This sealed the doom of the unfortunate young man. Seeing in him a possible rival, and suspecting the designs of Alexandra, Herod resolved to compass his destruction, and an opportunity soon presented itself. At the close of the solemnities he repaired with the youthful high-priest to Jericho, where Alexandra had invited them to an entertainment. The day was close――sultry, even for that tropical region――and the two, with many of their retinue, betook themselves to the fish-ponds, for the purpose of bathing. At first the attendants alone plunged into the water, and Herod and the high-priest merely looked on. But as it grew dark, the king proposed that his companion should join the rest in the water, where several of the attendants, suborned for the purpose, plunged him under the water, and held him down till life was extinct[96]. Next day it was announced at Jerusalem that Aristobulus had been accidentally drowned, and the spectacle of the dead body excited the wildest sorrow. Herod himself pretended the utmost grief. But neither the tears he shed, nor the magnificent funeral with which he honoured the young man’s remains, could divert the popular suspicion and indignation. Least of all could he deceive the bereaved mother. The grief of Alexandra was intense, and more than once she was on the point of laying violent hands upon herself. At length she resolved to appeal for the second time to the friendship of Cleopatra, and wrote her a full account of the treacherous deed. The Egyptian queen, herself a woman and a mother, moved by her touching story, would not let Antonius have any rest till he had promised that the matter should be investigated. On his arrival, therefore, at the Syrian Laodicea[97] B.C. 34, the triumvir sent to Herod, and demanded an explanation of the death of Aristobulus. Though Herod was well aware of the ill-will of Cleopatra towards himself, and of the risk he ran, he dared not disobey this summons, and resolved to go in person and plead his cause. Before setting out he entrusted to his uncle Joseph not only the government of Jerusalem, but the care also of the beautiful Mariamne, strictly enjoining him, in the event of his own death, to slay her rather than let her fall into the hands of Antonius. Having thus provided for the worst he departed, and, on his arrival at Laodicea, presented himself before the Roman and his Egyptian enchantress. Cleopatra, eager to add Judæa to her dominions, exhausted every expedient to ensure his ruin. But by his confidence, and still more by his lavish bribes, Herod succeeded in defeating her designs, and in clearing himself in the opinion of her paramour, so that Antonius not merely dismissed the charges against his favourite, but placed him by his side on his judicial throne, invited him to his luxurious banquets, and heaped upon him every mark of distinction.