Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration to them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god and not of a man; and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost."

The words of Josephus are these: "Having now reigned. three whole years over Judea, he went to the city Cesarea, formerly called Straton's Tower. Here he celebrated shows in honour of Cesar. On this occasion, there was a vast resort of persons of rank and distinction from all parts of the country. On the second day of the shows, early in the morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a robe of silver, of most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising sun, reflected from so splendid a garb, gave him a majestic and awful appearance. In a short time they began, in several parts of the theatre, flattering acclamations, which proved pernicious to him. They called him a god, and entreated him to be propitious to them; saying, 'Hitherto we have respected you as a man, but now we acknowledge you to be more than mortal.' The king neither reproved these persons nor rejected the impious flattery. Soon after this, casting his eyes upwards, he saw an owl, sitting on a cord over his head. He perceived it to be a messenger of evil to him, as it had been before of his prosperity, and was struck with the deepest concern. Immediately after this, he was seized with pains in his bowels, extremely violent from the first. Then turning himself to his friends, he spoke to them in this manner: 'I, your god, am required to leave this world; fate instantly refuting these false applauses bestowed upon me. I, who have been called immortal, am hurried away to death. But God's appointment must be submitted to.' While he was speaking, his pains became more violent; he was carried, therefore, with all haste to his palace. His pains continuing to increase, he expired in five days time, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, &c.'

Agrippa left behind him one son, also named Agrippa, about seventeen years of age, and three daughters. One of these, Berenice, was married to Herod, king of Chalcis, her father's brother; the other two, Mariamne and Drusilla, were unmarried at the time of their father's death. Of the youngest of these, Drusilla, some notice will be taken in this history hereafter, as she is particularly noticed in the Acts of the Apostles.

SECTION XIII.

FADUS MADE PROCURATOR OF JUDEA-DEARTH IN THE REIGN OF CLAUDIUS-PROSE

LYTES ΤΟ JUDAISM-FALSE MESSIAH-FADUS RECALLED, AND SUCCEEDED BY

TIBERIUS ALEXANDER-HEROD KING OF CHALCIS DISPLACED JOSEPH THE SON OF CAMUS FROM THE HIGH-PRIESTHOOD, AND SUBSTITUTED ANANIAS THE SON OF NEBEDEUS-TIBERIUS ALEXANDER RECALLED, AND CUMANUS APPOINTED TO SUCCEED HIM-COMMOTIONS AT JERUSALEM-DISPUTE BETWEEN THE GALILEANS AND SAMARITANS-CUMANUS RECALLED AND FELIX APPOINTED PROCURATOR-TUMULTUOUS CONDUCT OF THE JEWS-DEATH OF CLAUDIUS-SUCCEEDED BY NERO-ANARCHICAL STATE OF JUDEA DURING THE PROCURATORSHIP OF FELIX-18 SUCCEEDED BY FESTUS-BOTH RESIDE AT CESAREA-FESTUS DIES-IS SUCCEEDED BY ALBINUS-STATE OF SOCIETY MORE AND MORE DISORDERED-ANANUS MADE HIGHPRIEST-CESTIUS GALLUS VISITS JERUSALEM.

AFTER the death of Agrippa, A. D. 45, Fadus was appointed procurator of Judea. Claudius would have given the kingdom. to the son of his friend, but was dissuaded from it on account of his youth. A contention soon arose between this officer and the Jews, respecting the pontifical vestments which he ordered to be deposited, as formerly, in the castle of Antonia. This was by direction of the emperor. And when the Jews proved refractory, Cassius Longinus, who had been sent to Syria in the place of Marsus, came with an army to enforce the emperor's edict; but the Jews prevailed on him to wait until they could petition the emperor, who was induced by the intercession of Herod king of Chalcis, to relinquish his purpose. Claudius then appointed this Herod to preside over the temple, and select the high-priests. He removed Cantharus from office, and appointed Joseph, son of Camus, to succeed him.

In the Acts we read, that "a prophet, named Agabus, stood up, and signified by the Spirit, that there should be a great dearth throughout all the world, which, says Luke, came to pass in the days of Claudius Cesar." Now, during the reign of Claudius, there were no less than four times of famine. The one referred to above, occurred while Fadus was procurator at Judea, and was the last of the four; for it extended to the reign of Tiberius. About this time, the Jews received some proselytes to their religion, of rather an extraordinary character for rank, who proved themselves to be very sincere converts, by their munificence to the Jewish nation; especially in the time of the forementioned famine. The persons to whom I refer, were Helena, queen of Adiabene, in Mesopotamia, and her son Izates. At the time when this dearth occurred, Helena, was at Jerusalem, and supplied the people with large quantities of provisions; and Izates sent them, at the same time, large sums of money. These royal personages had built, near Jerusalem, a sepulchre of magnificent workmanship, in which after their death they were interred.

While Fadus was procurator of Judea, a false Messiah made his appearance, who deluded great multitudes of people, and persuaded them to follow him to Jordan, where he promised that he would divide the waters, and lead them over on dry ground. But while this multitude was on their way, they were overtaken by a troop of Roman cavalry, sent after them by Fadus. The imposter was brought back and beheaded, and all his followers were dispersed. Josephus calls this impostor Theudas, but from what Gamaliel said in the Jewish Sanhedrim, (Acts v. 36,) it appears that Theudas was before Judas the Gaulonite, and was accompanied by only four hundred men, who all forsook him. Probably, therefore, Josephus was mistaken about the name; unless, which is not improbable, there were two of the same name.

A. D. 46, Fadus was recalled, and a man of Jewish origin, by the name of Tiberius Alexander, was made procurator of Judea.

A. D. 47, Herod, king of Chalcis, having received authority from the emperor to appoint the high-priest at Jerusalem, displaced Joseph, the son of Camus, and gave the office to Ananias, the son of Nebedeus. This was among his last acts; for he died shortly after, and his kingdom was given to Claudius Agrippa, the son of king Agrippa, with the same authority over the temple and priesthood which had been possessed by Herod, king of Chalcis. In the same year, A. D. 47, Claudius recalled Tiberius Alexander, and appointed V. Cumanus to be procurator in his stead.

The following year, A. D. 48, during the celebration of the passover, a cohort of Roman soldiers were stationed before the gates of the temple to preserve order. But one of the soldiers, by an indecent action, so provoked the Jews, who were going up to the temple to worship, that some rash young men assaulted the soldiers with stones. Cumanus, at first, endeavoured to allay the irritation of the populace; but failing in this, he summoned the soldiers into the castle of Antonia, by which the Jews understood that he was about to make an attack on the temple. So great a panic seized the multitude who were within the walls, that when a violent rush took place to escape through the gates, more than a thousand of them were crushed to death. Another tumult took place in consequence of the impious conduct of a Roman soldier, who, having seized a copy of the law, tore it in pieces, with insulting and blasphemous language. A complaint was made to Cumanus, who, seeing no other method of appeasing the people, ordered the offending soldier to be beheaded. The commotions among the people increased every day. A dispute now arose between the Galileans and the Samaritans, on account of a murder committed on a Jew in one

of the Samaritan villages. The Roman officer refusing to do them justice, the Jews undertook to revenge themselves, by invading and plundering the Samaritan territory; but Cumanus coming on them with his cavalry, spon dispersed them. Many, however, about this time, joined themselves to troops of robbers, and by their predatory incursions, greatly disturbed the peace of the country.

H. Quadratus had been made governor of Syria, in the place of Longinus; and he being now at Tyre, complaints were made to him, both by the Jews and Samaritans. He determined, therefore, to come to Judea, and examine into the affair for himself. At first, he felt disposed to condemn the Samaritans, but on learning that the Jews had acted in a rebellious manner, in defiance of the Roman authority, he ordered such of them as Ananus had taken, to be crucified. He, moreover, put to death a leading man whose name was Doras, and several others; and sent the high-priests Jonathan and Ananus the president of the temple, in chains to Rome. Finally, he ordered all parties, and the procurator himself, to go to Italy, and submit their cause to the emperor; and then returned to Antioch. When the cause came before the emperor, the Jews had justice done them, through the influence of Agrippa, who was then at Rome. The Samaritans were condemned, and three of their leaders ordered to be executed. The Roman tribune, who had been guilty of exciting the disturbance, was ordered to be sent back to Jerusalem, and to be dragged through the streets, and then beheaded. Cumanus himself, also was recalled.

A. D. 53, Felix a freed-man, was appointed procurator of Judea, and continued in office a number of years. Agrippa seems to have been as much a favourite of Augustus as his father; for in place of his little kingdom of Chalcis, he gave him the tetrarchy which had belonged to Philip, the son of Herod the Great.

Drusilla, the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa, was given by her brother in marriage to Azizus, king of Emesa, who to obtain her, had submitted to circumcision. But Felix, who had already two wives, became enamoured of her; and by means of one Simon a sorcerer, made her offers of marriage, and gained her consent.

Although Claudius showed himself favourable to the Jews, so many tumults were raised by them in the city of Rome, that he published an edict that they should all leave the city, which however was never fully executed. He, however, strictly forbade all public meetings among them. During all this period, the Romans made no distinction between Jews and Christians; for the latter were considered as merely a new sect among the Jews. They, therefore, fell under the operation of

all edicts which related to the Jews. Accordingly, we read in the Acts (xviii) that "a certain Jew, named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately had come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome."

Claudius the emperor died A. D. 55 or 56, and was succeeded by Nero, the son of his wife Agrippina, by her former husband. Nero was a cruel tyrant when in power, although he appeared to be mild and amiable in private life. Soon after his accession to the throne, he put several persons to death, to gratify his own malignant temper; and among the rest, Agrippina his own mother, to whom he owed the possession of the empire. Agrippa, however, shared the favour of Nero as he had done that of his predecessor; for he increased his dominions, by the addition of the cities of Tarichoea, Tiberias, Abila, and Julias, with the territories which appertained to

them.

At the time when Felix arrived in Judea, the country was almost in a state of anarchy. The curse of God seemed evidently to be brooding over that ill-fated nation. The whole land was infested with robbers, and swarmed with impostors. About this time, also, arose the Sicarii, a desperate set of assassins, who received their name from a short sword or dagger which they carried under their outward garment. These men, by mingling with the crowd, would suddenly strike their victim, and then concealing their weapon, hide themselves among the multitude.

Felix employed these men to put Jonathan the high-priest out of the way; for by his intrusion as an adviser, he had become troublesome to the procurator. Jonathan, having had a chief influence in getting Felix appointed to this office, thought he had a right to exercise a good deal of freedom in advising and admonishing him. But he dearly paid for his officiousness, for Felix was not a man that could endure reproof.

Among the many sorcerers, jugglers, and other impostors, who appeared about this time, there was an Egyptian Jew, who drew after him thirty thousand persons, whom he led to the mount of Olives, promising that he would cause the walls of Jerusalem to fall down at his word; but Felix fell upon the deluded multitude, and slew about four hundred of them, and took two thousand prisoners. The impostor himself made his escape. Many other impostors led their followers out into the wilderness, where they promised that they would show great signs and miracles; but Felix showed no mercy to such men, and caused many of them to be put to death. The Jew above mentioned, is probably the man to whom Lysias, the captain of the temple, had reference, when he said to Paul, (Acts xxi.