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

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perpetually raises up those that are dearest <strong>to</strong> me against me, I will, with<br />

tears, lament my hard fortune, and privately groan under my lonesome<br />

condition; yet am I resolved that no one who thirsts after my blood shall<br />

escape punishment, although <strong>the</strong> evidence should extend itself <strong>to</strong> all my<br />

sons."<br />

3. Upon <strong>Herod</strong>'s saying this, he was interrupted <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> confusion he was<br />

in; but ordered Nicolaus, one <strong>of</strong> his friends, <strong>to</strong> produce <strong>the</strong> evidence against<br />

Antipater. But in <strong>the</strong> mean time Antipater lifted up his head, (for he lay on<br />

<strong>the</strong> ground before his fa<strong>the</strong>r's feet,) and cried out aloud, "Thou, O fa<strong>the</strong>r, hast<br />

made my apology for me; for how can I be a parricide, whom thou thyself<br />

confessest <strong>to</strong> have always had for thy guardian? Thou callest my filial<br />

affection prodigious lies and hypocrisy! how <strong>the</strong>n could it be that I, who was<br />

so subtle in o<strong>the</strong>r matters, should here be so mad as not <strong>to</strong> understand that it<br />

was not easy that he who committed so horrid a crime should be concealed<br />

from men, but impossible that he should be concealed from <strong>the</strong> Judge <strong>of</strong><br />

heaven, who sees all things, and is present every where? or did not I know<br />

what end my brethren came <strong>to</strong>, on whom God inflicted so great a punishment<br />

for <strong>the</strong>ir evil designs against <strong>the</strong>e? And indeed what was <strong>the</strong>re that could<br />

possibly provoke me against <strong>the</strong>e? Could <strong>the</strong> hope <strong>of</strong> being king do it? I was<br />

a king already. Could I suspect hatred from <strong>the</strong>e? No. Was not I beloved <strong>by</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong>e? And what o<strong>the</strong>r fear could I have? Nay, <strong>by</strong> preserving <strong>the</strong>e safe, I was<br />

a terror <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs. Did I want money? No; for who was able <strong>to</strong> expend so<br />

much as myself? Indeed, fa<strong>the</strong>r, had I been <strong>the</strong> most execrable <strong>of</strong> all<br />

mankind, and had I had <strong>the</strong> soul <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most cruel wild beast, must I not have<br />

been overcome with <strong>the</strong> benefits thou hadst bes<strong>to</strong>wed upon me? whom, as<br />

thou thyself sayest, thou broughtest [in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> palace]; whom thou didst prefer<br />

before so many <strong>of</strong> thy sons; whom thou madest a king in thine own lifetime,<br />

and, <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> vast magnitude <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r advantages thou bes<strong>to</strong>wedst on me,<br />

thou madest me an object <strong>of</strong> envy. O miserable man! that thou shouldst<br />

undergo this bitter absence, and <strong>the</strong>re<strong>by</strong> afford a great opportunity for envy<br />

<strong>to</strong> arise against <strong>the</strong>e, and a long space for such as were laying designs against<br />

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