Josephus, The Jewish War 1.20.3
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/177
Text
Τούτοις φιλοφρονησάμενος τὸν βασιλέα καὶ περιθεὶς αὐτῷ τὸ διάδημα δόγματι διεσήμαινεν τὴν δωρεάν, ἐν ᾧ πολλὰ μεγαλοφρόνως εἰς ἔπαινον τἀνδρὸς ἐφθέγξατο. ὁ δὲ δώροις ἐπιμειλιξάμενος αὐτὸν ἐξῃτεῖτό τινα τῶν Ἀντωνίου φίλων Ἀλεξᾶν ἱκέτην γενόμενον: ἐνίκα δὲ ἡ Καίσαρος ὀργὴ πολλὰ καὶ χαλεπὰ μεμφομένου τὸν ἐξαιτούμενον οἷς διεκρούσατο τὴν δέησιν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πορευόμενον ἐπ᾽ Αἴγυπτον διὰ Συρίας Καίσαρα παντὶ τῷ βασιλικῷ πλούτῳ δεξάμενος Ἡρώδης τότε πρῶτον καὶ συνιππάσατο ποιουμένου περὶ Πτολεμαΐδα τῆς δυνάμεως ἐξέτασιν εἱστίασέν τε σὺν ἅπασιν τοῖς φίλοις: μεθ᾽ οὓς καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ στρατιᾷ πρὸς εὐωχίαν πάντα διέδωκεν. προυνόησεν δὲ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀνύδρου πορευομένοις μέχρι Πηλουσίου παρασχεῖν ὕδωρ ἄφθονον ἐπανιοῦσί τε ὁμοίως, οὐδὲ ἔστιν ὅ τι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐνεδέησεν τῇ δυνάμει. δόξα γοῦν αὐτῷ τε Καίσαρι καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις παρέστη πολλῷ βραχυτέραν περιεῖναι Ἡρώδῃ βασιλείαν πρὸς ἃ παρέσχεν. διὰ τοῦτο, ὡς ἧκεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἤδη Κλεοπάτρας καὶ Ἀντωνίου τεθνεώτων, οὐ μόνον αὐτοῦ ταῖς ἄλλαις τιμαῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ προσέθηκεν τήν τε ὑπὸ Κλεοπάτρας ἀποτμηθεῖσαν χώραν καὶ ἔξωθεν Γάδαρα καὶ Ἵππον καὶ Σαμάρειαν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τῶν παραλίων Γάζαν καὶ Ἀνθηδόνα καὶ Ἰόππην καὶ Στράτωνος πύργον: ἐδωρήσατο δ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ πρὸς φυλακὴν τοῦ σώματος τετρακοσίους Γαλάτας, οἳ πρότερον ἐδορυφόρουν Κλεοπάτραν. οὐδὲν δὲ οὕτως ἐνῆγεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς δωρεὰς ὡς τὸ μεγαλόφρον τοῦ λαμβάνοντος.1
Translation
When Caesar had spoken such obliging things to the king, and had put the diadem again about his head, he proclaimed what he had bestowed on him by a decree, in which he enlarged in the commendation of the man after a magnificent manner. Whereupon Herod obliged him to be kind to him by the presents he gave him, and he desired him to forgive Alexander, one of Antony's friends, who was become a supplicant to him. But Caesar's anger against him prevailed, and he complained of the many and very great offenses the man whom he petitioned for had been guilty of; and by that means he rejected his petition. After this Caesar went for Egypt through Syria, when Herod received him with royal and rich entertainments; and then did he first of all ride along with Caesar, as he was reviewing his army about Ptolemais, and feasted him with all his friends, and then distributed among the rest of the army what was necessary to feast them withal. He also made a plentiful provision of water for them, when they were to march as far as Pelusium, through a dry country, which he did also in like manner at their return thence; nor were there any necessaries wanting to that army. It was therefore the opinion, both of Caesar and of his soldiers, that Herod's kingdom was too small for those generous presents he made them; for which reason, when Caesar was come into Egypt, and Cleopatra and Antony were dead, he did not only bestow other marks of honor upon him, but made an addition to his kingdom, by giving him not only the country which had been taken from him by Cleopatra, but besides that, Gadara, and Hippos, and Samaria; and moreover, of the maritime cities, Gaza and Anthedon, and Joppa, and Strato's Tower. He also made him a present of four hundred Galls [Galatians] as a guard for his body, which they had been to Cleopatra before. Nor did any thing so strongly induce Caesar to make these presents as the generosity of him that received them.2
Works Cited
- 1 Flavius Josephus, De Bello Judaico Libri VII: Machine Readable Text, ed. B. Niese (Medford, MA: Trustees of Tufts University, 2013), section: 1.20.3.
- 2 Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews: Machine Readable Text, trans. William Whiston (Trustees of Tufts University, 2009), section: 1.20.3.
Additional Bibliography
- Josephus, De Bello Judaico Libri VII, in Flavii Iosephi opera, ed. Benedict Niese, vol. 6 (Berlin: Weidmann, 1885), section: 1.20.3.
- Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, in The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus: The Celebrated Jewish Historian. Comprising the History and Antiquities of the Jews, with the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and Dissertations Concerning Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, James the Just, and the Sacrifice of Isaac, Together with a Discourse on Hades, or Hell ; With His Autobiography, trans. William Whiston (Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., 1895), 498–707, section: 1.20.3.
How to Cite This Entry
Joshua Woods et al., “Josephus, The Jewish War 1.20.3,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 10, 2020, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/177.
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Bibliography:
Joshua Woods et al., “Josephus, The Jewish War 1.20.3.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2020. Entry published June 10, 2020. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/177.About this Entry
Entry Title: Josephus, The Jewish War 1.20.3
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Josephus, The Jewish War 1.20.3”
- Joshua Woods, Eliana Yonan, and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Josephus, The Jewish War 1.20.3”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joshua Woods
- Electronic text added by Eliana Yonan
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife