HEROD THE GREAT-His cruel and sanguinary disposition-Death of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus-OCTAVIUS master of the Roman Empire Herod reconciled to him, and confirmed in the Kingdom of Judæa-Death of Alexandra. and his wife, Mariamne-His prefer ence for Grecian and Roman customs-Two of his sons sent to Rome, to be educated-Rebuilding of Samaria, and building of Cæsarea-The new Temple, and other magnificent buildings-Misunderstanding with Augustus-General Taxation-Birth of JESUS CHRIST-Herod's awful death.

HEROD, surnamed the Great, ascended the throne of Judæa 37 A. C., and in the thirty-third year of his age. The son of Antipater, he was an Idumæan by extraction; and though a Jew by profession, he was really a heathen at heart. He commenced his reign by an unrelenting persecution of the former adherents of Antigonus, the most affluent of whom were put to death and their estates openly confiscated.

The cruelty which Herod thus manifested in the very beginning of his reign, rendered both his person and his government hateful to the Jews; and this hatred rose to abhorrence when the objects of the people's affections, the last remains of the noble house of the Asamoneans, became the victims of his murderous acts. Old Hyrcanus, who had been exiled to Babylonia, and was there treated with the greatest respect; both by the influential Jews who resided in that country, and by the Parthians themselves, was induced, by his deceptions, to return to Jerusalem. For a short time after his arrival in his native city, Herod

treated him with apparent respect, and even deference; but no sooner did a convenient opportunity offer, than he caused him to be inhumanly put to death. This base act occurred in 31 A. C.; and when we remember what Hyrcanus had been to both Herod and his father Antipater, the cruelty of the deed must appear beyond expression great.

The lineal representative of the Asamonean house, after the death of Hyrcanus, was Aristobulus, the brother of Herod's beloved wife, Mariamne. This child soon grew up to be a youth of extraordinary beauty and promise, and was naturally hateful to Herod; but his life and welfare were supposed to be sufficiently protected by his near relationship to Mariamne. His right to the high-priesthood, which Herod had bestowed upon an obscure priest of the name of Ananel, was unquestioned; and when the king perceived that it was unsafe longer to withhold the pontificate from him, he removed Ananel, and placed Aristobulus, who was then only seventeen years of age, in that exalted office. When he appeared in his gorgeous pon tifical robes at the Feast of Tabernacles, the assembled multitude could not restrain an expression of their admiration and delight; and that expression of public affection sealed his doom. Aristobulus was soon after drowned, as was said, "by accident," while bathing, at Jericho; but the whole nation knew that it was Herod's act, and saw through the show of mourning, and the parade of grief which he displayed on the occasion.

The circumstances attending the death of Aristobulus having been communicated by his mother, Alexandra, to Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, the latter induced Antony, who was then at her court, to order Herod to appear before him and vindicate himself against the charge of the murder. Herod, with large gifts, soon appeased the wrath of An

tony; but before he left Jerusalem to meet the great Roman, his jealousy led him to place Mariamne, whom he devotedly loved, in the charge of his uncle Joseph, with strict directions, that should he be put to death, she must not be permitted to survive him. This order Joseph inadvertently communicated to Mariamne; and upon Herod's return, that virtuous and high-spirited princess bitterly reproached him for his unfounded suspicions of her. This threw Herod into so great a rage that he drew his dagger and would have murdered her on the spot; but his ardent affection for her proved her protection, though to appease his wrath he ordered his uncle Joseph to be instantly executed.

In 31 A. C., while these scenes were passing in Judæa, the decisive battle of Actium occurred between Antony and Octavius; and as, in that action, the power of the former was entirely prostrated, he fled to Egypt, to console himself in the caresses of the treacherous Cleopatra. Thither Octavius immediately pursued him; and as Antony's death, by his own hand, soon followed, his rival was left master of the whole Roman empire. It now became Herod, who had hitherto been attached to the for tunes of Antony, to seek reconciliation with Octavius; and with this view he repaired to Alexandria, in Egypt, where the conquerer then was, and so artfully excused himself for his attachment to Antony, that Octavius not only granted him a free pardon, but confirmed him in his gov ernment and authority.

Herod returned from Egypt flushed with his success with Octavius; but he found that, during his absence, his domestic troubles had only increased. He had, before his departure thither, left Mariamne in the charge of Sohemus, with similar directions to those which he had given, on the previous occasion, to his uncle Joseph. When he, therefore,

immediately after his arrival in Jerusalem, exultingly flew to her embrace, she repulsed him with abhorrence, and upbraided him, not only with his treatment of herself, but also with the murder of her grand-father, her father, her brother, and her uncle. Herod's rage and jealousy now knew no bounds; for he perceived that his secret had again been betrayed, and he therefore caused Sohemas to be immediately executed, and Mariamne brought to a public trial. As the judges were his own creatures she was, of course, condemned; but no sooner had the magnanimous and virtuous woman perished, than Herod's remorse and grief became intolerable. He found no rest day nor night; for wherever he went, the image of Marianne haunted him, and filled his mind with anguish so bitter, that it eventually resulted in fits of temporary insanity. He, therefore, relinquished all the cares of government and retired to Samaria, soon after which he was seized with so dangerous a fit of sickness that his life was despaired of. Alexandra, supposing that his death was certain, began to intrigue for the supreme power, under the pretext of securing the government for Mariamne's children; but Herod unexpectedly recovering, returned to Jerusalem, and ordered her immediate execution. Thus perished, in 28 A. C., Alexandra, the mother of the beautiful and accomplished Mariamne.

Aware that these repeated and sanguinary murders had awakened the bitterest antipathies of the Jews towards him, Herod now began to treat both their religion and their laws with utter neglect. Not being a Levite himself, nor even by birth a Jew, he did not venture to seize the high-priesthood; but he degraded that sacred office by subjecting it entirely to his will, appointing and removing the high-priests at his pleasure. He even so far inclined to the Roman customs and practices, that he gave them every

where a preference to those of his own country; and in all parts of his kingdom except in Judæa, he built temples in the Grecian style of art, and set up statues for idolatrous worship. He even went so far as to build in the very city of Jerusalem, a magnificent theatre, and an amphitheatre, for the celebration of games in honor of the emperor Augustus; which, it is well known, implied the deification of the person in whose honor the games were celebrated. By such means he soon imparted the luxuries and vices of the licentious Romans to his own subjects.

These measures of Herod, so offensive, and even insulting, to the great body of the Jewish people, produced numerous conspiracies against his life; to guard against which required the greatest vigilance and activity, and led to the building and fortifying of other strongholds besides Jerusalem. The first place selected for this purpose was Samaria, which, since its destruction by John Hyrcanus, had not risen beyond a small village. The place being rebuilt, and the fortifications completed, Herod named it Sebaste, in honor of his patron Augustus-Sebastos, in Greek, being equivalent to Augustus, in Latin. Here he planted a colony of six thousand people, among whom he divided the surrounding country, which, being very fertile, the place soon became rich and populous.

The great work of rebuilding and repeopling Samaria was scarcely completed, before Judæa was visited by a famine and pestilence, so severe, as to sweep off vast numbers of the inhabitants. To relieve those that escaped, Herod resorted to the popular and praiseworthy act of melting down and turning into money the plate of his palace, and sending to Egypt to purchase corn. The quantity of food thus obtained was so abundant, as amply to supply all the wants, not only of his own subjects, but also of the neighboring Syrians who were suffering under