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But when Silas did not give in, the king was provoked to anger, and not only did he remove him from the command of the cavalry, but indeed also imprisoned him. But with time, his anger having been blunted, and considering how many labors he had endured on his behalf, celebrating his own birthday, he called Silas to feast with him. But he was not persuaded, saying, "For what honor does the king recall me, an honor which is already on the point of being lost? Or does he think I have ceased from my frankness? Now I will cry out the more about the many dangers from which I rescued him, the many labors I endured providing him safety and honor; for which my reward is bonds and a dark prison, which I will never forget." But the king, learning these things, and seeing he was incurably disposed, again left him in custody. Now this king was beneficent in his gifts no less than Herod his grandfather; yet while that one showed his munificence toward 2.33 foreigners, but not indeed toward the Jews, this one was equally beneficent to all and gentle in his manner. At any rate, his continuous way of life in Jerusalem was pleasant, and he observed his ancestral customs purely. And indeed there was a certain Simon in Jerusalem who seemed to be strict in the laws; this man, having gathered a crowd, dared to speak against the king when he had gone away to Caesarea. This did not escape Agrippa. He therefore summoned Simon and said, "Tell me what of the things being done is unlawful?" But he, having nothing to say, begged to receive pardon. And the king, contrary to expectation, was reconciled to him, and sent him away after giving him a gift. But taking the high priesthood from Matthias, he gave it to Elionaeus the son of Cithaerus. So after reigning for three years over all of Judea, he held public games in the city of Caesarea, which was formerly called Strato's Tower. And on the second day of the games, putting on a robe made of silver, he entered the theater at daybreak. And at the first rising of the sun's rays, the silver, being lit up, shone wondrously, gleaming something terrible to those who gazed upon him. And immediately the flatterers cried out from one place and another, addressing him as a god, adding, "Be merciful"; "for if even until now we have feared you as a man, yet from now on we confess you to be superior to mortal nature." The king did not rebuke them for this, nor did he reject their impious flattery. Looking up then after a little while, he saw the owl, the bird, above his own head, and he then understood this to be a messenger of evils, as it had once been an announcer of good things. And he felt a heart-piercing 2.34 pain, and a sudden ache of the belly came upon him. And he said to his friends, "I, your god, am now ending my life, and I who was called immortal by you am hastened to die." Saying these things, as the pain intensified, he was overcome, and with haste was carried to the palace. And when the report went out that he was dying, the multitude immediately, with women and children, sitting on sackcloth according to their ancestral law, supplicated God on behalf of the king, and all were mourning. And Agrippa, lying in a high chamber and looking down on them prostrate, was not himself without tears. And for five days, being consumed by the pain in his stomach, he ended his life, having lived fifty-four years, and having reigned for seven, four under Gaius, and three under Claudius. While his death was still unknown to the crowds, Herod his brother, the ruler of Chalcis, and Helcias the commander of the cavalry, having conspired together, sent and killed Silas, who was their enemy, as if, forsooth, the king had ordered it. So then Agrippa died, leaving a son, Agrippa, seventeen years of age, and three daughters; of whom one was married to Herod, her father's brother, and she was called Bernice, and the two were virgins, Mariamne and Drusilla. But when the death of the king became known, the people of Caesarea and Sebaste, having forgotten his good deeds, blasphemed against him and, snatching the statues of the king's daughters, carried them into the brothels and treated them outrageously, and they made public feasts 2.35 wearing crowns and perfuming themselves and

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δὲ Σίλα μὴ ἐνδιδόντος εἰς ὀργὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνηρέθιστο, καὶ οὐ μόνον τῆς ἱππαρχίας αὐτὸν μετέστησεν, ἀλλὰ μέντοι καὶ δέδεκε. χρόνῳ δὲ τὸν θυμὸν ἀμβλυνθείς, καὶ λογισάμενος οσους ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου ἀνέτλη πόνους, ἡμέραν ἑορτάζων ἑαυτοῦ γενέθλιον ἐκάλει τὸν Σίλαν αὐτῷ συνεστιαθησόμενον. ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἐπείθετο "ἐπὶ τίνα" λέγων "ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνακαλεῖ με τιμὴν τὴν οσον ηδη ἀπολουμένην; η πεπαῦσθαί με νομίζει τῆς παρρησίας; νῦν βοήσομαι μᾶλλον οσων αὐτὸν ἐξερρυσάμην δεινῶν, οσους ηνεγκα πόνους ἐκείνῳ πορίζων σωτηρίαν καὶ τιμήν· ων γέρας μοι δεσμὰ καὶ σκότιος εἱρκτή, ων ουποτε λήσομαι." ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ταῦτα μαθών, καὶ ἀνιάτως συνιδὼν διακείμενον, αυθις ειασεν ἐν φρουρᾷ. Ην δὲ εὐεργετικὸς ουτος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν δωρεαῖς οὐδὲν ηττον ̔Ηρώδου τοῦ πάππου· ἐκείνου μέντοι εἰς 2.33 ἀλλοφύλους τὸ φιλότιμον ἐπιδεικνυμένου, οὐ μὴν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ̓Ιουδαίους, ουτος πρὸς πάντας ὁμοίως ην εὐεργετικὸς καὶ τὸν τρόπον πραΰς. ἡδεῖα γοῦν αὐτῷ δίαιτα συνεχὴς ἐν τοῖς ̔Ιεροσολύμοις ην, καὶ τὰ πάτρια καθαρῶς ἐτήρει. καὶ δή τις Σίμων ην ἐν ̔Ιεροσολύμοις ἀκριβὴς δοκῶν τὰ νόμιμα· ουτος πλῆθος ἀθροίσας ἐτόλμησε τοῦ βασιλέως κατειπεῖν ἀποδημήσαντος εἰς Καισάρειαν. τοῦτο τὸν ̓Αγρίππαν οὐκ ελαθε. μεταπέμπεται ουν τὸν Σίμωνα καί φησιν "εἰπέ μοι τί τῶν γινομένων ἐστὶ παράνομον;" ὁ δὲ μὴ εχων εἰπεῖν ἐδεῖτο συγγνώμης τυχεῖν. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς παρὰ προσδοκίαν αὐτῷ διηλλάττετο, καὶ ἐξέπεμψε δωρησάμενος. τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην δὲ Ματθίαν ἀφελόμενος ̓Ελιωναίῳ τῷ τοῦ Κιθαίρου παιδὶ παρέσχεν αὐτήν. Βασιλεύσας ουν ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἐνιαυτοὺς τῆς ολης ̓Ιουδαίας, εἰς πόλιν Καισάρειαν, η πρότερον Στράτωνος ἐκαλεῖτο πύργος, θεωρίας ἐτέλει. δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν θεωριῶν ἡμέρᾳ στολὴν ἐνδὺς ἐξ ἀργύρου πεποιημένην παρῆλθεν εἰς τὸ θέατρον ἀρχομένης ἡμέρας. καὶ ταῖς πρώταις τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων ἐπιτολαῖς ὁ αργυρος καταυγασθεὶς θαυμασίως ἀπέστιλβε, μαρμαίρων τι φοβερὸν τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀτενίζουσιν. εὐθύς τε οἱ κόλακες αλλος αλλοθεν ἀνεβόων, θεὸν προσαγορεύοντες, εὐμενής τε ειης, ἐπιλέγοντες· εἰ γὰρ καὶ μέχρι νῦν ὡς ανθρωπον ἐφοβήθημεν, ἀλλὰ τοὐντεῦθεν ὁμολογοῦμεν θνητῆς σε φύσεως κρείττονα. οὐκ ἐπέπληξε τούτοις ὁ βασιλεύς, οὐδὲ τὴν κολακείαν ἀσεβοῦσαν ἀπετρίψατο. ἀνακύψας ουν μετ' ὀλίγον ὁρᾷ τὸν βουβῶνα τὸν ορνιν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ κεφαλῆς υπερθεν, αγγελόν τε κακῶν τοῦτον ἐνενόησε τότε, ὡς ποτὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν μηνυτήν. καὶ διακάρδιον 2.34 εσχεν ὀδύνην, καὶ τῆς κοιλίας ἀθρόον ἐπιγέγονεν αλγημα. καὶ πρὸς τοὺς φίλους φησίν "ὁ θεὸς ὑμῖν ἐγὼ ηδη καταστρέφω τὸν βίον, καὶ ὁ κληθεὶς ἀθάνατος παρ' ὑμῶν θανεῖν ἐπείγομαι." ταῦτα λέγων τῆς ὀδύνης ἐπιτεινομένης κατεπονεῖτο, καὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀνεκομίσθη πρὸς τὸ βασίλειον. λόγου δὲ γενομένου θνήσκειν αὐτόν, ἡ πληθὺς αὐτίκα σὺν γυναιξὶ καὶ παισὶν ἐπὶ σάκκου καθεσθεῖσα τῷ πατρίῳ νόμῳ τὸν θεὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ βασιλέως ἱκέτευε, καὶ πάντες ἐθρήνουν. ἐν ὑψηλῷ δὲ ὁ ̓Αγρίππας κατακείμενος δωματίῳ, καὶ κάτω βλέπων αὐτοὺς πρηνεῖς προσπίπτοντας, οὐδὲ αὐτὸς αδακρυς ην. ἐφ' ἡμέρας δὲ πέντε τῷ τῆς γαστρὸς ἀλγήματι κατεργασθεὶς κατέστρεψε τὴν ζωήν, βιώσας ετη τέσσαρα καὶ πεντήκοντα, βασιλεύσας δ' ἑπτά, ἐπὶ Γαΐου μὲν τέσσαρα, τρία δ' ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου. ἀγνοουμένης γε μὴν ετι τοῖς πλήθεσι τῆς αὐτοῦ τελευτῆς, συμφρονήσαντες ̔Ηρώδης ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ τῆς Χαλκίδος αρχων καὶ ̔Ελκίας ὁ ιππαρχος, πέμψαντες τὸν Σίλαν ἐχθρὸν αὐτοῖς οντα κατέσφαξαν, ὡς τάχα τοῦ βασιλέως κελεύσαντος. Ουτω μὲν ουν ὁ ̓Αγρίππας ἀπεβίω, υἱὸν ̓Αγρίππαν καταλιπὼν ἐτῶν ἑπτακαίδεκα, τρεῖς δὲ θυγατέρας· ων ἡ μὲν ̔Ηρώδῃ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀδελφῷ γεγάμητο, Βερνίκη δ' ἐκέκλητο, παρθένοι δ' ησαν αἱ δύο Μαριὰμ καὶ ∆ρούσιλλα. γνωσθέντος δὲ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ βασιλέως, Καισαρεῖς καὶ Σεβαστηνοὶ ἐπιλελησμένοι τῶν αὐτοῦ εὐποιιῶν ἐβλασφήμουν τε εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ τὰ τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως θυγατέρων ἀγάλματα ἁρπάσαντες εἰς τὰ πορνεῖα ἐκόμισαν καὶ ἀφύβριζον εἰς αὐτά, καὶ πανδήμους ἑστιάσεις ἐποίουν 2.35 στεφανούμενοι καὶ μυριζόμενοι καὶ