Herodias | Page 3

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Etext prepared by John Bickers, [email protected]

HERODIAS By Gustave Flaubert

CHAPTER I
In the eastern side of the Dead Sea rose the citadel of Machaerus. It was
built upon a conical peak of basalt, and was surrounded by four deep
valleys, one on each side, another in front, and the fourth in the rear. At
the base of the citadel, crowding against one another, a group of houses
stood within the circle of a wall, whose outlines undulated with the
unevenness of the soil. A zigzag road, cutting through the rocks, joined
the city to the fortress, the walls of which were about one hundred and
twenty cubits high, having numerous angles and ornamental towers that
stood out like jewels in this crown of stone overhanging an abyss.
Within the high walls stood a palace, adorned with many richly carved
arches, and surrounded by a terrace that on one side of the building
spread out below a wide balcony made of sycamore wood, upon which
tall poles had been erected to support an awning.
One morning, just before sunrise, the tetrarch, Herod-Antipas, came out
alone upon the balcony. He leaned against one of the columns and
looked about him.

The crests of the hill-tops in the valley below the palace were just
discernible in the light of the false dawn, although their bases,
extending to the abyss, were still plunged in darkness. A light mist
floated in the air; presently it lifted, and the shores of the Dead Sea
became visible. The sun, rising behind Machaerus, spread a rosy flush
over the sky, lighting up the stony shores, the hills, and the desert, and
illuming the distant mountains of Judea, rugged and grey in the early
dawn. En-gedi, the central point of the group, threw a deep black
shadow; Hebron, in the background, was round-topped like a dome;
Eschol had her pomegranates, Sorek her vineyards, Carmel her fields of
sesame; and the tower of Antonia, with its enormous cube, dominated
Jerusalem. The tetrarch turned his gaze from it to contemplate the
palms of Jericho on his right; and his thoughts dwelt upon other cities
of his beloved Galilee,--Capernaum, Endor, Nazareth,
Tiberias--whither it might be he would never return.
The Jordan wound its way through the arid plains that met his gaze;
white and glittering under the clear sky, it dazzled the eye like snow in
the rays of the sun.
The Dead Sea now looked like a sheet of lapis-lazuli; and at its
southern extremity, on the coast of Yemen, Antipas recognised clearly
what at first he had been able only dimly to perceive. Several tents
could now be plainly seen; men carrying spears were moving about
among a group of horses; and dying camp-fires shone faintly in the
beams of the rising sun.
This was a troop belonging to the sheikh of the Arabs, the daughter of
whom the tetrarch had repudiated in order to wed Herodias, already
married to one of his brothers, who lived in Italy but who had no
pretensions to power.
Antipas was waiting for assistance and reinforcements from the
Romans, but as Vitellius, the Governor of Syria, had not yet arrived, he
was consumed with impatience and anxiety. Perhaps Agrippa had
ruined his cause with the Emperor, he thought. Philip, his third brother,
sovereign of Batania, was arming himself clandestinely. The Jews were
becoming intolerant of the tetrarch's idolatries; he knew that many were

weary of his rule; and he hesitated now between adopting one of two
projects: to conciliate the Arabs and win back their allegiance, or to
conclude an alliance with the Parthians. Under the pretext of
celebrating his birthday, he had planned to bring together, at a grand
banquet, the chiefs of his troops, the stewards of his domains, and the
most important men from the region about Galilee.
Antipas threw a keen glance along all the roads leading to Machaerus.
They were deserted. Eagles were sweeping through the air high above
his head; the soldiers of the guard, placed at intervals along the
ramparts, slept or dozed, leaning against the walls; all was silent within
the castle.
Suddenly he heard the sound of a