_HEROD, KING OF JUDÆA._ B.C. 40–33. MEANWHILE the Parthians had made themselves masters of Jerusalem, reinstated Antigonus in the supreme power, and delivered into his hands the captives Hyrcanus and Phasael. The new ruler, unwilling to put his aged uncle to death, but determined that he should never be able to hold the office of high-priest again, caused his ears to be cropped off[90], and then sent him to Seleucia in Babylonia to be retained as a prisoner of the Parthians. Phasael, knowing his death was certain, anticipated the executioner by beating out his brains against the walls of his prison. In the mean time Herod had reached Rome, where he found Antonius at the very summit of power. The Roman received him with much kindness, and introduced him to Octavius, who calling to mind the aid which the great Julius had received from Antipater during his Egyptian war[91], was no less ready to befriend him. Herod protested he wished for nothing more than that Aristobulus, the brother of his betrothed Mariamne, should be placed on the throne of Judæa. But the triumvirs would not entertain the proposition for a moment. Who was more fit to receive the title of king than Herod himself? Who was more likely to cope effectually with Antigonus, and to render aid in the projected war with Parthia? Accordingly with the assent of the senate he was formally nominated King of Judæa, and preceded by the consuls and other magistrates, walked in procession between Antonius and Octavius to the Capitol, where the usual sacrifices were offered, and the decree formally laid up in the archives[92]. A week only had elapsed since the arrival of Herod in Italy. But without losing a moment he hurried to Brundusium, and thence took ship for Ptolemais, where he presented himself after an absence of barely three months. Meanwhile Antigonus had been unsuccessfully besieging the fortress of Masada, with the design of obtaining possession of Mariamne and Aristobulus. The first object of the newly-arrived king was to relieve this stronghold, and the recollection of his energy as a governor in Galilee quickly attracted many to his standard. He also invoked the aid of Ventidius the Roman general, who had been sent to check the advance of the Parthians and had encamped before Jerusalem, and partly through his aid but still more by his own energy succeeded in raising the siege of Masada, liberated his relatives, and recovered the treasures he had deposited there.