Page:Imperialdictiona02eadi Brandeis.pdf/933

HER in the reaction steam-engine of Mr. Ruthven. It is impossible to form any conclusion as to the first invention of those contrivances; for the writings of Hero give no information on that subject, and draw no distinction between his own inventions and those of others. It is chiefly through the writings of Hero that we are acquainted with the state of knowledge of practical hydraulics and pneumatics in his time. He describes sucking-pumps, forcing-pumps, and a fire-engine, nearly similar to those now used, and a machine, now called Hero's fountain, for raising one mass of water by means of the descent of another, acting through a column of air. He is said by Pappus to have referred the whole of the mechanical powers to one principle: this must have been the principle now called that "of virtual velocities." The latest edition of his "Pneumatics" is that edited by Mr. Bennett Woodcroft.—W. J. M. R.  HERO, a mathematician, the instructor of Proclus, probably flourished about the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century.—W. J. M. R.  HERO, called, an engineer and mathematician, flourished about 610-641. He wrote some works, of which little is known, on geometry and on military engineering.  HEROD, commonly called, son of Antipater an Idumean, was born at Ascalon, 62. At the age of twenty-five he was appointed governor of Galilee, where he applied himself with such zeal, vigour, and success to the difficult work of rooting out the bands of robbers who infested the country, that he procured the good-will of the inhabitants as well as of Sextus Cæsar, governor of Syria. Having been cited to appear at Jerusalem before Hyrcanus through envy and fear of the Jews at the growing power of Antipater and his sons, he was advised to flee to Damascus. In the war of Anthony and Octavianus against the murderers of Cæsar, Cassius and Marcus Brutus collected an army, towards which Herod contributed largely, on which account they nominated him procurator of all Syria. When Anthony, after conquering Brutus and Cassius, came to Asia, various representations were laid before him of Herod's oppressive and tyrannical conduct, but without success. So far from condemning, Anthony raised him to the dignity of tetrarch. The invasion of Judea by the Parthians led to Herod's possession of the kingdom. That warlike people took and plundered Jerusalem, placed Antigonus on the throne, and carried off Hyrcanus prisoner. In this crisis Herod went to Egypt, and thence to Rome, where Anthony and Octavianus procured him the appointment of king of Judea. After returning from Italy he collected a numerous army, conquered the greater part of Galilee, and began to lay siege to Jerusalem in conjunction with a Roman army. More than two years, however, elapsed before he could make much progress. During the preparations for his taking the metropolis, he went to Samaria and solemnized his marriage with Mariamne, daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus. After a siege of six months the city was taken. On the defeat of Anthony by Octavianus at Actium, Herod hastened to Rhodes to the victor, whose favour he wished to procure; confessed that he had been the friend of one who had been his benefactor; but that he was now ready to transfer his allegiance to the conqueror. Octavianus not only confirmed him in possession of the kingdom, but also enlarged it considerably. Herod was subsequently nominated by him governor of all Syria, and his territorial possessions enlarged. The calamities which befel his family and relations were for the most part the consequence of mutual distrust, envy, and hatred. The suspicious king lent a ready ear to the insinuations of his friends, so that murder and crime prevailed. His marriage with Mariamne the Hasmonean, may be regarded as the source of almost all the miseries he subsequently endured. Having reluctantly made Aristobulus—Mariamne's brother, a youth of sixteen years of age—high priest, he secretly determined to rid himself of him by having him drowned while bathing at Jericho. This excited the hatred of Mariamne and her mother Alexandra against Herod. These two women were very obnoxious to the king's mother and sister, Cypros and Salome, who charged Mariamne with adultery. In consequence of some unguarded expressions which Mariamne uttered, betraying her acquaintance with secret instructions given to Joseph, Herod in a fit of rage ordered both Joseph and Mariamne to be put to death. Bitter repentance followed the death of his wife, and he fell into a very dangerous disease. Before he recovered he gave orders that Alexandra should be executed, for proposing to the officers of the two forts in Jerusalem to deliver them up to her and Herod's sons. Aristobulus and Alexander inherited their mother's hatred against the father, and reports of their disaffection were assiduously spread by Salome, to which the suspicious king listened. As a counterpoise to them, he called back to court Doris and her son Antipater, the latter of whom having succeeded in inducing Herod to put his half-brothers to death in Samaria, afterwards began to plot his father's destruction. But Salome informed the king of the danger that threatened him. On his return from Rome Antipater was condemned and executed, five days before Herod himself, who, tormented by a painful disease, raged like a demon, giving orders that the principal men belonging to all the cities should be collected in the amphitheatre at Jericho, surrounded by soldiers, and put to the sword after his decease, that there might be mourning instead of joy at his departure. Herod reigned thirty-four years from the death of Antigonus, and thirty-seven from the time he was invested with the office of king by the Romans. Though cruel, suspicious, and revengeful, his public administration was characterized by great splendour, especially in the erection of large buildings. He restored the temple, and adorned it with very costly materials. Many other buildings and fortresses owed their existence or splendour to him. Even foreign cities partook of his generous bounty. The vast sums of money necessary for such works must have pressed hard upon his subjects, who, as long as they had any attachment to Judaism, must have looked with aversion upon the man who introduced heathen customs, and violated their dearest institutions. For the life of Herod we are entirely indebted to Josephus.—S. D.  HEROD AGRIPPA. See.  HEROD ANTIPAS, son of Herod the Great by Malthace, received Galilee and Perea at the death of his father, with the title of tetrarch. He was first married to a daughter of Aretas, whom he divorced, and took Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod Philip. John the Baptist was beheaded by him for finding fault with the incestuous connection. On the accession of Caligula, he was induced by Herodias to go to Rome to solicit the title of king, which had been given to Herod Agrippa, his nephew. But instead of obtaining his request, he was deprived of his dominions, banished to Lyons, and subsequently removed to Spain, where he died in obscurity. Christ was sent to him by Pontius Pilate.—S. D.  HERODES,, the orator, was born at Marathon in Attica in 104. Suidas, who calls him Julius Herodes, says he was the son of Atticus, the son of Plutarch, of the race of the Æacides; that he was an Athenian of the Marathonian deme; that he was a sophist, and very rich in consequence of a fortunate acquisition of wealth. Philostratus, who has written his life, has left many curious details respecting him, to some of which we should hardly give credit, were they not confirmed by similar declarations by Pausanias, Aulus Gellius, and others. His attachment to learning was remarkable, and his own wealth joined to that of his wife, enabled him to incur any expense. After a time he became a public teacher at Athens, and then at Rome, where Marcus Aurelius was his pupil, and he was in high repute as a rhetorician, philosopher, and scholar. About 125 he was charged with the government of certain towns in Western Asia; and, after his removal to Rome, he became consul in 143. The death of his wife led to his examination on suspicion of foul treatment; but he was acquitted. Eventually he returned to Greece, and died at Marathon in 180. A. Gellius calls him a man skilled in Greek eloquence, and of consular dignity, and speaks of himself as often invited with many others to the paradisaical suburban retreat of Cephisia, of which he gives a charming description. Herodes was one of the most generous of men. His works have perished, and some of the titles are probably spurious.—B. H. C.  HERODIANUS, a Greek writer of Roman history, lived in the first half of the third century, and is supposed to have been a native of Alexandria, but well acquainted with Rome by personal residence. Of the facts of his life next to nothing is known; but it appears from the commencement of his work that he wrote it at an advanced age. He professes to write the history of Rome in his own times, and commences with the death of Marcus Aurelius and ends with the beginning of Gordianus III. The work, therefore, extends over about sixty years. The title of the work is "Herodian's eight books of the history of the empire after Marcus," as it appears in the later editions; but in those of Aldus it is simply "Herodian's eight books of <section end="933Zcontin" />