he sons of Marianme, and managing this
elevation of his so, that it might be for a warning to them; for this
bold behavior of theirs [he thought] would not be so great, if they were
once persuaded that the succession to the kingdom did not appertain
to them alone, or must of necessity come to them. So he introduced
Antipater as their antagonist, and imagined that he made a good
provision for discouraging their pride, and that after this was done to
the young men, there might be a proper season for expecting these to
be of a better disposition; but the event proved otherwise than he
intended, for the young men thought he did them a very great injury; and
as Antipater was a shrewd man, when he had once obtained this degree
of freedom, and began to expect greater things than he had before hoped
for, he had but one single design in his head, and that was to distress
his brethren, and not at all to yield to them the pre-eminence, but to
keep close to his father, who was already alienated from them by the
calumnies he had heard about them, and ready to be wrought upon in any
way his zeal against them should advise him to pursue, that he might
be continually more and more severe against them. Accordingly, all the
reports that were spread abroad came from him, while he avoided himself
the suspicion as if those discoveries proceeded from him; but he
rather chose to make use of those persons for his assistants that were
unsuspected, and such as might be believed to speak truth by reason of
the good-will they bore to the king; and indeed there were already not
a few who cultivated a friendship with Antipater, in hopes of gaining
somewhat by him, and these were the men who most of all persuaded Herod,
because they appeared to speak thus out of their good-will to him: and
with these joint accusations, which from various foundations supported
one another's veracity, the young men themselves afforded further
occasions to Antipater also; for they were observed to shed tears often,
on account of the injury that was offered them, and had their mother in
their mouths; and among their friends they ventured to reproach their
father, as not acting justly by them; all which things were with an evil
intention reserved in memory by Antipater against a proper opportunity;
and when they were told to Herod, with aggravations, increased the
disorder so much, that it brought a great tumult into the family; for
while the king was very angry at imputati