ppoint
thee a court where thou art to be judged, and this Varus, who is very
seasonably here, to be thy judge; and get thou thy defense ready against
tomorrow, for I give thee so much time to prepare suitable excuses for
thyself." And as Antipater was so confounded, that he was able to make
no answer to this charge, he went away; but his mother and wife came
to him, and told him of all the evidence they had gotten against him.
Hereupon he recollected himself, and considered what defense he should
make against the accusations.

CHAPTER 32.

Antipater Is Accused Before Varus, And Is Convicted Of
Laying A Plot [Against His Father] By The Strongest
Evidence. Herod Puts Off His Punishment Till He Should Be
Recovered, And In The Mean Time Alters His Testament.

1. Now the day following the king assembled a court of his kinsmen and
friends, and called in Antipater's friends also. Herod himself, with
Varus, were the presidents; and Herod called for all the witnesses, and
ordered them to be brought in; among whom some of the domestic servants
of Antipater's mother were brought in also, who had but a little while
before been caught, as they were carrying the following letter from her
to her son: "Since all those things have been already discovered to
thy father, do not thou come to him, unless thou canst procure some
assistance from Caesar." When this and the other witnesses were
introduced, Antipater came in, and falling on his face before his
father's feet, he said, "Father, I beseech thee, do not condemn me
beforehand, but let thy ears be unbiassed, and attend to my defense; for
if thou wilt give me leave, I will demonstrate that I am innocent."

2. Hereupon Herod cried out to him to hold his peace, and spake thus
to Varus: "I cannot but think that thou, Varus, and every other upright
judge, will determine that Antipater is a vile wretch. I am also afraid
that thou wilt abhor my ill fortune, and judge me also myself worthy
of all sorts of calamity for begetting such children; while yet I ought
rather to be pitied, who have been so affectionate a father to such
wretched sons; for when I had settled the kingdom on my former sons,
even when they were young, and when, besides the charges of their
education at Rome, I had made them the friends of Caesar, and made them
envied by other kings, I found them plotting against me. These have been
put to death, and that, in great measure, for the sake of Antipat