It will suffice, I think,[127] merely to propound this last view as an alternative to the other.[128] We do not thereby deprive ourselves[129] of all free-will nor disclaim responsibility for acting in this way or that in matters which long before our time have been elsewhere philosophically treated in the Law. As between the two other alternatives, one might censure the lads, in that, with youthful impetuosity and princely insolence, they tolerated calumnies upon their father, and were no fair critics of the actions of his life.[130] Malicious in their suspicions, and intemperate in speech, they were on both grounds an easy prey to the flattering informers who lay in wait for them. As for the father, his impious treatment of his sons seems to admit of no extenuation. With no clear evidence of a plot, with no proof of any preparations for an attempt on his life, he had the heart to slay his own flesh and blood. Men of the noblest presence, the darlings of all outside the family, proficient in their pursuits, whether hunting or military exercises or discourse on everyday topics—they had all these gifts, in particular Alexander, the elder of the two. Granted that he had actually found them guilty, it would have been punishment enough to confine them in prison or to banish them from the realm, without taking their lives; he had the sure shield of the power of the Roman Empire[131] to secure him from assault and violence. But to kill them out of hand to gratify an overmastering passion was a clear case of impiety beyond measure; this appalling crime was, moreover, the act of an old man. The long struggle and procrastination cannot be urged in his excuse. That a man taken by surprise should in a fit of excitement commit some monstrous crime, though distressing, is an event of common occurrence. But this deliberate and leisurely procedure—often to take the deed in hand and as often to postpone it, and then at last to undertake it and carry it through—that was the work of a murderous mind, rooted in depravity. He displayed the same character in the sequel, when he did not stay his hand even from those whom he held dearest of the remaining members of his family.[132] In their case the justice of the sentence created less sympathy for the victims, but the barbarity was the same as was shown in his refusal of mercy to the others.—_Ant._ XVI. 11. 7 f. (394-404). Footnote 121: The rebuilt city of Samaria. Footnote 122: A fortress in Judæa. Footnote 123: An elder Alexander. Footnote 124: Text doubtful. Footnote 125: Reading, with Niese, παραλειπτέον, “thought that none should be left (alive).” MSS παραληπτέον, which Whiston renders “would take no one into partnership with him.” Footnote 126: Or perhaps “is superior to all wise calculation.” Footnote 127: Adopting the conjecture ὡς νομίζω for ὡς μείζω. The text and meaning of this difficult passage are uncertain. Footnote 128: The doctrine of Free-will.