he, looking round to see that there was no witness to hinder him, raised his right hand to stab himself. But Asciabus, his cousin, held his hand, and immediately a lamentation arose in the king's palace, as if the king were dead. And Antipater hearing it, exulted greatly, and promised the guards large rewards to release him. And when Herod heard this, he was more indignant at the exultation of his son than grieved at death, and he instantly sent guards to execute him, and he ordered him to be buried in Hyrcania. And immediately he altered his will, and left Archelaus his son his successor in his kingdom, but in such a manner that he was to receive the diadem from Augustus. But five days after the death of his son, Herod, who had lived miserably, died more miserably still, in the forty-ninth year of the reign of Augustus; and Archelaus buried him in Herodium, according to his own injunction. And sitting in the tribunal, he said that he meant to govern in the name of the king till his succession was confirmed by Cæsar, promising to show himself a better governor than his father in every respect.

But a sedition arose in Rome, a thing which often happens under new kings; and as Archelaus could not quell it, though he sent a great body of guards and slew about nine thousand men, he went to Rome himself, leaving Archelaus governor of the kingdom. Herod Antipas, also, went in order to dispute the possession of the kingdom with his brother. At length, by the advice of the senate, Cæsar divided the monarchy of Herod; giving the central part, that is Judæa and Idumæa, to Archelaus. But he divided the central' part into two tetrarchies, and the country on the other side of Jordan and Galilee fell to the share of Herod, but Ituræa and Trachonitis were given to Philip. And so the three brothers were sent back into Judæa, having remained four months at Rome, awaiting the decision in the matter. But Archelaus raged against his subjects more savagely than his father had done.

A.D. 8. The second year of the reign of Archelaus. The angel told Joseph to return with his child and its mother into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judæa in his father's stead, he did not like to go thither, but went to Galilee, and abode in Nazareth.

1 There is evidently some error in the text here. The sense seems to require cæteram, or some such word, instead of mediam, so that the translation should be, "he divided the remainder."

A.D. 11.

CANINUS THE ORATOR DIES.

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A.D. 9. The fifty-first year of the reign of Cæsar Augustus. Trogus Pompeius terminated his chronicles, in which he had, as it were, handed down the course of the world which was past to the memory of posterity. For he so relates the history of the republic of the Romans, and of their arms which that nation carried so widely over the whole world, from the beginning to the present time, that any one who reads his account may learn that virtue and fortune laboured together to build up the Roman empire.

A.D. 10. The Athenians endeavoured to create a sedition in their city against the Romans; but were put down, and the leaders of the insurrection were put to death.

About the same time, Archelaus, to show his contempt for his family, repudiated Mariamne, his brother's daughter, whom his father had given him as his wife; and married Glasira, the daughter of the king of Cappadocia, and previously the wife of his brother Alexander, who had been married after the death of Alexander to Juba, king of Libya; and ever since the death of Juba, had lived in widowhood with her father. And when she had returned to Judæa, and married Archelaus, she fancied that she saw Alexander standing over her, and saying, "Was not a lawful marriage enough to content you, but must you again return to my house, and form a shameless connection with my brother? I will therefore, recover you though against your will." And she, after she had related the dream, survived scarcely two days.

A.D. 11. The fifty-second year of the reign of Augustus Cæsar, and the fifth of the reign of Archelaus, king of Judæa. Caninus the orator died of starvation.

2 Trogus Pompeius was a Gaul by descent, whose grandfather received the citizenship of Rome from Pompey the Great, during his war with Sertorius. His history is not extant, but we have forty-four books of Justin's history, which the author tells us was entirely derived from the universal history of Trogus Pompeius. And from Justin we learn that Trogus's history consisted also of forty-four books, called Libri Historiarum Phillipicarum, as the main object of the writer was to give an account of the rise and fall of the Macedonian monarchy; though he digressed so as to take in the history of the eastern nations: the Peloponesian war, the Sacred war, the history of the Apulians, Sabines and Samnites, while the last books contained a sketch of the Roman history and notices of the Ligurians, Massilians and Spaniards. One of the last events men. tioned in it was the recovery of the standards of Crassus from the Parthians, B.C. 20.

A.D. 12. The boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem behind his parents, and after three days he was found by his parents, sitting in the middle of the doctors, both hearing and asking them questions; and all were astonished at his wisdom and answers.

A.D. 13. Augustus, with his son Tiberius, had a census of Rome taken, and the population was found to amount to nine million three hundred and seventy thousand.

A.D. 14. The fifty-fifth year of the reign of Augustus Cæsar. King Archelaus, who had been often accused, was summoned before Cæsar. And five days before he was to appear before him, he dreamt that nine full and excellent ears of corn were devoured by oxen. And while he was consulting the prophets whom he had summoned respecting this dream, Simon the Essene interpreted the ears of corn as meaning years, and the oxen the change of affairs, because oxen turn over and changes the land by ploughing it. And he said, therefore, that the dream portended that he should reign nine years, and die after he had experienced several changes of circumstances.

Accor

dingly, coming to Rome in the ninth year of his reign, he was condemned by Cæsar, and sent into banishment to the city of Vienne, in Gaul; just at the time that an eclipse of the sun took place.

2

A.D. 15. Augustus Cæsar was stricken by illness at Nola, and died, after he had reigned fifty-seven years, six months, and ten days. For as the Lord was born in the forty-second year of his reign, and was thirty years old in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, it follows that Augustus Cæsar died when the Lord was in his fifteenth year.

And he died in the seventy-seventh year of his reign, at Acella, a city of Campania; and he was buried in the Campus Martius, boasting above all things that he had left that a marble city which he had found a brick one.

2 Our Chronicler here is inconsistent with himself. If the fourteenth year of the Incarnation of our Lord was the fifty-fifth year of Augustus' reign, it is quite plain that in the next year he would not have reigned fifty-seven years and a half. He is also not quite right about our Lord's age. Augustus really died 14th Cal. September, 19th August, A.d. 14, when our Saviour was in the eighteenth year of his age. Consequently, the thirtieth year of his age coincides with the twelfth of the reign of Tiberius. And the crucifixion took place A.D. 33, in the thirty-seventh year of his age.

A.D. 21.

THE TEMPERING OF GLASS DISCOVERED.

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CH. II.-FROM A.D. 15 TO A.D. 38.

Reign of Tiberius—Livy—Ovid-A great earthquake in Asia Minor-Invention of Glass-Death of Cymbeline-History of Pilate The preaching of John-Principal events in our Saviour's life-Judas Iscariot—Letter of Cæsar to the Senate about Christ-The Apostles-St. Stephen-St. Paul-Portrait of our Saviour-Death of Pilate.

A.D. 16. Tiberius Claudius, the son of Julia, and stepson of Augustus Cæsar, was raised to the empire; and he reigned twenty-two years. At first, he governed the republic with great moderation, so much so, that when some people advised him to increase the tribute imposed on the provinces, he answered that it was the part of a good shepherd to shear the sheep, and not to flay them.

A.D. 17. Livy the Ortensian, the historian, finished his history. And it was in this year, according to some authors, that Augustus Cæsar died. For those who adopt this opinion reckon the half year and the few days that are over as an entire year.

A.D. 18. The second year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar. The admirable poet Ovid died in exile. For he had been banished by Augustus Cæsar, and sent to an island in Pontus, on account of Cæsar's wife, with whom he was suspected of too great an intimacy. It was also said that he had composed some books in verse about her; and on that account he was banished by the emperor her husband.

A.D. 19. Valerius, the historian, wrote an account of the sayings and actions of the Romans. In the same year, Germanicus, the son of Drusus and father of Caligula, triumphed over the Germans, against whom he had been sent by Augustus Cæsar.

A.D. 20. Thirteen cities were overthrown by an earthquake, namely, Ephesus, Magnesia, Sardis, Monestene, Hiero, Cæsarea, Philadelphia, Thimolus, Themus, Cyme, Smyrna, Apollonia, and Hyrcania.

A.D. 21. Fenestella, a writer of histories and poetry, died in the seventieth year of his age, and was buried at Cumæ, in the tenth indiction.

In the same year, a certain artist discovered how to temper glass, making it flexible and ductile. And when he had been brought before Tiberius Cæsar, he offered him a small bottle;

VOL. I.

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at which the emperor was indignant, and threw it down floor. But the artist picked the bottle up from the floor which had become bent like a vessel of brass, and taking hammer out of his bosom, he beat the bottle into shape again When he had done this, Cæsar said to the artist, "Is any one else acquainted with this manufacture of glass?" And when he had affirmed with an oath that no one else understood it, he ordered him to be decapitated, lest, if the art became known, gold might come to be esteemed as clay, and all the value for the precious metals entirely destroyed; because, in fact, if glass vessels could not be broken, they would do better than either golden or silver ones.

A.D. 22. King Cymbeline, in whose reign our Lord was born, died in Britain, and was succeeded by Guiderius, his son, who disdained to pay the Romans the usual tribute, a thing which none of his predecessors from the time of Julius Cæsar had dared to attempt.

A.D. 23. Tiberius Cæsar summoned a great number of kings before him, and sent none of them back to their kingdoms, but reduced all their kingdoms into provinces, and appointed procurators where there had been kings.

A.D. 24. Valerius Gracchus was sent as procurator of Judæa; who thinking all gain to be piety, openly sold the office of high priest, and removed Annas, and appointed Ishmael high priest.

A.D. 25. The ninth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar. The theatre of Pompey was burnt, in the fifteenth indiction. A.D. 26. Gracchus, the procurator of Judæa, removed Ishmael the high priest, and appointed Eleazar, the son of Annas, in his room.

A.D. 27. The same procurator removed Eleazar, and appointed Simon high priest.

A.D. 28. Simon is removed, and Josippus, who is also called Caiaphas, appointed in his place. After which event Valerius returns to Rome. There was a certain king, by name Tyrus, who had a carnal knowledge of a certain damsel named Pila, the daughter of a certain miller, by and who compounded one name out of the two, and gave the son whom the damsel bore the name of Pilatus. When Pilatus was three years old, Pila sent him to the king. But the king had also a son by his wife, who was very nearly

name Atus,