in Herod and Antipater — Markham, Gervase; Sampson, William
Metadata
Play
Herod and Antipater
Author
Markham, Gervase; Sampson, William
Year (catalogued)
1622
First performance
1622
Decade
1620s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Red Bull (Revels) Company (first)
Theater
Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Hil. | Hill.
Words
420
Characters
2262
Typicality
0.14 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A06982
BritDrama no.
1901
Cluster
Cluster 17 — Intriguers & schemers
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 17 (nat, leaguer, assyrian, mowche, bashas, andalle…). Matches are highlighted.
These are (my Lord) your Lodgings; here you may Rest at your noble pleasure; when you call, W'are ready to attend you. 'Tis no less. Oh royal Sir, deadly unfortunate; For, never was so sad a day before Seen to overcover Egypt: To be brief Augustus hath the Conquest; Anthony Lies buried in the blood his warlike hand Struck from
Full speech
Did your Excellence call? My Lord, unto a sillable; my tongue Hath po son for your purpose, and I am Confirmed in every circumstance. Tut, this is needless; Sir, my Quality Needs not a twice instruction. This is a good persuader; right or wrong, TO easure will make the dumb man use his tongue. 'Tis most true; And had I not with threats and some exclaims Removed them, you had perished. Sir, 'tis the Wise of the deceased Pheroas. By her own fatal mischief: when she saw I did ap roach her Dwelling; first she bars All Doors against my passage; then, her self Mounts up into a TO rret, which orelookes What ever stands about it; thence she calls, And asks me what I came for; I declared The pleasure of your Greatness; and with terms Fit for her royal Calling, wished she would Obey what I must finish: She returns And answer Like her fury; said she would Nor yield to you, nor mine authority. Which anger being over; she cried see, Thus will I fly to Herod; and that spoke, Down from the Turret did she throw her self As if a Whirlwind took her: which perceived, I made the Soldiers catch her; yet the force Came with such deadly violence, that some She struck dead underneath her; and her self Bruised, as you see, and wounded: By our means Hath yet so much life left, as may resolve, What we cannot discover. No where to be found. My Lord;—Your cke is broke. These are (my Lord) your Lodgings; here you may Rest at your noble pleasure; when you call, W'are ready to attend you. 'Tis no less. Oh royal Sir, deadly unfortunate; For, never was so sad a day before Seen to overcover Egypt: To be brief Augustus hath the Conquest; Anthony Lies buried in the blood his warlike hand Struck from his royal bosom; the sad Queen Overtakes him with Like fury, and now both Are turned to dust and ashes. But hold still Far greater to unburthen: Soon as chance Had made Augustus happy, and orethrowne Fair Cleopatra, and her Anthony; He views his spoils, and amongst them finds the aid Y'ad sent to interpose him: Now he frowns, Bends his enraged forehead, and protests, That Juda and Jerusalem shall curse They ever herd the name of Anthony: And this he spoke with such and Emphasis, As shook my heart within me; yet gave wings Unto my faith to tell you. Sir, in Rhodes.
Plot summary
Plot — Herod and Antipater
Queen Alexandra attempts to flee to Egypt with her son, the High Priest Aristobulus, after King Herod commands a bloody purge of their family. Herod’s troops arrive in time only to seize their luggage, but they are found hiding inside. Herod makes a public gesture of sparing them, but has his bastard son Antipater arrange an ‘accidental’ drowning for Aristobulus during a swimming contest. Herod backed the wrong side in the recent Roman civil war between Mark Antony and Augustus. He goes to Rome to make his peace with Augustus, the new master of the Empire, leaving Antipater with instructions to kill Mariam, the Queen, in the event of his failure. When Herod presents himself, Augustus offers two slaves the chance to murder him: the Briton conscientiously refuses, whereas the Roman eagerly accepts the job. But Augustus was only toying with Herod: he rewards the British slave, has the Roman thrown into the sea, and confirms Herod in his kingdom as an ally of Rome. Mariam learns that Herod has ordered her death, which compounds his crime in killing Aristobulus. Antipater, who seeks the crown, draws inspiration from Hell, and is shown a vision of the murder of Agamemnon. He procures false witnesses to accuse Mariam of attempting to poison her husband in order to facilitate an incestuous liaison with his brother. Herod sentences them both to death; he later changes his mind and tries to reprieve Mariam, but is too late. His two sons, Alexander and the younger Aristobulus, raise rebellion against him to avenge their mother. War is averted when Augustus intervenes: Herod’s authority is reinforced, the rebel princes are forgiven, and they are given nominally equal status with Antipater, though Herod gives precedence to the bastard. Antipater receives further hellish inspiration in a vision of Jugurth’s murder of his half-brothers. More false evidence is arranged, implicating Alexander and Aristobulus in plots to assassinate Herod and sow sedition in the army: a mason working on the rebuilding of the Temple is induced to say that he was bribed to drop a stone on Herod as he came to inspect the works, and Herod’s barber is asked to cut his throat. The barber shows the letter to Herod, who kills him to be on the safe side, and then has Alexander and Aristobulus strangled. Antipater is now the only surviving son. Wishing to retire, Herod sends Antipater to Rome, asking Augustus to make him King of Judah. Before he leaves, Antipater suborns Pheroas, Herod’s cupbearer,…