156

Herod sent Alexander's wife to her father, and he raised the children of the deceased very carefully. Alexander had two sons by Glaphyra, and Aristobulus had three sons and two little daughters by Bernice. The king also had a son, Herod, by the high priest's daughter. For nine wives lived with the king, it being a national custom to live with more than one at the same time. These were the mother of Antipater and the daughter of the high priest, 1.392 by whom, as has been said, a son of the same name was born to him. There was also a brother's child married to him, and a cousin with her, a second cousin that is; for the ancients called second cousins 'cousins', as can be found in many places both in Plutarch and in the law books. And among Herod's wives there was also one from the nation of the Samaritans, whose children were Antipas and Archelaus and a daughter, Olympias. And Cleopatra of Jerusalem was also numbered among his wives; and her children were Herod and Philip. And Pallas was also among his wives, who had borne him a son, Phasaelus. And in addition to the others, Phaedra and Elpis lived with him. Herod also had two daughters by Mariam, and from Phaedra and Elpis were born to him daughters, Roxane and Salome. Such then was the family of Herod; but affairs looked only to Antipater. And he was feared by all, not so much for his power as for the wickedness of his character; Pheroras especially courted him and was courted in return. But Salome was opposed to them, always disposed contrary to the meaning of her name; for it signified peace and that the one so called should be peaceful, but she was exceedingly contentious and stirred up others to fights and factions and the alienation of kin. She, spying on the intimacy of Antipater and Pheroras, told Herod that their goodwill was to his harm. Therefore, when they learned of Salome's slander, openly they practiced 1.393 hatred and insults toward each other, but secretly they maintained their harmony with each other. But they did not escape Salome's notice, who tracked everything and reported to the king their secret meetings, banquets, and unmentionable councils. And he himself understood most of it. And the Pharisees, ingratiating themselves with the women's quarters, men who prided themselves on the strict observance of the ancestral law and opposed the king, who, when all had sworn to be loyal to Caesar and to king Herod, they themselves were not persuaded, being over six thousand, and being well-disposed toward the wife of Pheroras, prophesied that an end of Herod's rule had been decreed by God, and that it would be allotted to Pheroras and his descendants. Not even these things escaped the wickedness of Salome, and immediately they were reported to the king. Therefore, those of the Pharisees who were convicted of these things were put to death, and the eunuch Bagoas, and a certain Carus, distinguished for the beauty of his body and being Herod's favorite, and others around the king, as accomplices. Then the king, having convened a council, accused the wife of Pheroras and enumerated many charges, and finally, turning his speech to Pheroras, he said, "You ought to have sent this woman away on your own accord because of these things. Now, at least, if you lay claim to my kinship, give up living with her." But he answered that he would choose to die rather than be deprived of his wife while living. Thereupon Herod forbade Antipater and his mother to converse with Pheroras or to meet with his wives. And they submitted, but they met with each other and caroused together whenever there was an opportunity. But Antipater, being suspicious of his father's anger, writes to his friends in Rome to write 1.394 to Herod to send Antipater to Caesar. So Antipater is sent to Rome with gifts, also carrying Herod's will giving him the rule, and if he should die first, to Herod, the son of the high priest's daughter. But Herod ordered Pheroras, since he would not leave his wife, to depart.

156

̓Αλεξάνδρου γυναῖκα ̔Ηρώδης πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἀπέπεμψεν, ετρεφε δὲ τὰ τῶν θανόντων τέκνα πάνυ ἐπιμελῶς. ησαν δὲ ̓Αλεξάνδρῳ μὲν ἐκ Γλαφύρας αρσενες δύο, ̓Αριστοβούλῳ δὲ ἐκ Βερνίκης υἱοὶ τρεῖς καὶ δύο θυγάτρια. γέγονε δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀρχιερέως θυγατρὸς ̔Ηρώδης υἱός. ἐννέα γὰρ τῷ βασιλεῖ συνῴκουν γυναῖκες, πάτριον ον καὶ πλείοσι κατὰ ταὐτὸν συνοικεῖν. ησαν δὲ η τε τοῦ ̓Αντιπάτρου μήτηρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως θυγάτηρ, 1.392 ἐξ ης, ὡς ειρηται, παῖς ἐγεννήθη αὐτῷ ὁμώνυμος. ην δὲ καὶ ἀδελφοῦ παῖς αὐτῷ μία γεγαμημένη, καὶ ἀνεψιὰ σὺν αὐτῇ, ἐξαδέλφη δηλαδή· τὰς γὰρ ἐξαδέλφας ἀνεψιὰς ἐκάλουν οἱ παλαιοί, ὡς εστιν εὑρεῖν πολλαχοῦ καὶ παρὰ τῷ Πλουτάρχῳ καὶ παρὰ ταῖς βίβλοις ταῖς νομικαῖς. ην δ' ἐν ταῖς γυναιξὶν ̔Ηρώδου κἀκ τοῦ εθνους τῶν Σαμαρέων μία, ης ησαν παῖδες ̓Αντίπας τε καὶ ̓Αρχέλαος καὶ θυγάτηρ ̓Ολυμπιάς. καὶ Κλεοπάτρα δὲ ̔Ιεροσολυμῖτις ταῖς τούτου γυναιξὶ συνηρίθμητο· καὶ ταύτης παῖδες ̔Ηρώδης καὶ Φίλιππος. καὶ Παλλὰς δὲ ην ἐν ταῖς αὐτοῦ γαμεταῖς, Φασάηλον πεποιημένη παῖδα αὐτῷ. καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς λοιπαῖς Φαίδρα καὶ ̓Ελπὶς συνῴκουν αὐτῷ. ησαν δὲ ̔Ηρώδῃ καὶ δύο θυγατέρες ἐκ Μαριάμ, καὶ ἐκ Φαίδρας δὲ καὶ ̓Ελπίδος εφυσαν αὐτῷ θυγατέρες ̔Ρωξάνη καὶ Σαλώμη. Τοῦτο μὲν ουν τὸ γένος ̔Ηρώδου· τὰ δὲ πράγματα πρὸς μόνον τὸν ̓Αντίπατρον ἀφεώρων. καὶ ην απασι φοβερός, οὐ τοσοῦτον τῇ δυναστείᾳ οσον τῇ τῶν τρόπων κακότητι· μάλιστα δὲ αὐτὸν Φερώρας ἐθεράπευε καὶ ἀντεθεραπεύετο. ἠναντίωτο δὲ αὐτοῖς ἡ Σαλώμη, ἐναντίως ἀεὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς κλήσεως αὐτῆς σημασίαν διακειμένη· ἡ μὲν γὰρ εἰρήνης σημαντικὸν καὶ εἰρηνικὴν ειναι τὴν ουτω κεκλημένην ἐδήλου, ἡ δὲ καὶ σφόδρα μάχιμος ην καὶ ἑτέρους πρὸς μάχας καὶ στάσεις καὶ συγγενείας ἀλλοτρίωσιν διεγείρουσα. αυτη κατασκοποῦσα τὴν ̓Αντιπάτρου καὶ Φερώρου οἰκείωσιν, ελεγε τῷ ̔Ηρώδῃ ἐπὶ κακῷ τῷ αὐτοῦ τὴν τούτων γίνεσθαι ευνοιαν. γνόντες ουν ἐκεῖνοι τὴν τῆς Σαλώμης διαβολήν, ἐν τῷ φανερῷ μὲν μῖσος 1.393 κατ' ἀλλήλων καὶ λοιδορίας ησαν ἐπιτηδεύοντες, κεκρυμμένως δὲ τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐτήρουν ὁμόνοιαν. τὴν Σαλώμην δ' οὐκ ἐλάνθανον, πάντα τε ἀνιχνεύουσαν καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀπαγγέλλουσαν συνόδους λαθραίας συμπόσιά τε καὶ ἀνέκφορα βουλευτήρια. ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ πολλὰ συνίει. Φαρισαῖοι δὲ τὴν γυναικωνίτιδα οἰκειούμενοι, ανθρωποι μέγα φρονοῦντες ἐπ' ἀκριβώσει τοῦ πατρίου νόμου καὶ βασιλεῖ ἀντιπράττοντες, οι πάντων ὀμωμοκότων Καίσαρι εὐνοεῖν καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ̔Ηρώδῃ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἐπείσθησαν, οντες ὑπερεξακισχίλιοι, τῇ δὲ γυναικὶ Φερώρου εὐνοοῦντες, προύλεγον ̔Ηρώδῃ τέλος τῆς ἀρχῆς κατεψηφίσθαι παρὰ θεοῦ, νεμηθῆναι δὲ αὐτὴν Φερώρᾳ τε καὶ τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ. οὐδὲ ταῦτα τὴν τῆς Σαλώμης μοχθηρίαν διέδρα, καὶ αὐτίκα τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀπηγγέλλοντο. τῶν μὲν ουν Φαρισαίων οἱ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐληλεγμένοι ἀνῄρηντο, καὶ εὐνοῦχος Βαγώας, Κᾶρός τέ τις ἐπὶ σώματος κάλλει διαπρεπὴς καὶ ̔Ηρώδου ων παιδικά, καὶ ετεροι τῶν περὶ τὸν βασιλέα, ὡς συνίστορες. ειτα συνέδριον καθίσας ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς Φερώρου γυναικὸς κατηγόρει καὶ ἀπηρίθμει πολλὰ αἰτιάματα, καὶ τέλος πρὸς τὸν Φερώραν τὸν λόγον τρέψας "δεῖν" ελεγε "καὶ πρὶν αὐτοκέλευστόν σε διὰ ταῦτα τὸ γύναιον ἀποπέμψασθαι. νῦν γοῦν εἰ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀντιποιῇ συγγενείας, τὴν μετ' αὐτῆς συμβίωσιν παραιτοῦ." ὁ δὲ πρότερον θανεῖν αἱρεῖσθαι ἀπεκρίνατο η ζῶν ἀποστερεῖσθαι τῆς γυναικός. ἐντεῦθεν ̔Ηρώδης ̓Αντιπάτρῳ καὶ τῇ ἐκείνου μητρὶ Φερώρᾳ συνομιλεῖν ἀπηγόρευσεν η ταῖς γυναιξὶ συνιέναι. οἱ δὲ κατετίθεντο, συνῄεσαν δὲ ἀλλήλοις καὶ συνεκώμαζον ῃ καιρός. ̓Αντίπατρος δὲ τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ὑφορώμενος γράφει τοῖς ἐν ̔Ρώμῃ φίλοις ἐπι1.394 στέλλειν ̔Ηρώδῃ στέλλειν πρὸς Καίσαρα τὸν ̓Αντίπατρον. πέμπεται γοῦν εἰς ̔Ρώμην μετὰ δώρων ̓Αντίπατρος, φέρων καὶ διαθήκην ̔Ηρώδου αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν διδοῦσαν, εἰ δὲ φθάσει θανών, ̔Ηρώδῃ τῷ ἐκ τῆς ἀρχιερέως γενομένῳ θυγατρός. Φερώραν δέ, μὴ ἀφιέντα τὴν γυναῖκα, ἀναχωρεῖν ἐπέταττεν ὁ ̔Ηρώδης.