t she left her husband out of
her good-will to him, because she perceived that he, with Antipater, and
Lysimachus, and Dositheus, were raising a sedition against him; as an
evidence whereof, she alleged the case of the sons of Babas, that they
had been by him preserved alive already for the interval of twelve
years; which proved to be true. But when Herod thus unexpectedly heard
of it, he was greatly surprised at it, and was the more surprised,
because the relation appeared incredible to him. As for the fact
relating to these sons of Babas, Herod had formerly taken great pains to
bring them to punishment, as being enemies to his government; but they
were now forgotten by him, on account of the length of time [since he
had ordered them to be slain]. Now the cause of his ill-will and hatred
to them arose hence, that while Antigonus was king, Herod, with his
army, besieged the city of Jerusalem, where the distress and miseries
which the besieged endured were so pressing, that the greater number of
them invited Herod into the city, and already placed their hopes on him.
Now the sons of Babas were of great dignity, and had power among the
multitude, and were faithful to Antigonus, and were always raising
calumnies against Herod, and encouraged the people to preserve the
government to that royal family which held it by inheritance. So
these men acted thus politically, and, as they thought, for their
own advantage; but when the city was taken, and Herod had gotten the
government into his hands, and Costobarus was appointed to hinder
men from passing out at the gates, and to guard the city, that those
citizens that were guilty, and of the party opposite to the king, might
not get out of it, Costobarus, being sensible that the sons of Babas
were had in respect and honor by the whole multitude, and supposing that
their preservation might be of great advantage to him in the changes of
government afterward, he set them by themselves, and concealed them in
his own farms; and when the thing was suspected, he assured Herod upon
oath that he really knew nothing of that matter, and so overcame
the suspicions that lay upon him; nay, after that, when the king had
publicly proposed a reward for the discovery, and had put in practice
all sorts of methods for searching out this matter, he would not confess
it; but being persuaded that when he had at first denied it, if the men
were found, he should not escape unpunished, he was forced to keep