Read Online King Jesus (Penguin Modern Classics) by Robert Graves - Free Book Online
Authors: Robert Graves
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for the death of her father, her brother, her uncle and her venerable maimed grandfather, and that he had twice given provisional orders, when setting out on a dangerous mission, that she should be dispatched if he failed to return ; yet let us be just to him. He never raised his voice or hand against her, and her duty was clearly towards him as her husband and the father of her sons. A woman must obey her husband and be faithful to his bed, whatever the provocation. For she is only a woman, though the best of women ; and he is at least a man, though the worst of men.”
“It is a severe law and lays a great burden of responsibility on a father in the choice of a son-in-law. I am glad to be quit of the burden in the case of my daughter Miriam : Simon the High Priest is to choose a husband for her.”
“Simon, for all his faults, has a good conscience towards the Lord and men, and you may be sure that you will not be disgraced in your son-in-law. But we were speaking of Mariamne’s infidelities.”
“Some declare that the Edomite loved her so dearly that he could not bear to think of her lying in the arms of another even when he was himself dead, and that this was why he gave the provisional order for her dispatch. They recall the extravagant signs of grief that he showed after her death, and there is even an obscene story current that he preserved her corpse in myrrh with necrophilous intention. Yet they forget that he appeared no less afflicted and distraught after her brother had been drowned in the Bath at Jericho, as if by accident, but, as we know, at his express order. Such grief is feigned as much to placate the dead person’s ghost as to distract public inquiry. He never loved her. He married her to benefit from the popular esteem in which the Maccabees had for so long been held in Israel. Yet one by one he rooted them out, and finally he destroyed her too, without pity—as, mark my words, he will destroy the handsome sons whom she bore him and to whom he pretends such fatherly affection.”
“I will mark your words,” said Cleopas, “but I cannot believe that he is such a wild beast that he would kill his own sons merely because their mother was a Maccabee. Besides, if he did not love her passionately, why did he trouble to order her dispatch in the event of his death ?”
“He feared, I suppose, that she would marry some enemy of his and found a new dynasty upon the issue of the marriage. He could not bear to think that the heirs of his body would not reign over Israel for as many generations at least as David’s did.”
“Why then do you suppose that he is intent on killing Mariamne’s sons? Does he doubt their paternity? They certainly resemble him closely.”
“They are nothing to him. He hates to think that we say secretly of them : ‘They are well-born on one side at least.’ But he has other sons. Do not overlook his eldest, Antipater, who is marked out as the future king. It was for his benefit that Mariamne was to die, and later did die ;it will be for his benefit that Mariamne’s sons will die in their turn. Let no one underrate Antipater’s claims. Herod may even make him co-ruler with himself one day, in the Egyptian style.”
“I had forgotten his very existence. What sort of a man is he, kinsman ?”
“Though I have inquired closely, I cannot pretend that I have yet heard one evil word spoken against him by those who know him well. He is reputedly studious and generous, without ambition or malice, punctual in payment, scrupulous in his observance of the Law, besides being a wonderful huntsman of the desert ostrich, the antelope and the wild-ox. Nevertheless, even if this account is true, such good qualities are wasted on his father’s son ; and for all I know he may be as false a dissembler as ever wore sandals. But I will not reveal my worst fears to you until That Man’s plots have matured. When you hear news that the sons of Mariamne are dead, come to my house again, and
“It is a severe law and lays a great burden of responsibility on a father in the choice of a son-in-law. I am glad to be quit of the burden in the case of my daughter Miriam : Simon the High Priest is to choose a husband for her.”
“Simon, for all his faults, has a good conscience towards the Lord and men, and you may be sure that you will not be disgraced in your son-in-law. But we were speaking of Mariamne’s infidelities.”
“Some declare that the Edomite loved her so dearly that he could not bear to think of her lying in the arms of another even when he was himself dead, and that this was why he gave the provisional order for her dispatch. They recall the extravagant signs of grief that he showed after her death, and there is even an obscene story current that he preserved her corpse in myrrh with necrophilous intention. Yet they forget that he appeared no less afflicted and distraught after her brother had been drowned in the Bath at Jericho, as if by accident, but, as we know, at his express order. Such grief is feigned as much to placate the dead person’s ghost as to distract public inquiry. He never loved her. He married her to benefit from the popular esteem in which the Maccabees had for so long been held in Israel. Yet one by one he rooted them out, and finally he destroyed her too, without pity—as, mark my words, he will destroy the handsome sons whom she bore him and to whom he pretends such fatherly affection.”
“I will mark your words,” said Cleopas, “but I cannot believe that he is such a wild beast that he would kill his own sons merely because their mother was a Maccabee. Besides, if he did not love her passionately, why did he trouble to order her dispatch in the event of his death ?”
“He feared, I suppose, that she would marry some enemy of his and found a new dynasty upon the issue of the marriage. He could not bear to think that the heirs of his body would not reign over Israel for as many generations at least as David’s did.”
“Why then do you suppose that he is intent on killing Mariamne’s sons? Does he doubt their paternity? They certainly resemble him closely.”
“They are nothing to him. He hates to think that we say secretly of them : ‘They are well-born on one side at least.’ But he has other sons. Do not overlook his eldest, Antipater, who is marked out as the future king. It was for his benefit that Mariamne was to die, and later did die ;it will be for his benefit that Mariamne’s sons will die in their turn. Let no one underrate Antipater’s claims. Herod may even make him co-ruler with himself one day, in the Egyptian style.”
“I had forgotten his very existence. What sort of a man is he, kinsman ?”
“Though I have inquired closely, I cannot pretend that I have yet heard one evil word spoken against him by those who know him well. He is reputedly studious and generous, without ambition or malice, punctual in payment, scrupulous in his observance of the Law, besides being a wonderful huntsman of the desert ostrich, the antelope and the wild-ox. Nevertheless, even if this account is true, such good qualities are wasted on his father’s son ; and for all I know he may be as false a dissembler as ever wore sandals. But I will not reveal my worst fears to you until That Man’s plots have matured. When you hear news that the sons of Mariamne are dead, come to my house again, and
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