But the matter of the king's attempt against the apostles brooked no further delay; for at once the avenging minister of divine justice pursued him, immediately after his plot against the apostles — as the writing of the Acts relates — when he had set out for Caesarea, and there, on a notable day of festival, having arrayed himself in splendid and royal apparel, he had delivered an oration from on high before the tribunal. For when all the people had acclaimed his oration, as at the voice of a god and not of a man, the oracle relates that immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, and, becoming eaten of worms, he expired.
And it is worth marvelling at the agreement, even in this marvel, of the account of Josephus with the divine Scripture; whereby he plainly bears witness to the truth in the nineteenth volume of the Antiquities, where in these very words he relates the wonder somewhat thus:
«The third year of his reign over the whole of Judaea had been completed, and he came to the city of Caesarea, which was formerly called Strato's Tower. There he was holding spectacles in honour of Caesar, knowing this to be a certain festival on behalf of Caesar's welfare; and at it there was gathered a multitude of those throughout the province who were in office and advanced in dignity.
And on the second day of the spectacles, having put on a robe made entirely of silver, so that it was a wondrous web, he came into the theatre at the break of day. There, at the first onset of the rays of the sun, the silver, struck with light, gleamed wondrously, flashing forth something terrible and awe-inspiring to those who gazed intently upon it.
And straightway the flatterers, from this side and that — voices that were in no way for his good — cried out, hailing him as a god, and adding, «Be gracious! Even if until now we have feared you as a man, yet henceforth we confess you to be above mortal nature.»
The king did not rebuke them, nor did he reject the impious flattery. But looking up a little while after, he saw an angel seated above his head. This he at once perceived to be a cause of evils, the same who had once been a cause of good things; and he was seized with anguish in his heart.
And suddenly a pain in his belly fastened upon him, beginning with great violence. So, looking earnestly toward his friends, he said: «I, your god, am now commanded to bring my life to its end, fate at this very moment convicting the words just now falsely spoken concerning me. I who was called immortal by you am now led away to die. But the appointed lot must be accepted, as God has willed it; for we have lived in no mean way at all, but in the splendour that is counted blessed.» And while he was saying these things, he was worn down by the intensification of the pain.
So with haste he was carried into the palace, and word went out to all that within a little while he was utterly at the point of death. And the multitude at once, with their wives and children, sitting down upon sackcloth according to the ancestral custom, besought God on behalf of the king; and all places were full of wailing and lamentation. And the king, lying in a lofty chamber, and looking down upon them as they fell prostrate, did not himself remain without tears.
And being worn out continuously for five days by the pain of his belly, he brought his life to its end, in the fifty-fourth year from his birth, and the seventh of his reign. He had reigned four years under Caius Caesar, ruling over the tetrarchy of Philip for three years, and in the fourth taking on also that of Herod, and reigning three years more under the imperium of Claudius Caesar.»
These things in Josephus, agreeing with the rest in concord with the divine Scriptures, I greatly admire. But if to some it should seem that there is a disagreement concerning the appellation of the king, yet at least the time and the deed show him to be the same man — either the name having been altered through some scribal error, or there having been a double name about the same person, as happens also with many.