Page:Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, 1842.djvu/66

34 afterwards in  great  favour  with  Hyrcanus  the  high  priest  of  Judea. He was  subsequently  sent  by  Hyrcanus  on  an  embassy  ta Pompey,  and  having  restored  the  kingdom  to  him,  which  had been invaded  by  Aristobulus,  the  brother  of  the  latter,  Antipater himself had  the  good  fortune  to  be  nominated  the  procurator  of Palestine. Antipater, however,  having  been  treacherously  slain,  by those  who  envied  his  good  fortune,  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Herod. He was  afterwards,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate,  appointed  king  of the  Jews,  under  Antony  and  Augustus. His sons  were  Herod  and the other  tetrarchs. These accounts  of  the  Jews  also  coincide with those  of  the  Greeks. But, as  the  genealogies  of  the  Hebrews had been  regularly  kept  in  the  archives  until  then,  and  also  of those  who  referred  back  as  far  as  the  ancient  proselytes;  as  for instance, to  Achior  the  Ammonite,  and  Ruth  the  Moabitess,  and to those  that  were  intermixed  with  the  Israelites  at  their  departure from  Egypt;  and  as  the  lineage  of  the  Israelites  contributed nothing to  Herod's  advantage,  he  was  goaded  by  the  consciousness of  his  ignoble  extraction,  and  committed  all  these  records  of their  families  to  the  flames. Thinking that  himself  might  appear of  noble  origin,  by  the  fact  that  no  one  else  would  be  able to trace  his  pedigree  by  the  public  records,  back  to  patriarchs  or proselytes,  and  to  those  strangers  that  were  called  georae. A few however  of  the  careful,  either  remembering  the  names,  or having  it  in  their  power  in  some  other  way,  by  means  of  copies,  to have  private  records  of  their  own,  gloried  in  the  idea  of  preserving the memory  of  their  noble  extraction. Of these  were  the  abovementioned  persons,  called  desposyni, on  account  of  their  affinity to the  family  of  our  Saviour. These coming  from  Nazara  and Cochaba, villages  of  Judea,  to  the  other  parts  of  the  world,  explain-