rty against men of so great
reputation, he contented himself with depriving them of their dignity,
and of their power to hinder his wicked proceedings.

4. Now it was Antipater who was the cause of all this; who when he knew
what a mad and licentious way of acting his father was in, and had been
a great while one of his counselors, he hurried him on, and then thought
he should bring him to do somewhat to purpose, when every one that could
oppose him was taken away. When therefore Andromachus and his friends
were driven away, and had no discourse nor freedom with the king any
longer, the king, in the first place, examined by torture all whom he
thought to be faithful to Alexander, Whether they knew of any of his
attempts against him; but these died without having any thing to say to
that matter, which made the king more zealous [after discoveries], when
he could not find out what evil proceedings he suspected them of. As for
Antipater, he was very sagacious to raise a calumny against those that
were really innocent, as if their denial was only their constancy and
fidelity [to Alexander], and thereupon provoked Herod to discover by the
torture of great numbers what attempts were still concealed. Now there
was a certain person among the many that were tortured, who said that he
knew that the young man had often said, that when he was commended as
a tall man in his body, and a skillful marksman, and that in his other
commendable exercises he exceeded all men, these qualifications given
him by nature, though good in themselves, were not advantageous to him,
because his father was grieved at them, and envied him for them; and
that when he walked along with his father, he endeavored to depress and
shorten himself, that he might not appear too tall; and that when he
shot at any thing as he was hunting, when his father was by, he missed
his mark on purpose, for he knew how ambitious his father was of being
superior in such exercises. So when the man was tormented about this
saying, and had ease given his body after it, he added, that he had his
brother Aristobulus for his assistance, and contrived to lie in wait for
their father, as they were hunting, and kill him; and when they had done
so to fly to Rome, and desire to have the kingdom given them. There were
also letters of the young man found, written to his brother, wherein
he complained that his father did not act justly in giving Antipater a
country, whose [yearly] revenues