w that he was exposed to the accusations of the former witnesses,
and that his great good fortune, which had supported him hitherto, had
now evidently betrayed him into the hands of his enemies, who were now
insatiable in their hatred to him, told all they knew of him. And his
ruin was now hastened, not so much by the enmity of those that were his
accusers, as by his gross, and impudent, and wicked contrivances, and by
his ill-will to his father and his brethren; while he had filled their
house with disturbance, and caused them to murder one another; and was
neither fair in his hatred, nor kind in his friendship, but just so far
as served his own turn. Now there were a great number who for a long
time beforehand had seen all this, and especially such as were naturally
disposed to judge of matters by the rules of virtue, because they were
used to determine about affairs without passion, but had been restrained
from making any open complaints before; these, upon the leave now given
them, produced all that they knew before the public. The demonstrations
also of these wicked facts could no way be disproved, because the many
witnesses there were did neither speak out of favor to Herod, nor were
they obliged to keep what they had to say silent, out of suspicion of
any danger they were in; but they spake what they knew, because they
thought such actions very wicked, and that Antipater deserved the
greatest punishment; and indeed not so much for Herod's safety, as on
account of the man's own wickedness. Many things were also said, and
those by a great number of persons, who were no way obliged to say them,
insomuch that Antipater, who used generally to be very shrewd in his
lies and impudence, was not able to say one word to the contrary. When
Nicolaus had left off speaking, and had produced the evidence, Varus
bid Antipater to betake himself to the making his defense, if he had
prepared any thing whereby it might appear that he was not guilty of the
crimes he was accused of; for that, as he was himself desirous, so did
he know that his father was in like manner desirous also, to have
him found entirely innocent. But Antipater fell down on his face,
and appealed to God and to all men for testimonials of his innocency,
desiring that God would declare, by some evident signals, that he had
not laid any plot against his father. This being the usual method of
all men destitute of virtue, that when they set about any wicked
undertaking