 | XIII. Julian, or Scenes in Judea |  |
13. XIII.
Wakened from dreams in which I was
losing myself, I saw that the reproof of the
camel-driver was needed. We accordingly
returned towards the path we had left, and
moved on in the direction of the city.
The whole prospect to the east was now open
to us, as we crossed a part of the promontory of
which I have spoken. Machærus, the Fortress,
stood before us crowning its inaccessible heights
with tower and wall; the city with which it is
connected by fortified passages, stretching down
the hill as it slopes gently to the north, and
spreading out on each side, beyond its embattlements,
into suburbs which spoke of both
numbers and wealth. The prospect was wild
and magnificent. The precipitous heights with
trees and shrubs depending from the fissures in
which they had fixed their roots, water from
rock to rock till it was lost in unfathomable
gulphs below, all crowned with the stately
buildings of the city in every form of Greek
and Roman art, the Fortress at the southern
limit towering above the whole, and bidding
defiance through its natural defences to the
most proved resources of war, presented in
their union a scene like no other which I had
beheld before in either Europe or Asia. The
beauty seemed to me, the greater also, for the
features of dreary desolation, that were so
many and so appalling in almost every other
direction.
In the city above, and among the clefts
of the rocks on which it stands, could the
eye, pained as it had been by the barrenness
of the desert, and the shores and surface of the
Salt Sea, now rest with an agreeable sense of
relief, upon the dark hues and heavy masses of
this eastern foliage. Over the walls were to be
seen the palm, the poplar, the sycamore, and
the broad terebinth, shooting up and mingling
their forms with those of the columns and pinnacles
of Herod's temples and palaces. All, that
from such distance could be descried, gave signs
of a population not insensible to any of the
provisions by which life is adorned, at least,
if not furnished with additional means of happiness
ere the sun should leave us to pass the gates,
and see more and from a nearer point of view of
what filled us so with admiration.
As we went still farther to the north on our
way towards the gate of the city, we fell in with
many travellers taking the same road, and passed
the scattered dwellings of those who, as gardeners
and husbandmen, supplied the wants of the
citizens. A rich soil began now to show itself,
from which the last products of the harvest were
gathering. When we approached the gates, as
our view was unobstructed to the east, and in
the direction of Herodium, we beheld, as far
as the eye could reach, valleys still smiling in
a rich luxuriance of vegetation, sprinkled with
villages and the insulated dwellings of the
peasantry. Upon passing within the walls, we
found the city of less extent than it had
seemed when seen from the borders of the sea,
but at the same time remarkable for the elegance
and costliness of its structures, especially
its public ones. For Herod the Great having
rebuilt Machærus, he obeyed here, as he did
wherever he undertook any work for the people,
and for which their taxes were to pay, his passion
for magnificence, and accordingly filled it
with palaces, markets, temples, and porticos, as
his humor inclined. The city in these features
and of the inhabitants. These are of many
nations; — Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Arabians,
as well as Jews and Samaritans, being
found here, either as permanent citizens, or as
strangers resorting hither for purposes of traffic.
We soon found our way to the merchant's
house, to whom Onias had commended me, who
gave me a hospitable welcome to the city of
Herod. Upon inquiring after the Tetrarch, and
in what way access was to be obtained, and
whether he were at present in Machærus, I
learned that he was now dwelling in the palace
within the Fortress, that he was easy of approach,
and moreover was with impatience
awaiting my arrival, of which Onias had given
him warning.
When I had been refreshed by the sleep of a
long night, and had satisfied my love of what
is new and strange by examining different parts
of the lower city, I turned toward the Citadel,
within which stands the palace of Herod.
Although there are in the lower city other
palaces, costly and sumptuous, which he also
occupies when his inclinations prompt, — yet
for the most part, as I have learned, he confines
himself to this within the Fortress. This
place is reached only at one point, and by one
and more like a subterranean tunnel than a
bridge, — thrown across a deep gulf, that separates
one part of this mountain from another. On the
smaller part stands the Fortress of Machærus,
entered in the way I have described. On every
other side it is wholly inaccessible; since the
precipices which nature has reared are impossible
of ascent, and superadded to them are the
lofty walls and towers, a hundred cubits and
more in height, rebuilt by the Great Herod,
when they had been demolished by the
Romans in their conflicts with Aristobulus.
Only it must be said, that the structures of
Herod are greatly inferior in both extent and
strength to those that had before been built by
our king Alexander.
When I had passed the huge gateways at
either extremity of the bridge, both of which
were guarded by soldiers, I entered the space
enclosed by the walls of the Citadel, in the
centre of which rose before me the palace of
the Tetrarch, magnificent in its vastness, and
beautiful by reason of the multitude of its polished
columns, its lofty porticos, and the richness
of its various decorations. Before it, and
surrounding it on all sides, were groves of every
fruit tree, and flowering plant brought from all
parts of the world. No tree could, I believe, be
either for its beauty of form, or the flavor of its
fruit, or the odor of its blossoms, that might not
be found here. In all directions also, fountains
of water were throwing up to a great height
their refreshing showers or columns. Large
ranges of other buildings, designed for the
chief officers of the king, for all such as choose
to resort to his court, as well as for the large
garrison which is always maintained here, were
seen in different parts of this large enclosure,
seeming almost, for extent, like those I had left
on the other side of the bridge. The scene
was made to appear full of life also, from the
movement of troops of soldiers on the walls or
the platforms beneath, to the sound of their
warlike instruments, and from the numbers of
those who appeared to be visitors of the king,
and who were walking among the trees, or
reposing by the side of the fountains. A busy
multitude also of slaves were laboring at their
different employments, in preserving in their
order the grounds and the buildings, or performing
the errands committed to them.
I was led to that part of the Palace, where
were situated the private apartments of the
Tetrarch, to the room in which he receives
those with whom he has any affairs to transact
that are to be conducted with privacy. Herod
as I entered. In his appearance he conformed
to what I had looked for. He was not above
the middle stature, nor in other respects possessed
of any of those remarkable qualities
by which the eye is either captivated or
awed at once. His countenance easily relaxes
into a smile; yet in the smile there is
more of a certain sort of derision, or secret
contempt, than of anything like mirthfulness,
or goodwill. His eyes are those of a Jew,
quick in their motion, and suddenly, and without
apparent cause, averted from you as you
meet their glance; his beard and hair of a reddish
hue, not long, but thick and straight. His
garments of the richest stuffs were such as become
a monarch. His voice is for the most
part soft and cheerful; yet often, and unconsciously
as it were, sliding into other
tones harsh and imperious, as if they were
those most natural. He rose and saluted me
with courtesy, using the Latin tongue, which
he speaks with readiness and exactness, but
rather as if he had learned it of masters, than
by much use among those to whom it is a native
speech. He asked after the welfare of
Onias and his household, expressing much regard
for him, and great reliance upon his judgment
and valor. He then spake of my journey
visited these regions.
I answered, that I had never until within a
short period seen any part of the country of my
forefathers; nor until now, the Dead Sea and
the city of Machærus. I spoke of the wonders
of the place, and of the magnificence of his
father to whom it owed its existence.
“Yes,” he said, “Herod was a great man.
But it had been better for Israel, had he been
great as a Jew, rather than as a man and a king.
He was a Roman, or a Greek, not a true son
of Abraham.”
“It was very true,” I said, “and it was the
more a matter of rejoicing, that his son in that
departed from the example of the parent, and
was a lover of his own country and people, and
their customs, yet without a deadly hatred of
others. The people were now in expectation,
that through him their ancient greatness might
be restored.”
“It is my glory,” he replied, “to be, and to
be called a Jew; a lover of the Law, and an
observer of its commands. The people of Galilee
and Peræa know me only as a Jew. If I
am ever King of Israel — I shall be King of
Israel.”
I said, that I could not doubt that he would
be; yet it rested with himself.
“Young man,” said he, “you speak well and
boldly. Onias has commended thee to me.
But for his word, which is sure as the roots of
these hills, I should not talk with thee thus.
But I now speak with thee even as I should
with him.”
I said, that he might do so with safety. I
was now wholly a Jew, and so far desirous of
the independence and liberty of my country, that
I stood ready and waiting to join any enterprise
that promised, through its extent and well concerted
plans, the success that ought to crown
it.
“Thy countenance and thy voice give me
assurance,” said Herod, “of trust-worthiness.
But what set thee about that mad outbreak in
Cæsarea? Thy present speech agrees not with
that. Pilate was too strong for thee. It would
have gone ill with thee, as well as Philip, but
for Onias. I should hardly else have seen thee
here in Machærus.”
The possibility of such mischance seemed to
amuse him. I then related to him minutely
how it fell out there, and how it was by an accident
alone that I had been involved in the
enterprise.
“Ah, now again,” said Herod, “you seem
the same person who first spoke. I see what
swayed thee, friendship and love, not the sacred
was not worthy. The great God of Israel,
the God of Moses and of Abraham, of David
and the Maccabees, is to be worshipped and
served only in honorable undertakings, agreeing
in their greatness with his majesty.”
In saying these words the manner of the
king changed, and I could see in him without
difficulty one not unworthy to reign over Israel.
He rose and continued with energy.
“Unhappy Israel! when shall her sorrows
cease, her oppressions end, her tears be wiped
away from her eyes! All the nations of the
earth have taken their fill in the slaughter of
her children, and carrying them away into captivity.
The king of Babylon, and the king of
Syria, have in turn laid her waste. But as
truly as God did bring about a return from the
captivity, and a deliverance from the great Antiochus,
so surely will he accomplish a greater
redemption still, from a greater thraldom, by
the hand of the least of his servants. Rome
shall yet know that there is a greater than herself;
Judea shall yet know that her Redeemer
liveth; the multitude of the people shall yet
rejoice in her salvation. Unto me, Julian, unto
me is committed this office, and to the least
iota shall its duties be fulfilled.”
“I believe it,” I answered; “with all Israel,
But Israel is divided. How shall she be brought
together, in one faith and one submission?”
“That is the work,” replied the Tetrarch,
“we have to do. Ere one step in action can be
taken, the mind and heart of the people must be
assailed and converted. Already, Julian, has this
been done beyond thy knowledge or belief.
Emissaries, secret, and partners as it were of my
own bosom, have gone out hence into every
corner of the land, learning who were to be
trusted, and to them confiding the purposes we
cherish. The Herodians, ever lovers of our
house, are with us. They will be divided from
Rome whom they now affect, but, as they perceive,
in seeming only; to be more than rewarded
for all they may lose, in a future Rome
here in Judea. In that new Rome, that new
and more glorious kingdom, they shall have
free indulgence in the customs they approve.
The redeemed Jew shall be bound by no chains
of a new slavery. Dost thou understand?”
I did not understand the glance with which
he accompanied those words.
“The Law will then,” I replied, “surely be
supreme; it will be raised to new honor, and
a wider dominion; it will be the everlasting
foundation on which we shall stand.”
“Oh, surely, surely,” he answered; “the
for that we dare all, for that we put in jeopardy
our lives and our children and our wealth.
But — but enough of this for once, young Roman.
Let us break away from a theme so
grave, and look abroad upon the wonders of a
place, as yet so new to thee.”
Thus saying, he directed me to accompany
him to other parts of the palace, and of the
Fortress, and he would display to me its resources.
This I was by no means unwilling to do.
So we left the apartment.
After we had surveyed the splendors of the palace
— the halls, the banqueting rooms, the chambers,
the marble roofs, the carved ceilings of
Cedar of Lebanon, the columns and the porticos,
we turned to the huge walls of this great
prison-house, that by ascending them, and still
more the lofty towers that shoot up from them
at regular intervals, we might obtain a prospect
of the region round about. We soon, though
only after a wearisome ascent, stood on the top of
the topmost tower, whence the eye looked abroad
as far as it is in the power of the eye to penetrate,
— no object coming between it and the utmost
verge of the horizon. We looked in silence for
a space upon the broad land of Judea lying before
us in its luxuriance, yet in its slavery.
“All that we now see,” cried Herod, pointing
be mine — by my arm shall Jehovah get the
victory, upon me is his spirit and his power
poured out, this my soul knoweth, and by me
shall be filled the throne of David. Have faith
in this, Julian, and thou shalt sit on the right
hand of my power when I shall have obtained
the Kingdom.”
I said that the reward of having served Israel
according to my strength was all that I coveted.
“Nevertheless,” said the Tetrarch, “more shall
be added. He that worketh for love shall reap
the best reward, the reward that love alone can
give; but he shall not lose what cometh of
the world's honor. Let us now descend.”
We then descended; but when we had
reached the bottom of the tower, in place of
passing out by the door through which we had
entered, Herod took a contrary direction, and
beckoned to me to follow him, and again to descend
still farther. So we began to descend lower
and lower, until, as it seemed, we must have
reached the roots of the mountain, and the fountains
of the great springs. But at length we
paused, and drawing the bolts of a door we entered
a vast hall perfectly finished after the rules
of art, lighted, but whence I saw not, and filled
with all the various munitions of war. It was
to the arts of modern warfare, all of the most
perfect workmanship, and arranged each kind by
itself, in the most exact order. I was filled with
amazement at such displays of power; but it
was increased when from this apartment I was
led into another, and still another of equal dimensions,
and all in like manner stored with
the implements of death, with harness for men,
and horses, and elephants. I gave words to the
wonder which I could not repress, and asked,
“Why is all this and whence?”
“Thanks to the Providence of the Great
God of Israel,” replied the Tetrarch, “his servant
has been led to lay aside from the uses of
luxury and a vain show, wherewith to heap together
these treasures, richer than stores of
gold, and kept against the day of the Lord,
that great day, when Israel shall arise and shake
off her oppressors. Herod the Great built cities,
and palaces, and strong holds; Herod Antipas
hath filled them with both men and arms. It
is not thou seest without a show of right, Julian,
that he asks thy confidence and allegiance.”
I said, that I confessed his greatness.
We then left the armories, and again ascended,
but only a part of the way, when Herod by
a door opening toward another quarter entered
an apartment lighted by windows pierced through
which were deposited coin and jewels of immense
value. “Here,” said my conductor,
“dost thou behold the secrets of the power that
shall be displayed in Israel. Let but the children
of Israel come up to their tents as of old,
when the Philistine was in the land, and there
shall not be wanting any other of the instruments
of successful warfare. Think not, moreover,
that thou hast now seen the whole of
Herod's power. At Herodium, at Tiberias, at
Sepphoris, are there magazines not less well
supplied than these thou hast seen here. We
wait but for the day and the hour, which the
Lord hath put in his own hand.”
We returned to the courts around the Palace.
I was there shown the huge reservoirs of water
prepared for the subsistence of those who should
be besieged, the granaries for the necessary
supplies of food, and all the various stores in
secret chambers within the body of the outward
walls, of missiles of every kind, as well
as the most combustible substances for the annoyance
and destruction of the assailants. So
that when I had seen all, it seemed to me a
place now wholly impregnable; to be subdued
only, if at all, by years of patient waiting
and watching, until the food within should be
consumed, or pestilence do the work of the
sword.
When we had ended this survey of a thousand
wonders, we reëntered the apartment
whence we had departed, where Herod informed
me that I was no longer the guest of the
merchant, but his own, and that Chuza, the
Steward of the household, would conduct me
to the part of the palace provided for me.
As I sat within the apartment thus made
ready for me, in that part of the palace, where,
the walls of the Fortress sinking with the form
of the ground, the eye could freely wander over
the whole adjacent country and the streets of
the lower city, I could not but marvel at the
strange position in which I found myself, and
the course that seemed now plainly to be marked
out before me. I could from my windows
survey the distant valley of the Jordan, and the
verdant slopes of Moab, together with the
sandy deserts that we had traversed. This
desert, said I to myself, and I say it to thee
also, my mother, as it is the emblem of what
thou hast been so many years, Judea, so these
luxuriant valleys smiling in plenty and in peace
are the type of what thou shalt be. I have
found him who, if God withhold not his favor,
shall accomplish thy deliverance, and save thee
out of the hands of thy enemies.
It is from this watch-tower, my mother, that
so full of interest to a lover of his country.
Herod loads me with favors. But although I
have been here many days, he hath conversed
only of such things as have been common to
all. The palace is thronged with those, strangers
from all countries, as well as his own family
and friends, with whom he must divide his
hours, and it is chiefly at the table in the sumptuous
banqueting room, that I have met him
since my first interview. There he has been
surrounded by his great officers, his ministers,
the chief citizens and lords of Machærus and
the Peræa, as well as strangers, and hath been
in a manner inaccessible. I have observed in
him, in whatever relation I have seen him, only
the bearing that becomes a monarch. The
daughter of Aretas, Fatnah, remains still in Tiberias,
while Joanna, the wife of the Steward,
and chief officer under Herod, performs the
duties that had otherwise fallen to her. Of her
I know nothing but that she is a devout woman,
and in great esteem among our people.
Ziba brings me intelligence, such as he gathers
among the servants and soldiers of the palace,
that Fatnah will no more reign in Machærus.
They speak openly, he says, of the
king's love of Herodias, and that he will yet
bring about what he has proposed to himself;
him and the Arabian king.
Yet of these things I have heard from no
other. No credible reports of them have come
to my ear through any of the guests, nor
through any of the rulers of the synagogues.
I have again conversed with Herod upon
those matters which brought me to Machærus.
He seems like one, who, using caution where
he intends to bestow confidence, has waited to
observe, and know me under the ordinary
circumstances of every day, ere he would
entrust to me further what concerns so immediately
the welfare of himself and kingdom.
It was in the most secret apartments of the
palace that he again required my presence.
“Julian,” said he, “I at first showed thee
my willingness to confide in thee, because thou
camest to me from Onias. For thy uncle's sake I
put my trust in thee, and made to thee revelations
such as have been made to few so young
in the knowledge I have had of them. I have
now seen thee for myself, and from this time,
for thine own sake, nothing is withheld, if it
be that thy purposes still continue as they
were.”
I told him that nothing had happened to
change them. I waited but to know all he
would impart. Whatever should be committed
to me, I would perform.
He then gave me, with minuteness, an account
of all that had hitherto been done in
Judea, of the persons associated with him, and
the forces of every kind that would be at their
command; of the obstacles yet lying in the
way, and the services required of those who
engaged in his affairs.
“Of thee, Julian,” said he, “we desire services
in Jerusalem, Cæsarea, and Rome. Moneys
are to be raised. Notwithstanding what thou
hast seen, it is but as a tithe of what the all-devouring
jaws of war will consume. The
faithful at Rome, where they are powerful both
for numbers and their great wealth, are to be
approached by a skilful messenger, that they
may be wrought upon to contribute of their
riches, although they should refuse to serve in
our armies. And in truth we can spare them
from our ranks, so they will but impart freely of
that which is better. Whom so well could we
depute upon this great errand as thyself? Moreover
communications by word of mouth are yet
to be had with Sejanus, with whom we are
bound in league. In this thou canst serve us.
At what time Sejanus rises in Rome, and takes
the crown of Tiberius, Herod rises in Judea
and sits upon the throne of Israel. But what
then, Julian? Is Judea to be then bound to
Sejanus as now to Tiberius? So thinks Sejanus;
the armies of Tiberius are here defeated as in
Italy and the West, the East shall still through me
be his. But so will not the league be kept. Judea
once her own, the armies of Rome and of
apostate Jews once defeated, Israel then reigns
in her own right, her new kingdom is come,
and it shall never pass away. Who sees not,
that can see at all, how all things conspire together
to this great consummation? Does Herod
serve but as the tool of the Roman? Let the
Roman look to it — let him look to it. He shall
see betimes, who serves as tool of the other.”
The quick twinkling eye of the Tetrarch
expressed inward satisfaction, and he smiled as
the picture he drew rose before him. Although
as in every bosom, there was in mine a loathing
of deceit, yet who was to be deceived?
and what and to whom was to be the profiting?
It was but to be a deceiving of the great deceiver
himself, and that to win life and liberty,
a home and a kingdom for the Israelite, long a
wanderer, or a slave on his own soil. The
scheme, as I gazed upon it, grew into honor and
beauty, as it was in its craft undoubtedly auspicious
of success.
I, therefore, as Herod ceased, commended
what he had said, and engaged on my part to
further his plans, as he should desire, in Rome,
Jerusalem, or Cæsarea.
“There lieth now in our way then,” continued
the Tetrarch, “but one obstacle.”
He paused.
I asked, “and what is that?”
“John the Baptist,” he answered, with bitterness;
— “that wild man of the woods.”
“I see in him no harm,” I answered. “He
seems, indeed, not only to be harmless, but
even a just man.”
“That is it — that is it,” replied the Tetrarch;
“the people honor him, and he cannot
therefore be touched so well. But he distracts
their minds, and draws them away from where
they are by us to be directed, and kept. It is
reported, he even setteth up for Christ. At
least the people are full of wonderings and
doubts, and many believe he will so prove himself,
in the face of all present appearances to the
contrary.”
But I replied, “He has strictly denied that he
is Christ, and claims only to be a prophet. Besides,
the people seeing none of the marks of
the Christ in his manner of life or acts, will
soon forsake him.”
“It seemeth not so as yet, and it is now since
the Tabernacles that he hath led about the people,
preaching sedition. He must be silenced.”
“Let him be seized by thy power,” I replied,
“and I fear the issue would be disastrous rather
against thee the affections of multitudes who
now throng him and believe in him. Let him
alone, and though he may instruct or amuse
the people, of what injury to us can be his baptisms
of water in the Jordan? It is but so
much water gathered up and poured out again.”
“That may be,” replied the king. “But
there is more in John than his baptisms, which,
as thou sayest, are but so much water of the
Jordan caught up and poured into the stream
again. He preacheth — and preacheth sedition
among my people. He hath intermeddled with
my affairs. Were it not for the people, his idiot,
wonder-loving worshippers, his head had ere
this graced our palace gates.”
I knew well that in what he said Herod now
referred to Herodias and to John's accusations
on that account. It was plain that the rumors
were well founded, else why the anger of the
Tetrarch and his language? In what I myself
condemned I could not be silent, and though I
more than doubted the issue, I resolved to do
what in me lay to draw the king away from a
purpose that, as I firmly believed, would blast
all the hopes he was cherishing, and so many
with him.
“And doth not John the Baptist counsel well,
O King? If he intermeddleth in thy affairs, it
without guilt in the eye of the Law —
without ruin to thy cause.”
“Thou art over-bold, young man,” said
Herod starting, his countenance changing
with passion; “It was not for this I placed
my confidence in thee. Beware the chafed
lion.”
“If I see thee, Herod, about to fall from a
precipice, am I in fault to hold thee back? I say
again — and I fear thee not — to put away thy
wife for Herodias is folly, and guilt, and ruin.
Have I not just pledged myself to thy cause?
Am I not then invested with some rights?
Shall I stand idly by and see thee destroy not
only thyself, but me, my friends, and my country's
hope?”
“Say on, young man, say on,” said the Tetrarch,
“thou art bold, but I can honor courage.”
“I have no more to say,” I answered, “than
to beseech the king, as he loves his cause and
his country, to refrain from that to which he
hath put his hand.”
“But,” said Herod, suddenly calm again, “I
am bound; it cannot be; my word is plighted.”
“Bind thyself to the right, O King, though
in so doing thou shouldst break thy word.
God. Why shouldst thou covet this divorce?
Is not thy Fatnah the daughter of a king?”
“She is an Arabian. The wife of the King
of Israel should be a Jewess.”
“A Jewess, rightly considered, is one who
feareth God and worketh his will; not who was
born of Jewish parents. Is she not virtuous
and fair?”
“Aye, and weak. Herodias is the great
Herod in female form. With her — and I were
doubly armed.”
“As we hear, Fatnah is full of kindly virtues
— a mother to her people.”
“But she is barren.”
“Yet were Herodias fruitful as the vines of
Judea, the sin would be but the more — she is
thy brother's wife!”
The face of Herod again swelled with passion
— as if he could bear no more. But he
suppressed it.
“Young Roman, he is no brother of mine —
I swear it.”
“Is not Philip of Jerusalem thy father's son?
son of the Great Herod?”
“But yet no brother of mine — for else were
half the men of Jerusalem, nay of Judea, methinks,
my brothers. I can choose no where
without incest. This is no kindred in the sight
of God, or man.”
“It stands so,” I answered, “in the Law, —
and in the Jewish courts.”
“In the letter of the law, it may be,” he
answered, “but not in its spirit; and for the
Jewish courts, they are beds of rottenness, and
schools but of fraud and cunning. So too, if as
thou wilt doubtless further urge, Herodias be
the daughter of Aristobulus and so my brother's
daughter, I reply again, I own him not.
He was no brother of mine. Archelaus was
indeed my brother — Olympias is indeed my
sister, children of Malthace as well as of Herod
— but beyond them I know no brother, no
sister, or else wert thou perhaps a brother, and
Joanna, Chuza's wife, a sister.”
“Think not, O King,” I replied, “to rest in
reasons such as these. They are but gilded
toys that amuse thy mind awhile, and perhaps
may dazzle the minds of others for a time, but
they are of no solid worth; and the eye and the
mind will soon see them as they are. The
people of our land, if in many things they are
corrupt, if they honor not the Law of Moses,
as they ought, yet they revere, in some sort,
the great law of justice written by the finger
of God on the heart, before which the high
and the low are alike arraigned, and will be
judged in the great day, — and so it is not,
O King, the voice of John alone that condemns
the voice of God. They behold thee about to commit
injustice and folly in Israel, and their tongues
rebuke thee; and those the more who are building
on thee their hope of redemption. Can they
think that he who abuses a lesser power shall
safely be entrusted with a greater? Shall not
righteousness become the anointed of the Lord?
Shall any other rule in His name? Thou trustest,
Herod, even that thou shalt be hailed the
Christ of God! and thou knowest that many
now do hold thee so. But shall that faith
abide? For in his Messiah the Jew looks not
merely for the son of David, but the Son of
God; not only for the King, but the Priest and
Prophet also; for the sovereign, but for the rereformer,
not less, of his fallen country. Thou
art tearing that faith violently out of the hearts
of those in whom it was taking root. I, even
I, have deemed that upon thee God was now
about to lay his honor; that in thee the new
kingdom should take its beginning; that though
thou be not indeed the expected Messiah, thou
art his forerunner, and he by whom the way is
to be prepared for the establishment of the
reign that is to be eternal. Destroy not the
hopes thus raised in so many hearts, for whose
fulfilment there has been so long tarrying.
Leave us our faith. Abandon not those who
ready and waiting at thy chariot wheels to bear
thee on to victory. Send us not away empty
and despairing.”
While I said these and many other things,
not knowing what might befall, the countenance
of the king waxed pale and red by turns,
and his frame trembled. When I had ceased,
he said with a voice scarce articulate through
the raging of inward passion,
“I swear, by the soul of my father, young
Jew, that I have now a mind to see thee hurled
from the topmost tower of Machærus a thousand
fathoms into the gulphs below. Am I a
king to be thus bearded by a boy? Thou
standest there immovable and undaunted, as
though thou wert the king, and I an arrainged
malefactor! Who art thou? Mayhap thou art the
Christ? or else Elias?”
So greatly was Herod transported by his passion,
and withal a sort of terror, that in these
last words he seemed as much in earnest, as in
derision. He hastily walked back and forth
as if wavering in his mind — and resolving
with difficulty.
At length he paused before me again, his
countenance now calmer, but with a language
spread over it, which I could not read.
“Young Jew, I am willing to believe thou
hast spoke the truth.”
“I am sure,” I answered with force, “of
nothing so much.”
“Wouldst thou repeat it?” cried the Tetrarch
with returning passion.
“If it would help thee, or Judea, I would
repeat it an hundred times.”
“Thou art like the face of the Dead Sea —
no raging moves thee. But of this no more.
Listen. I am sure now that thou art honest and
true. There lives not the man who else had
dared to thrust himself as thou hast done into the
lion's den. I can now trust thee for a friend of
Israel, whom no fear of peril or death shall turn
aside from the true path that leads to her honor.
There is no place of glory, or of power to
which thou mayest not aspire. I have for thee
the witness of Onias and thine own. But one
thing I have now found, that thou hast eyes
before and behind, and canst penetrate the dark.
Let there be then no deceit betwixt me and
thee. Touching the wife of Philip of Jerusalem,
I believe thou hast spoke in part the
truth. I see the weight of thy reasons, and I
shall honor and keep the law — as thou construest
the law — whilst the occasion demands.
Till the battle is gained there shall be no Jew
so observant of the law as I. The liberty of
Israel shall not suffer harm through me. My
loves and my hates shall alike submit themselves
myself a Jew, as devout as any Pharisee in Jerusalem.
What thinkest thou?”
I said, that in yielding so much he did well,
and I doubted not that he would in the end
fully keep the Law.
“Think no such thing, young man,” replied
the king. “Let there be no deceit, I say, between
me and thee. Give not up thy own judgment;
thy last words show thee halting. Mayhap
thou still conceivest hopes of me as of the
anointed of God?”
“Nay, not so far as that. They are vanished.”
“Thou wast then a fool with the rest in
Israel?”
“I was in doubt. I was ignorant. But I
doubt no longer. Now I know.”
“And yet, Jew, why now so confident on
the other side? Who shall fathom the purposes
of the most high God? of him who holds the
universe in the hollow of his hands, who sees
of all enterprises the end from the beginning,
and can accomplish the mightiest plans by the
humblest and the basest instruments? Verily
if thou art sure, Son of Alexander, that I am
not the Christ, thou art surer than I. The people
think me so. They call on me to arise,
and Appear! Secret messengers arrive from
Son of God! the long looked for Messiah!
I have not been to them, they have come
to me. What is the spirit that moves them?
May it not be the spirit of Jehovah? Who
can say? When such things have been, and
I have turned back into myself and mused,
have thought of my present power, and the
sure grasp I now may lay on the Roman greatness
here in Israel, crushing it as a sea-bird's
egg, and the future has thus risen before me, it
hath truly seemed as if God were in very deed
working with me. Visions have come and
gone, there have been inward promptings and
impulses, and influxes of celestial light, that
have been as the voice of God, calling on me to
arise, and make haste, and tarry not, for the
great redemption was drawn nigh, and by my
hand was it to be wrought out. Who can say
more than this? And who shall dare to say
that I am not the Redeemer of Israel?”
Herod now seemed another being. His
voice became plaintive and reverent, his countenance
opened with expressions of generosity
and faith. He seemed like one who was no
trifler or cajoler, but a true believer in his own
words; as if he were in no respect the same
person who had said what had gone before.
But in a moment longer, when the sudden
his more proper self, and I beheld only the
Tetrarch of Galilee, powerful, shrewd, and
dangerous.
Suddenly turning to me he then added,
“Julian, from this day we are friends. My
heart is known to thee, and thine to me. To
others, we are, as we may be. Let us go on
together in peace in the great work set for us
to do. Let all else be forgot but the one common
aim and end, the overthrow of Rome and
the glory of Israel. Leave me to do with the
people as I may. What fancies soever concerning
me they may have, let them have them
— and they may be more than fancies. God
knoweth — not man.”
I said, that I was bound to him and would
serve him. There was a darkness which at
present I could not penetrate; but I should
wait for light to fall upon it from the great
source of light.
We then conversed of the present condition
of affairs in the Peræa, in Galilee, and Judea;
of the measures next to be pursued, and of
those fittest to undertake them.
While we thus conversed, it was told to
Herod, that some one required to see him.
Chuza then entered, saying that Onias had
arrived, and desired to see both him and Julian
of Rome.
“He is welcome,” cried the King; “let him
approach.”
Onias in a few moments more was with us.
“Welcome, Prince of the Jordan,” cried
Herod, as the noble form of Onias appeared.
“Welcome to Machærus. Let it not be an
offence if I say, that thy kinsman here hath for
a season blotted thee out of our thoughts.”
“I am happy,” replied Onias, “whenever a
worthier is found for one less so.”
“Not a worthier, Onias,” rejoined the King,
“only a newer. The new has an early worth,
that for a season outshines all other; but it is
not trusted, nor does it last, as the old. Thou,
Onias, art old wine from the vats of Herod in
Cæsarea. Thy kinsman, Julian, but the squeezings,
rich and rare, of the last vintage. This
minds me — how went the vintage with thee
on the Jordan, Onias?”
“The presses could scarce do the work,” he
replied, “the vines made for them. They
bent even to breaking with their heavy burdens.”
“And the vine of vines,” continued the
King, “that clings round thee — thy fair
daughter, Judith, how fares the damsel?”
“She is well,” briefly answered Onias.
“But favors not the royal cause,” rejoined
the King.”
“Only as of old.”
“Ah, she is fond of dreams like youth,”
said Herod; “I warrant John Baptist takes her
fancy. — But what, Onias, of John? where
resorts he now?”
“He is now,” replied Onias, “in the wilderness
of Jordan, nigh unto Bethabara; where
many, as I learn, are still gathered to his Baptism.
I passed on my way through the village,
but he with his followers was withdrawn into
the deep valleys among the neighboring hills.”
So, on these and the like themes we for a
while conversed.
Wholly unexpected as was the appearance of
Onias, I was yet rejoiced to see him. I felt
that I needed some one, to whom to turn for
counsel in the position in which I found myself,
and thy brother, although himself almost
a stranger, seemed now and here where I stood
alone, like a parent. When our first interview
with Herod was over, and he had dismissed us
until the hour of supper, it was with a sense of
relief not easy to imagine, that I imparted to
him such of my difficulties and doubts, as without
treachery to the Tetrarch I was still at
liberty to speak of. I was happy in obtaining
his approval in what I had done and in what I
had promised. He himself I found more than
ever elated with the prospect that was now
His fervent and holy zeal rekindled what of
mine had begun to grow cold; so that after
even a brief communion with him I also
was impatient that our affairs should be brought
to a speedy issue.
Herod having constrained us, we have passed
many days within his palace and city; but they
have been days of busy care in the thing which
chiefly concerns us. Messengers have arrived,
and letters from those in the confidence of the
Tetrarch, and have been despatched in return,
whose object is in great part to infuse every
where that leaven, which shall work in the
hearts of those where it hath been deposited,
and from them still spread, till it shall raise all
to one pitch of devotion to God, and the birth
and growth of his kingdom.
In the leisure that has here fallen to my share,
I have traversed the shores of the Dead Sea
in the immediate neighborhood of Machærus,
and surveyed on all sides the wonderful position
of this impregnable Fortress. Nature herself
has made it almost perfect in its security, and
art has more than added what was left incomplete.
Nature too has supplied what in a region
so abounding in rock and sand, she generally
denies, copious fountains of water springing up
it for the abode of those whom she greatly favored,
there wells up not only water, cold and
pure as the springs of Lebanon, but that
which is both hot and medicinal also. Boiling
springs shoot up in many places, and pour over
the rocks into basins below, sometimes natural
and sometimes wrought by art, their healing
waters; to which there resort constantly not
only from Machærus, but from Herodium and
the country round about, multitudes of the
diseased to try their virtues. Everywhere
among these deep and rocky chasms are there
signs of heat, in the waters which thus rise to
the surface as if driven upward by subterranean
forces, and in the smoke which oozes everywhere
from out the soil — ascending, we may believe,
from the flaming caverns where the ancient
cities of Idolatry lie engulphed, whose
inhabitants, while some are drowned in floods
of water, others are buried in lakes of eternal
fire, ever burning, yet ever unconsumed.
Many being now at Machærus from all parts
of Judea, who are secretly joined with Herod
in his plans, he has given a banquet, to which
those were invited only, to whom he has declared
himself more fully. This feast was had
not in the banqueting room of which I have already
the palace, within the Fortress, separated by
other buildings and lofty walls from the sight
and hearing of all save those who are specially
permitted to approach.
This room is vast, and of those dark Egyptian
forms, which, notwithstanding their beauty,
do also carry with them a sort of terror,
with which they fail not to impress the
mind of the beholder. So is it seen in the
Temple of Isis, not far from the Forum of Augustus,
both in its outward but especially in the
gloomy shapes of its interior decorations. Here
the dark hue of the stone of which the columns
were wrought could scarce be changed to a
cheerful brightness, though the glare of innumerable
lamps was cast upon them. The
flames of the lamps themselves, the only source
of what was bright, poured forth from the
hissing jaws of fiery serpents; or else in
wreaths played around the sad faces of the
melancholy Sphinx. From the table indeed,
while the eye rested upon it, there shot up a
splendor, which could hardly be borne, from the
polished surface of innumerable vessels of silver
and gold, from pitchers of glass charged
to the brim with wines of every hue, which
gave back the light again in dazzling brilliance
as from crystal itself, and from the
forms, woven of gold or silver thread, and thickset
with all the Jewelry of the Orient. Herod
himself seemed hardly to belong to the same
race with those around him, so transformed did
he seem by reason of the imperial magnificence
of the shining tissues in which he was arrayed,
and the glittering crown that adorned his head.
Not less too did he seem to differ from others
by the greatness of his bearing, which was
more than that of a man or a king, and by
which those who were present confessed themselves
awed, or oppressed. There was no rude
clamor or noisy mirth, as is customary when
men assemble to enjoy the hour. The luxuries
came and went untasted, or eaten sparingly.
They who conversed spoke in tones scarce
audible, not in those of grief, but of deepest
earnestness. We were as a company of persons
too grave from the greatness of the thoughts
that were in each heart, to be seduced to any
wantonness by the enticements of the inviting
board. For each who sat at its side was a Jew
— who came there burdened with the care of
his country's deliverance, and knowing that
now the final pledge was to be given and received
of loyal devotion to her cause, and to
him to whom as chief they had consented to
entrust its conduct. The signs of deep thought
my countrymen — whom but for the mockery,
as it seemed, of their brilliant garments, and
the surrounding glare, one might have taken
for a secret assembly of assassins. The music
too, that poured in upon us its harmonies,
seemed in its wailing notes, or sepulchral tones
to be a strange contradiction to the purpose for
which we were gathered together, and as if
prophesying against us. It was not easy to
shake one's spirit free from the power which
accidents were thus disposed to exercise over it.
Doubts and apprehensions arose out of mere
shadows, at which it was easier to force a smile,
than to dismiss them from the mind.
The feast, I need not say, was therefore
brief. That, the design of which was to give
pleasure alone, was the only thing that gave
discomfort, or pain. For when the attending
servants of the banquet were withdrawn, and
the sound of the music was hushed, and each one
gave utterance to the real feelings that were
within, then indeed a change came over the
countenances of those who sat there. Alone,
and each was gloomy and despondent; but
when we were one, by each sharing the sentiments
of the other, all were alike cheerful and
confiding. Many, obtaining the ear of the
whole assembly, did not fail to increase the ardor
they urged for the enterprise at the present moment,
and against an increased delay. And
what chance of failure would there be, they
urged, with a chief, whose providence had
supplied, while others had slept, arms and
harness for every Israelite who would use them,
and by his league with the aspiring Sejanus,
had secured the aid of Rome herself in the
work of her own destruction!
But the passions of all were inflamed to the
highest pitch, as Herod himself, when he had
listened in silence to what had been said by
others, arose and defended the cause in which
he had engaged, showed from the Scriptures the
fitness of the time for the deliverance for which
all were looking, related the steps which by
him alone and without concert had been taken,
and laid open before all an exact enumeration
of the stores of every kind of armament he
had heaped together in cities and fortresses,
which he named, described the numbers of
those — principal Jews in every part of Palestine
— who were already bound to him, and
the measures to be adopted for securing the aid
of the Israelites of Rome, and those dwelling
in the other cities of Asia and Europe. What
Jew was there, he asked, whether of Judea,
Galilee, or Peræa, or even Samaria, who, however
not add of his substance to the treasury of the
Lord; would not clamor to be permitted to put
forth his strength to rescue Jerusalem, the city
of the Great King, from the pollution of the
Gentile. Many times had Jerusalem suffered
from the oppressor; many times had Israel
been beneath the feet of the conqueror; but
never had her captivity been such as now.
For now there were those even, who are pleased
with their slavery, who cherish this union,
though of dependence, with the mistress of the
earth; who are losing the character of the
Jew in that of the Roman; who, like our ancestors
of old, are joining themselves to idols.
Who knows not that our very taxes are gathered
by Jewish hands to be paid into the Gentile's
treasury? In Babylon we mixed not with the
blood of the conqueror, nor joined his rites, nor
followed his customs, nor ever gloried in our
shame. In Egypt we remained a people, distinct
and peculiar, and as we entered it so we
departed from it, the likeness of the twelve
Patriarchs seen in all the thousands of their
descendants. Now we are falling each day
more and more into the mass of all-engulphing
Rome; where, like so many other nations,
we too shall be swallowed up and lost.
What captivity was ever to be compared with
— to whom so much as Herod the Great —
that this apostacy was to be traced for its beginning?
What though he himself had joined
hand in hand with the great iniquity, what
though the sect among the people that bore his
name was a Roman party, these were but the
more urgent reasons for immediate action, —
that before it was too late, and the spirit of the
nation utterly dead, their remaining strength
might be put forth for its salvation. The time
was now come, he was assured as from God
himself, the hour was now arrived, he knew it
by the spirit of prophecy, that the hopes of this
great people were to be fulfilled. The weeks
of Daniel the Prophet were numbered; the sceptre
had departed from Israel, — Rome wields it—
and the lawgiver from between her feet, and the
day when Shiloh should appear had dawned. It
is the event that shall seal the prophecy, the deed
done that shall show the Prophet. Our care
is to redeem Israel. That being done, our
sight will be clear to know her King in her Redeemer,
and greet Him as rightful head of a kingdom,
who hath saved it; a kingdom of which
there shall be no end, whose boundaries shall
be those of the whole world.
As Herod ceased, and even before he ceased,
loud cries of exultation broke from those who,
him. “Herod,” said some, “is the Christ
we need.” “All things show Herod to be the
true Messiah,” said others; “many times have
we been deceived, but now we are sure.” “Israel
redeemed from captivity will show us
who is the Christ.” “Do not all proofs and
signs point to Herod?” “If we may not believe
in him, where shall we look? for the time
is now come, and will soon be past.” “The
people make their own Messiah; let them join
themselves heartily to Herod, and by him they
will save themselves.” These and a thousand
exclamations like them, in a confused murmur,
filled the air.
When it had subsided, and others, and among
them Onias, had declared their faith and their
purposes, and by their ardor had helped still
more to stir the passions and kindle the zeal of
all who were present, and by their arguments
had added to the confidence they were disposed
to place in Herod, — the company separated.
But many times have the same persons again
assembled, that they might make yet more perfect
the schemes they have taken in hand, and
learn, by information derived from those who
dwell in different and distant parts of the land, the
true state of the Jewish mind in those regions.
When all had thus been done, in which it was
our leave of Herod, and departed from Machæ
rus.
Such, my mother, have been my fortunes at
Machærus, and thus do I stand towards Herod.
In no long time, if I take upon myself the
charge Herod would impose, will it be my
office to visit Rome. Farewell.
When I look back over the long period of
time that has intervened, to the scenes witnessed
by me at Machærus, and to my intercourse with
the Tetrarch, I can feel no surprise, that I gave
myself to the extent I did, into his hands. As
I recall the image of Herod, there was very
much in his countenance, his demeanor, his
form, his voice, the manner of his speech to
affect the mind of any one coming within the
charmed circle of his influence, especially of a
young man who is easily wrought upon by
whatever partakes of the mysterious. That
was the secret of Herod's power. It was difficult,
I should rather say impossible, to penetrate
him. He ever assumed a new face, and
one day appeared a different person, both in the
aspect of his form and the state of his mind
and the features of his character, from what he
was another; so that when it seemed as if some
comprehending him, it was found, to-morrow,
to have led to no results that possessed any
value. And in respect of that strange fascination,
corresponding to what is ascribed to the
more formidable serpents, by which he drew
those whom he desired into his control, and
compelled them to do his will against their own,
and yet freely, it can only be said, that no
other person of whom I have ever heard, either
through history or otherwise, or have ever
known, can be compared with him. There was
by no means the greatness of soul in him, which,
notwithstanding his atrocities, must be allowed
to have distinguished his father. But there
was often the semblance of it, which it was
not easy to distinguish from the reality.
Subtlety and a mind fertile in expedients were
qualities that particularly marked him. But
above all others, that of which I have already
spoken, — the serpent power was eminently
his. I, in my youth, knew not what it was
that held me. I only knew that there was an
attraction in the man, which, however in some
things and for some reasons I would willingly
resist it, ever obtained the mastery and prevailed.
| XIII. Julian, or Scenes in Judea | |