Pompey stood up
for the old laws, but Caesar was too strong for him, and at last hunted
him to Egypt, where he was murdered by the last of the Ptolemies. Julius
Caesar, who was one of the greatest warriors and most able men who ever
lived, managed Rome as he chose, and coming to Syria, confirmed Hyrcanus
in his rank, and finding him careless and indolent, made Antipas
procurator, or governor for the Romans; and thus Antipas and his son,
Herod, held all the real power in their hands, though still under the
Romans. Going back to Rome, Julius Caesar became so powerful, that it
was thought he would make himself king, and after four years, some of
the friends of the old laws killed him with their daggers in the Senate
House, B. C. 44. After this, there was great confusion; and while
Augustus Caesar, the nephew of Julius, gained power in the west, Mark
Antony, another Roman general, came to Egypt to attend to the affairs of
the East. He was a selfish licentious man, who cared more for Cleopatra,
the beautiful sister of the last Ptolemy, and Queen of Egypt, than for
Rome or for his duty; and he took bribes from Herod to support his power
over the old prince, Hyrcanus, to whose daughter, Mariamne, Herod was
betrothed.
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