red his
tortures of mind, which made him destroy himself; but Luke has clearly
and properly determined the manner of his death. Thus this kind of
death ought, with good reason, to find a place in the list of
diseases, upon account of the real disorder of the mind.

CHAPTER XV.

_The disease of king Herod._

THE disease with which Herod Agrippa is said to have been smitten, by
the just judgment of God, in punishment for his pride and of which he
died, is remarkable. For he finished his miserable life [Greek:
skolekobrotos], that is, _eaten by worms_, as the sacred historian
relates, in these words, "Upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal
apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto 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[146]
ghost." Josephus indeed, in his account of the fact, makes no mention
of worms, but says that he was suddenly seized with violent gripings,
and after being incessantly tortured with pains in his bowels for five
days, he expired.[147] But saint Luke has informed us, that the worms,
by which his bowels were eroded, were the cause of the gripes.

[146] _Acts, Chap. xii. v. 21-23._

[147] _Antiq. jud. Lib. xix. Cap. viii. Sec.. 2._

Now the greatest singularity in this king's disease is, that it was
instantly inflicted on him from heaven (which he himself acknowledged
according to Josephus[148]) otherwise as to verminose putrefaction in
human bodies, we have several instances of it. For this very king's
grandfather, Herod, surnamed the Great, is said to have labour'd
under this disease a long time, till at length it threw him into a
decay, of which he died.[149] Likewise Herodotus relates of Pheretima,
the mother of Arcesilaus, king of Cyrene, that she was rotted alive by
worms.[150] And it is recorded of the Roman emperor Galerius
Maximianus, that this same loathsome disease not only eat away his
genital members, but put an end to his life.[151] Wherefore it was
impossible, but that some at least of the Greek physicians must have
observed some cases of this kind. And accordingly Galen has proposed
medicines for ulcers, [Greek: skolekas echonta], that is, abounding
with worms.[152] For he says, in abscesses there are frequently found
animals, [Greek: zoa], very like those, which are engendered from