From the Taking of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes to the Death of Herod the Great - Flavius Josephus

which I showed him, he made use of that abundance I had given him against
myself; for I seemed to him to live too long, and he was very uneasy at the
old age I was arrived at; nor could he stay any longer, but would be a king by
parricide. And justly I am served by him for bringing him back out of the
country to court, when he was of no esteem before, and for thrusting out
those sons of mine that were born of the queen, and for making him a
successor to my dominions. I confess to thee, O Varus, the great folly I was
guilty for I provoked those sons of mine to act against me, and cut off their
just expectations for the sake of Antipater; and indeed what kindness did I do
them; that could equal what I have done to Antipater? to I have, in a manner,
yielded up my royal while I am alive, and whom I have openly named for the
successor to my dominions in my testament, and given him a yearly revenue
of his own of fifty talents, and supplied him with money to an extravagant
degree out of my own revenue; and' when he was about to sail to Rome, I
gave him three talents, and recommended him, and him alone of all my
children, to Caesar, as his father's deliverer. Now what crimes were those
other sons of mine guilty of like these of Antipater? and what evidence was
there brought against them so strong as there is to demonstrate this son to
have plotted against me? Yet does this parricide presume to speak for
himself, and hopes to obscure the truth by his cunning tricks. Thou, O Varus,
must guard thyself against him; for I know the wild beast, and I foresee how
plausibly he will talk, and his counterfeit lamentation. This was he who
exhorted me to have a care of Alexander when he was alive, and not to
intrust my body with all men! This was he who came to my very bed, and
looked about lest any one should lay snares for me! This was he who took
care of my sleep, and secured me from fear of danger, who comforted me
under the trouble I was in upon the slaughter of my sons, and looked to see
what affection my surviving brethren bore me! This was my protector, and
the guardian of my body! And when I call to mind, O Varus, his craftiness
upon every occasion, and his art of dissembling, I can hardly believe that I
am still alive, and I wonder how I have escaped such a deep plotter of
mischief. However, since some fate or other makes my house desolate, and
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