆγεν ἀπόνοιαν. γίνεται δὲ καὶ λόγος παρὰ τῶν ἀπεχθανομένων ̔Ηρώδῃ ὡς κτείνειεν αὐτὸν ὁ ̓Αντώνιος. ἐν τούτοις γράμματα ἐξ ̔Ηρώδου ἀφίκετο τὴν ̓Αντωνίου τιμὴν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν διηγούμενα, καὶ ὡς συνεδρεύει αὐτῷ ἐν ταῖς διαγνώσεσι καὶ ὡς συνεστιᾶται, καὶ οτι τούτων τυγχάνει καὶ ταῦτα τῆς Κλεοπάτρας χαλεπῆς ουσης αὐτῷ πρὸς διαβολήν. τούτων τῶν γραμμάτων κομισθέντων ἡ ψευδὴς ἐπαύσατο φήμη. ̓Επεὶ δὲ προπέμψας ὁ βασιλεὺς ̔Ηρώδης τὸν ̓Αντώνιον ἐπὶ Πάρθους εἰς τὴν ̓Ιουδαίαν ὑπέστρεψεν, εὐθὺς ἡ ἀδελφὴ Σαλώμη καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῶν κατηγόρουν ̓Αλεξάνδρας καὶ Μαριάμ. ἡ δὲ Σαλώμη καὶ κατὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἑαυτῆς λόγον εἰσῆγεν ὡς μιγνυμένου τῇ Μαριάμ· ουτος δ' ην ̓Ιωσὴφ ὁ τῶν τῆς βασιλείας πραγμάτων ἐπίτροπος. ελεγε δὲ ταῦτα ἐκ πλείονος αὐτῇ χαλεπαίνουσα οτι τὴν αὐτῶν δυσγένειαν ἐξωνείδιζεν. ̔Ηρώδης δὲ εὐθὺς ἐταράττετο, καὶ ζηλοτυπῶν ἰδίᾳ τὴν Μαριὰμ ἀνέκρινεν. ἀπομνυμένης δ' ἐκείνης ἐχάλα τὴν ὀργήν, καὶ τοῦ ερωτος ηττητο, καὶ τὴν εἰς αὐτὴν ἐπιστοῦτο φιλοστοργίαν. ἡ δὲ οὐ στέργοντος ειπεν ειναι τὸ κἀμὲ ἀπολέσθαι ἐντείλασθαι, ει γέ σοι παρ' ̓Αντωνίου χαλεπόν τι ἐπενεχθῇ. ουτος ὁ λόγος ἐτάραξε τὸν ̔Ηρώδην, καὶ ἐβόα σαφῶς ἐκ τούτου πεφωρᾶσθαι τὸν τοῦ ̓Ιωσὴφ πρὸς αὐτὴν ερωτα. οὐ γὰρ αν ἐξεῖπεν, ελεγε, τὸ ἀπόρρητον, μὴ μεγάλης συναψάσης αὐτοὺς διαθέσεως. καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτίκα, εἰ μὴ τῷ αὐτῆς ἐδεδούλωτο ερωτι. 1.368 τὸν ̓Ιωσὴφ δὲ μηδ' εἰς οψιν αὐτοῦ ἀγαγὼν προσέταξε διαχρήσασθαι, καὶ τὴν ̓Αλεξάνδραν ὡς ἁπάντων αἰτίαν δήσας ἐφύλαττεν. ̓Αντώνιος δὲ τῷ Κλεοπάτρας ερωτι, μᾶλλον δὲ φαρμακείαις διεφθαρμένος, ταῖς ἐκείνης θελήσεσιν ἐδεδούλωτο. η τὸν μὲν ἀδελφόν, ῳ ἡ βασιλεία διέφερε, φαρμάκῳ διέφθειρε, τὴν δ' ἀδελφὴν ̓Αρσινόην δι' ̓Αντωνίου ἀπέκτεινε· τὸν μέντοι ̓Αντώνιον ἐβιάζετο τὴν ̓Ιουδαίαν αὐτῇ καὶ τὴν ̓Αραβίαν προσνεῖμαι. ὁ δὲ τὸ προφανὲς τῆς ἀδικίας δυσωπούμενος, ἐκείνῃ τε χαρίζεσθαι διὰ τοὺς ερωτας καὶ τὰς γοητείας ἀναγκαζόμενος, ἐξ ἑκατέρων τῶν χωρῶν μέρη ἀποτεμόμενος, τούτοις αὐτῆς τὴν ἀπληστίαν παρεμυθήσατο. ὁ μὲν ουν ̓Αντώνιος εἰς ̓Αρμενίαν ἐστράτευσεν, ἡ δὲ ὑποστρέφουσα εἰς τὴν ̓Ιουδαίαν ἐγένετο, συντυχόντος αὐτῇ τοῦ ̔Ηρώδου. συνηθείας δὲ αὐτῇ πρὸς ̔Ηρώδην γενομένης προσεκαλεῖτο αὐτὸν εἰς εὐνήν, ἀκρατῶς πρὸς μίξιν διακειμένη, τάχα δέ τι καὶ παθοῦσα πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐρωτικόν, η τὸ πιθανώτερον, ἀρχὴν ἐνέδρας τὴν ἐπ' αὐτῇ ὁμιλίαν κατὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς συσκευάζουσα. ̔Ηρώδης δὲ τοὺς μὲν λόγους αὐτῆς διεκρούσατο, δωρεαῖς δὲ θεραπεύσας ἐπ' Αιγυπτον προύπεμψεν. ̔Εβδόμου δὲ ηδη ετους ̔Ηρώδου τῆς βασιλείας ἐνεστηκότος ἐσείσθη τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων ἡ γῆ ὡς οὐκ αλλοτε, καὶ τῶν τε κτηνῶν φθορὰ πολλὴ γέγονε καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὡσεὶ τρισμύριοι ἐν ταῖς καταπεπτωκυίαις οἰκίαις συγκατεχώσθησαν. τοὺς φόρους δὲ τῶν ἀπονεμηθεισῶν τῇ Κλεοπάτρᾳ χωρῶν ἐξ ̓Αραβίας καὶ ̓Ιουδαίας ̔Ηρώδου μισθωσαμένου, ὁ Αραψπερὶ τὴν τοῦ δασμοῦ καταβολὴν ἠγνωμόνει. εγνω ουν ὁ βασιλεὺς χωρῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ Αραβος, καὶ ὑπ' 1.369 ̓Αντωνίου τοῦτο ἐπιτραπείς, καὶ συμβαλὼν πολλάκις τελευταῖον νικᾷ, καὶ προστατεῖν τοῦ εθνους ὑπὸ τῶν ̓Αράβων ᾑρέθη. καὶ ὑπέστρεφεν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα, μέγα διὰ τὰ ἀνδραγαθήματα κτησάμενος ονομα καὶ φρονήματος εμπλεως. Αρτι δὲ Καίσαρος τὸν ̓Αντώνιον ἐν ̓Ακτίῳ μάχῃ νικήσαντος ̔Ηρώδῃ τὰ πράγματα τεθορύβητο η ἀπέγνωστο τέλεον. οὐ γὰρ ην ἐλπίς, τοσαύτης αὐτῷ πρὸς ̓Αντώνιον φιλίας