From the Taking of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes to the Death of Herod the Great - Flavius Josephus
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Antioch in Syria, did not he pave it with polished marble, though it were<br />
twenty furlongs long? and this when it was shunned <strong>by</strong> all men before,<br />
because it was full <strong>of</strong> dirt and filthiness, when he besides adorned <strong>the</strong> same<br />
place with a cloister <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same length.<br />
12. It is true, a man may say, <strong>the</strong>se were favors peculiar <strong>to</strong> those<br />
particular places on which he bes<strong>to</strong>wed his benefits; but <strong>the</strong>n what favors he<br />
bes<strong>to</strong>wed on <strong>the</strong> Eleans was a donation not only in common <strong>to</strong> all Greece,<br />
but <strong>to</strong> all <strong>the</strong> habitable earth, as far as <strong>the</strong> glory <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Olympic games<br />
reached. For when he perceived that <strong>the</strong>y were come <strong>to</strong> nothing, for want <strong>of</strong><br />
money, and that <strong>the</strong> only remains <strong>of</strong> ancient Greece were in a manner gone,<br />
he not only became one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> combatants in that return <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fifth-year<br />
games, which in his sailing <strong>to</strong> Rome he happened <strong>to</strong> be present at, but he<br />
settled upon <strong>the</strong>m revenues <strong>of</strong> money for perpetuity, insomuch that his<br />
memorial as a combatant <strong>the</strong>re can never fail. It would be an infinite task if I<br />
should go over his payments <strong>of</strong> people's debts, or tributes, for <strong>the</strong>m, as he<br />
eased <strong>the</strong> people <strong>of</strong> Phasaelis, <strong>of</strong> Batanea, and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> small cities about<br />
Cilicia, <strong>of</strong> those annual pensions <strong>the</strong>y before paid. However, <strong>the</strong> fear he was<br />
in much disturbed <strong>the</strong> greatness <strong>of</strong> his soul, lest he should be exposed <strong>to</strong><br />
envy, or seem <strong>to</strong> hunt after greater filings than he ought, while he bes<strong>to</strong>wed<br />
more liberal gifts upon <strong>the</strong>se cities than did <strong>the</strong>ir owners <strong>the</strong>mselves.<br />
13. Now <strong>Herod</strong> had a body suited <strong>to</strong> his soul, and was ever a most<br />
excellent hunter, where he generally had good success, <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> means <strong>of</strong> his<br />
great skill in riding horses; for in one day he caught forty wild beasts: (5)<br />
that country breeds also bears, and <strong>the</strong> greatest part <strong>of</strong> it is replenished with<br />
stags and wild asses. He was also such a warrior as could not be withs<strong>to</strong>od:<br />
many men, <strong>the</strong>refore, <strong>the</strong>re are who have s<strong>to</strong>od amazed at his readiness in his<br />
exercises, when <strong>the</strong>y saw him throw <strong>the</strong> javelin directly forward, and shoot<br />
<strong>the</strong> arrow upon <strong>the</strong> mark. And <strong>the</strong>n, besides <strong>the</strong>se performances <strong>of</strong> his<br />
depending on his own strength <strong>of</strong> mind and body, fortune was also very<br />
favorable <strong>to</strong> him; for he seldom failed <strong>of</strong> success in his wars; and when he<br />
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