gave him on the occasion following: One Zenodorus [20] had hired what
was called the house of Lysanias, who, as he was not satisfied with
its revenues, became a partner with the robbers that inhabited
the Trachonites, and so procured himself a larger income; for the
inhabitants of those places lived in a mad way, and pillaged the country
of the Damascenes, while Zenodorus did not restrain them, but partook of
the prey they acquired. Now as the neighboring people were hereby great
sufferers, they complained to Varro, who was then president [of Syria],
and entreated him to write to Caesar about this injustice of Zenodorus.
When these matters were laid before Caesar, he wrote back to Varro to
destroy those nests of robbers, and to give the land to Herod, that so
by his care the neighboring countries might be no longer disturbed
with these doings of the Trachonites; for it was not an easy firing to
restrain them, since this way of robbery had been their usual practice,
and they had no other way to get their living, because they had neither
any city of their own, nor lands in their possession, but only some
receptacles and dens in the earth, and there they and their cattle lived
in common together. However, they had made contrivances to get pools of
water, and laid up corn in granaries for themselves, and were able to
make great resistance, by issuing out on the sudden against any that
attacked them; for the entrances of their caves were narrow, in which
but one could come in at a time, and the places within incredibly large,
and made very wide but the ground over their habitations was not very
high, but rather on a plain, while the rocks are altogether hard and
difficult to be entered upon, unless any one gets into the plain road
by the guidance of another, for these roads are not straight, but have
several revolutions. But when these men are hindered from their wicked
preying upon their neighbors, their custom is to prey one upon another,
insomuch that no sort of injustice comes amiss to them. But when Herod
had received this grant from Caesar, and was come into this country, he
procured skillful guides, and put a stop to their wicked robberies, and
procured peace and quietness to the neighboring people.

2. Hereupon Zenodorus was grieved, in the first place, because his
principality was taken away from him; and still more so, because he
envied Herod, who had gotten it; So he went up to Rome to accuse him,
but returned back