“Quiet! You senseless daughters of a mule and a Bactrian camel! He did not see us. Do you want Herod to return and slay us? Hush!”
But terror forced another to complain, “The goat-headed sons of swine have betrayed us. Now Herod will find us in Galilee and slay us.”
“Did I not command you to be silent?” The wife of Hezekiah shot back in a threatening whisper. “Shall I awaken the sleeping blade under my robe? Fools! I shall force them to supply the money to take up a new life in Parthia. We shall lose nothing by coming here to serve them.”
No more than I suspected, Antipater said to himself behind his impassive face. Then he concentrated on the drama being acted out by the dignitaries. Secret amusement stirred within, but his face told nothing.
When the last footstep of Herod’s guard faded from the ear, and the cheering rocked the streets, the Seventy and One seemed to awaken from a sleep. Paces came alive, men stirred, three moved to the assistance of Hyrcanus and got him again in his seat. Sameas got calmly to his feet and spoke.
“I wonder if any of you, my assessors, really comprehended what has happened here today.”
“Do you think that we are all deaf and blind, Sameas?” Simon demanded testily. “How could we avoid comprehending what was done here?”
“You saw with your eyes, you heard with your ears, but are you certain that you really realize what happened?”
“Well, what happened, Sameas?” Eleazer asked with heavy sarcasm.
“Have any of us here ever witnessed such a case as we have seen today, that a man who is called to take his trial before us, ever stood in such a manner before us? Every other man who has come to trial before us presents himself in a submissive manner and like one in fear, and endeavors to move us to pity and compassion. He has his hair disheveled, and wears a black, mourning garment, and prostrates himself with his face to the floor before us until we give him leave to arise.”
Sameas paused and swept the faces of his colleagues with a searching glance.
“But how did the admirable Herod appear? Accused of murder, he stood before us clothed in purple, with his hair finely trimmed, and adorned with the most costly ornaments. His armed men were about him. Neither the president of this body, nor yet Hyrcanus our high priest, dared open the trial for terror.”
“Why waste time telling us what we already know, O Sameas?” Eleazer snapped. “We were only about to begin the trial when Herod fled the place.”
“Then I ask your humble pardon for my hasty conclusions, my colleagues. Let us summon this Herod to return and be tried. The day is getting old.”
A quick rumble of dissent swept the body, and Sameas smiled in a knowing way.
“No, no!” Hyrcanus objected strongly. “We must postpone the matter to some other time.”
“Very well, O Hyrcanus and my assessors, hear this: The future master of Lower Asia stood before us this day. He exhibited his superiority over us by the disdain with which he treated this body. He recognized that the power had shifted to other hands, a fact which you refuse to admit. I sought to dissuade you from this foolish action when it was conceived, for I saw clearly that no power to enforce your demands resided in your hands, did I not? And for this impotent, audacious scheme, Herod will someday punish you all with death. Hyrcanus has stated on one occasion that he was at the home of the father of Herod when Herod was born, and that his birth occurred at the exact appearance of the sickle of the new moon. It is possible that it foretold the future of the infant. I do not insist upon it, I merely state that it is possible. Of this I am persuaded, that one stood before us this day who shall be the master of this nation in no long time.”
A growl of dissent broke upon the chamber, and all stood on their feet and without more ceremony, left the room. Here and there Sameas was accused of being bribed by Antipater’s money to make the statement that he had made.
His tutor, Pollio, disputed this vehemently and showed his own hand by saying, “Sameas is a truly honest man. If you have power greater than Herod, why then did you allow yourselves to be made the laughingstock of the nation today?”
In this muddle, the dignitaries hurried from the room and down the stairs to the crowded streets. In confirmation of the predictions of Sameas, they descended into a volcano of acclaim for Herod. There was not one voice raised in their honor. But a Galilean bared his behind to them. All but a few then saw that a new moon had indeed risen over Judea.
Antipater, about to mount his horse, saw Pollio and Sameas so close to him that the sleeve of Sameas almost touched his own in the crush. Antipater smiled and spoke, then turned his horse over to his groom and, together, the three made their way through the human mass, and walked, conversing pleasantly, towards his luxurious home in the Lower City. Antipater had graciously invited the two to view his new grandson and sip a cup of wine cooled by snow brought from Mount Hermon. The two accepted with alacrity. Not one word was spoken of the event of the day, but being men of understanding, it was accepted on both sides that a new alliance had been formed.
__________________________________
From The Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston. Used with permission of the publisher, Amistad. Copyright © 2025.
