gracious; in seeking by every means to gather her children, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings; in desiring to save her from that fearful sentence, by which her house would be left unto her desolate.

LETTER XLV.

IT is, I presume, superfluous to inform you of the manner in which Julius Cæsar lost his life, when he was on the point of making war on the Parthians, in order to avenge the disgrace and defeat of the Romans under Crassus. His death caused a new civil war, and general confusion in all the provinces. Cassius having seized Cilicia, Syria, and Palestine, made himself master of Judea also. To maintain his power in these countries, he had an army of twelve legions, for the support of which he raised heavy contributions on the inhabitants. The sum demanded from Judea was seven hundred talents, which Antipater exerted himself to raise: appointing his two sons and Malichus to assist him. Herod was the first to bring his contingent, by which he gained the favour of Cassius. But some of the cities failing in their contributions, Cassius ordered the inhabitants to be sold by auction, for the raising of them; and Malichus would have been put to death by him on the same account, had not Hyrcanus sent a hundred talents to redeem him. Soon after this, Cassius went into Syria, to oppose Dolabella, and while he was there Malichus treacherously contrived the death of Antipater, of whose influence with Hyrcanus he was jealous;

though he shared it next to him; and had, on many occasions, received distinguished marks of kindness and protection from him. Antipater had received intimations of his treachery, some time before, and used precautions against it; but was induced by his oaths and protestations to consider the imputation as a calumny, and to treat him with his wonted confidence. This however failed of the desired effect: for Malichus, still fostering his ambitious projects, bribed the butler of Hyrcanus to poison Antipater, and when he had thus removed him, seized the government of Jerusalem, by: means of an armed force. Notwithstanding this violence, he endeavoured to persuade Herod and Phasael that he was innocent of their father's death; but they were not deceived on this point; and Herod would immediately have taken vengeance on the murderer, had not Phasael urged the danger of incurring a civil war; and prevailed on him to wait for a more seasonable opportunity. The brothers therefore dissembled towards Malichus, appearing to credit his protestations; but Herod in the meantime, having made the affair known to Cassius, obtained his permission to avenge the murder; with an order to his soldiers at Tyre to assist him if needful. Cassius was then besieging Laodicea, and when he had reduced. that place all the princes and nobles of Palestine hastening to congratulate him, Herod with Hyrcanus and. Malichus went among the rest. When they approached Tyre, Herod privately sent the order of Cassius to the Roman commander there, who dispatched a party of soldiers to meet Malichus and kill him. Had he reached Tyre, his intention was to steal away his son who was there as a hostage, and then to return to Jerusalem and make himself master of the kingdom. Though the death

of Malichus put an end to all his ambitious schemes, it did not save his country from the horrors of a civil war; for those of his party at Jerusalem took up árm arms to avenge it on the sons of Antipater. Cassius by this time had left Syria to join Brutus; and Herod was at Damascus confined by sickness. The insurgents were assisted by Felix commander of the Roman troops in Jerusalem; and countenanced by Hyrcanus, who allowed the brother of Malichus to take possession of Massada, and several other strong places in Judea. Phasael had to withstand this powerful faction alone; but he was completely successful in expelling all the members of it from Jerusalem; and when Herod returned, they were suppressed in other places also. The brothers were greatly displeased with Hyrcanus, for taking part against them; and keenly reproached him for his ingratitude : since it was to their father he owed his present elevation and safety. But as Herod was about to espouse Mariamne the grand-daughter of Hyrcanus, they took no farther notice of his conduct in this particular. Though peace was thus restored, it did not continue long; for the factious party sending for Antigonus the younger son of Aristobulus, created new disturbances under pretext of raising him to the throne of his father. Besides. his adherents in Judea, Antigonus had three of the neighbouring princes to assist him; by which means he raised an army, and took the field to assert his claim. Herod however encountered him in battle, and after gaining a complete victory, recovered all the places that had been seized by the insurgents, in Galilee; and then

returned in triumph to Jerusalem.

After the battle of Philippi, Antony passed into Asia to settle the affairs of the Romans in that quarter. On

he

his arrival, ambassadors from all parts waited on him, to solicit his favour and protection; and among them were some principal men from Judea, who came with an accusation against Herod and Phasael for usurping the government. Herod, however, being present, and having some interest with Antony, who had received great favours from Antipater, prevailed on him not to hear them. Not long after this, Hyrcanus sent other ambassadors, to beg the restoration of the territories Cassius had taken from him, and the freedom of those Jews whom he had sold; both of which requests were immediately granted by Antony. The factious party in Judea again applied to him, against the sons of Antipater: sending a deputation of a hundred men to Antioch for that purpose. Hyrcanus being then present, Antony called upon him to declare his opinion, which gave in favour of the accused. For Herod having by marriage become one of his family, he was on that account induced to promote his interest. Antony having this testimony to confirm his own prepossession in favour of the brothers, made them both tetrarchs, and entrusted all the affairs of Judea to them. He also imprisoned fifteen of the complainants; and would have put them to death, had not Herod, by his intercession, induced him to spare their lives. The heavy contributions levied by Antony for the support of his army and the indulgence of his own luxurious excesses, became so burdensome, that some of the people of Syria agreed to call in the Parthians to assist in expelling him. In consequence of this invitation, a large army from that nation crossed the Euphrates, under Pacorus the king's son, and Labienus, a Roman general, who had formerly belonged to Pompey. Antony was now in Egypt pass

g his time in slothful luxury at the court of Cleopatra. he Parthian army, on entering Syria, gave battle to axa, whom Antony had appointed his lieutenant there, nd having defeated him, Labienus and Pacorus divided heir forces: the former pursuing Saxa into Asia Minor, and the latter subduing all before him in Syria, till he eached Tyre, of which some Roman forces had taken possession. Antony, receiving intelligence of what was passing, aroused from his state of indolence, and sailed into Syria. On his arrival at Tyre, finding the Parthians in possession of all the surrounding country, and at the same time receiving very unfavourable accounts of his affairs in Italy, he set sail again for the latter country. In the meantime, Pacorus having taken Ptolemais and Sidon, sent a body of his troops to invade Judea on behalf of Antigonus, who had agreed to give him a large sum of money for his assistance. Antigonus himself collected an army of Jews from Galilee, and led them into Judea, while the Parthian troops followed to support him. When he came near Jerusalem a body of soldiers from thence encountered him; but having vanquished them in battle, and put them to flight, he pursued them into the city. Here several skirmishes took place between him and the sons of Antipater, till his party being repulsed, he took refuge in the mountain of the temple, while his opponents seized the castle of Baris. From these places the two parties frequently issued to attack each other with the utmost rage and animosity. In this manner they went on till the feast of Pentecost; when the people coming to Jerusalem from all parts, and uniting some with Antigonus, and some with Herod and Phasael, the whole city was filled with turbulence and carnage. This dreadful state of