Roman patriots as they are called,* Cassius proceeded into Syria and raised a considerable army, where being joined by Murcus, he marched into Phoenicia and Judea, and obtained possession of both those countries, and got together no less than twelve legions of soldiers. For the maintenance of so large an army he was obliged to levy heavy contributions;

the wickedness of that age in which he lived and consequently he is to be reputed the greatest pest and plague that mankind then had therein. But, notwithstanding this, his actions have with many acquired great glory to his name; whereas, true glory is due only to those who benefit, not to those who destroy mankind." Prid. ii. 577, 578. And how close an imitation of his character has been raised up in our own times, in the person of Napoleon Buonaparte, who, however, fell very short of his prototype in whatever was praiseworthy.

"This was a most base and villanous act, and the more so, as the prime authors of it, Marcus Brutus, Decimus Brutus, Cassius, and Trebonius, and some others of them, were those whom Cæsar had in the highest manner obliged; yet it was executed under the notion of an high heroic virtue, in thus freeing their country from one whom they called a tyrant; and there are not wanting such as are ready, even in our days, to applaud the act. But divine justice declared itself otherwise in this matter; for it pursued every one of them that were concerned herein, said to be sixty in number, (Prid. ii. 673.) with such a just and remarkable revenge, that they were every man of them cut off in a short time after, in a violent manner, either by their own or other men's hands.-Prid. ii. 577. At the battle of Philippi, Brutus and Cassius were both defeated by Octavianus (Augustus) and Mark Anthony, and by a just retribution of divine vengeance upon them, they were both of them, that is, Cassius first, and afterwards Brutus, forced to murder themselves; and what was most signal herein, they both did it with the same swords with which they had murdered Cæsar."-Prid. ii. 5S6. "The last survivor of the assassins was Cassius Parmensis, who, after the battle of Actium, fled to Athens, where being terrified with the like apparition which appeared to Brutus at Philippi, he was overtaken and put to death by the messengers of Octavianus.”—Prid. ii. 673.

and Judea was taxed at seven hundred talents, which was soon raised by Antipater, and his sons Phasael and Herod, Malichus, and others. Herod having first brought his quota, ingratiated himself much with Cassius; but Gophna, Emmaus, Lydda, Thamna, and some other cities of Judea, not being quite so much on the alert, Cassius caused all the inhabitants to be sold by auction for the raising of the money; and would have put Malichus to death for his failure, if Hyrcanus had not sent one hundred talents, out of his own treasures, to redeem him.†

Cassius and Murcus having marched into Laodicea, in order to suppress Publius Cornelius Dolabella, who had married Tullia, a daughter of Cicero, left Herod in the government of Cole-Syria.+

Malichus, who was envious of the influence of Antipater and his sons, laid a plot for taking away his life; but Antipater having received intimation of his design, prepared himself to disappoint it. Malichus, however, so lulled his suspicion, that he interceded with Murcus to spare his life, which that officer had intended to take away on account of various factious designs. Notwithstanding this obligation, Malichus persisted in his purpose; and one day when Antipater was dining with Hyrcanus, he bribed the butler to administer poison to him in a cup of wine, whereof he died. Malichus thereupon seized the government of Jerusalem with an armed force, and endeavoured to persuade Phasaelus and Herod that he was wholly innocent of their father's murder. Herod would have taken instant revenge, but Phasaelus recommended him to proceed by craft and stratagem, and therefore, affecting to

* He was a Jew by birth, and although next in power and authority to Antipater, who was an Idumean, was envious of the latter's superiority. Prid. ii. 583.

reigning monarch, sent forward M. Antonius to seize the passes; in which he was much assisted by Hyrcanus and Antipater, who provided the Romans with supplies, and gave them letters to the Jews residing at Onion, by whose assistance Antony was enabled to make himself master of Pelusium.*

Whilst Gabinius was in Egypt with the main body of the Roman forces, Alexander, the eldest son of Aristobulus, collected together a large army and destroyed a great number of the Romans, and drove the rest to take refuge in mount Gerizim, where he besieged them. But, upon the return of the Roman general, a battle took placet between their respective armies, in which Alexander was defeated with the loss of ten thousand men, when Gabinius going to Jerusalem, settled all things there according to the mind of Antipater.‡

Crassus, having succeeded Gabinius in the province of Syria, marched to Jerusalem for the purpose of seizing upon all the treasures in the temple; when Eleazer, one of the priests, aware of his iniquitous object, offered to discover to him a concealed bar of gold§ if he would take an oath to spare all the rest. Upon receiving the shining treasure, however, it only served to inflame his cupidity; for in violation of his

sovereign authority over the inhabitants of the place; of whom no fewer than six thousand persons were devoted to the service of that goddess. He afterwards became king of Egypt, by marrying Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes. Prid. ii. 502. 528.

* Prid. ii. 534.

+ Near mount Tabor. Jos. iii. 274.
Prid. ii. 536.

Of the weight of three hundred Hebrew mine; and which for better security had been put into a beam, which he had caused to be made hollow for the reception of it; and placing this beam over the entrance which was from the holy place into the holy of holies, caused the veil which parted these two places to be hung thereat. Prid. ii. 538.

oath, he plundered the temple of all its wealth, to the amount of £2,000,000 of our money, or ten thousand talents.*

On the death of Crassus, at the battle of Carrhæ,† the command of the routed remains of the Roman army devolved upon Cassius, who retreated with it into Syria; and, having recovered Tyre, laid siege to Tarichæa, a city on the lake of Gennesareth, where Pitholaus, with the remaining partisans of Aristobulus, had shut themselves up. Having taken the place, Cassius made all the garrison captives, except Pitholaus, whom he put to death by the advice of Antipater; and afterwards forced Alexander to accept of terms of peace.+

The jealousies between Pompey and Julius Cæsar having at length involved the whole Roman empire in a civil war ; one of the first acts of the latter, on coming to Rome, was to liberate Aristobulus from his confinement, and placing two legions under his command, to send him home to Jerusalem, with instructions to raise Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia in favour of the Cæsarean interest. Some of Pompey's partisans, however, contrived to poison him on his march; and his son Alexander having raised some forces in expectation of his father's arrival, he was arrested by Q. Metellus Scipio, and being carried to Antioch, and condemned by a formal trial, was beheaded by the orders of Pompey.§

The next public transaction in which the Jews bore a conspicuous part was when Cæsar, having imprudently followed Pompey after the battle of Pharsalia, into Egypt, with too small a number of forces, became shut up in Alexandria, and

* Prid. ii. 539.

He was repeatedly misled by pretended deserters from the enemy, who at last conducted him into bogs and morasses, where both he and his army were cut to pieces; for being justly destined to destruction on account of his impious sacrilege at Jerusalem, God cast infatuations into all his counsels.

Prid. ii. 544.

Prid. ii. 543. § Prid. ii. 549.

found himself in danger of being overpowered by the Egyptians in the interest of Ptolemy, Cæsar having formed an illicit connexion with, and, therefore, favouring the interests of, his sister Cleopatra.* Having dispatched Mithridates, one of the sons of Orodes, king of Parthia, to collect and bring him succours from Syria, and the neighbouring provinces, he was furnished by Antipater and Hyrcanus with a large auxiliary force of Jews, the former marching at their head and displaying great prowess throughout the Alexandrian war, besides rendering the additional service of inducing the Jews who inhabited the city of Onion to declare in favour of Cæsar. In return for these services, before Cæsar quitted Egypt, he confirmed the Jews in the enjoyment of all their ancient privileges in Alexandria; and ordered a pillar to be erected, whereon, as well the privileges themselves, as his decree confirming them, were inscribed.§

Nor was this all the advantage which Antipater derived from his Egyptian expedition, for Cæsar having at length left Alexandria in order to resist the inroads of Pharnaces, king of Pontus, in passing through Syria; he was applied to by Antigonus, the surviving son of Aristobulus, who besought him to adopt the interests of his family, urging as a claim that both his father and brother had lost their lives in his cause; making, at the same time, heavy complaints against

* Prid. ii. 557.

+ In a temple, called the Serapeum, at Alexandria, Ptolemy Soter and his successors collected and deposited a famous library. And another in a museum or college in a particular part of the same city, called Bruchium. During this war, the library at Bruchium, with four hundred thousand volumes, was accidentally burned; as was the Serapeum, with its subsequent valuable addition, by the Saracens, (A. D. 642.) upon the ground that the Coran alone was necessary for mankind. Prid. ii. 33. 35. See p. 357. Prid, ii, 562.

§ Prid. ii, 564,