ith which he
expressed himself at their expense could not fail to bring him into
trouble. In Judea, John does not appear to have been disturbed by
Pilate; but in Perea, beyond the Jordan, he came into the territory of
Antipas. This tyrant was uneasy at the political leaven which was so
little concealed by John in his preaching. The great assemblages of
men gathered around the Baptist, by religious and patriotic
enthusiasm, gave rise to suspicion.[2] An entirely personal grievance
was also added to these motives of state, and rendered the death of
the austere censor inevitable.

[Footnote 1: Luke iii. 19.]

[Footnote 2: Jos., _Ant._, XVIII. v. 2.]

One of the most strongly marked characters of this tragical family of
the Herods was Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great. Violent,
ambitious, and passionate, she detested Judaism, and despised its
laws.[1] She had been married, probably against her will, to her uncle
Herod, son of Mariamne,[2] whom Herod the Great had disinherited,[3]
and who never played any public part. The inferior position of her
husband, in respect to the other persons of the family, gave her no
peace; she determined to be sovereign at whatever cost.[4] Antipas was
the instrument of whom she made use. This feeble man having become
desperately enamored of her, promised to marry her, and to repudiate
his first wife, daughter of Hareth, king of Petra, and emir of the
neighboring tribes of Perea. The Arabian princess, receiving a hint of
this design, resolved to fly. Concealing her intention, she pretended
that she wished to make a journey to Machero, in her father's
territory, and caused herself to be conducted thither by the officers
of Antipas.[5]

[Footnote 1: Jos., _Ant._, XVIII. v. 4.]

[Footnote 2: Matthew (chap. xiv. 3, in the Greek text) and Mark (chap.
vi. 17) have it that this was Philip; but this is certainly an
inadvertency (see Jos., _Ant._, XVIII. v. 1, 4). The wife of Philip
was Salome, daughter of Herodias.]

[Footnote 3: Jos., _Ant._, XVIII. iv. 2.]

[Footnote 4: Ibid., XVIII. vii. 1, 2, _B.J._, II. ix. 6.]

[Footnote 5: Ibid., XVIII. v. 1.]

Makaur,[1] or Machero, was a colossal fortress built by Alexander
Jannaeus, and rebuilt by Herod, in one of the most abrupt wadys to the
east of the Dead Sea.[2] It was a wild and desolate country, filled
with strange legends, and believed to be haunted by demons.[3] The
fortress was just on the boundary of the lands of Hareth and of