Herodias

Flaubertn the eastern side of the Dead Sea rose the citadel ofMachaerus. It was builtupon a conical peak of basalt, and was surrounded by four deep valleys, one on each side, another in front, and the fourth in the rear. At the base ofthe citadel, crowding against one another, a group of houses stood withinthe circle of a wall, whose outlines undulated with the unevenness of thesoil. A zigzag road, cutting through the rocks, joined the city to the fortress, the walls of which were about one hundred and twenty cubits high, havingnumerous angles and ornamental towers that stood out like jewels in thiscrown of stone overhanging an abyss.Within the highwalls stood a palace, adornedwith many richly carved arches, and surrounded by a terrace that on one side of the building spread out be-low a wide balcony made of sycamore wood, upon which tall poles had beenerected to support an awning.One morning, just before sunrise, the tetrarch, Herod-Antipas, came outalone upon the balcony. He leaned against one of the columns and lookedabout him.The crests of the hill-tops in the valley below the palace were just discernible3 GUSTAVE FLAUBERTin the light of the false dawn, although their bases, extending to the abyss, were still plunged in darkness. A light mist floated in the air; presently itlifted, and the shores of the Dead Sea became visible. The sun, rising behindMachaerus, spread a rosy flush over the sky, lighting up the stony shores, thehills, and the desert, and illuming the distant mountains of Judea, ruggedand grey in the early dawn. En-gedi, the central point of the group, threwa deep black shadow; Hebron, in the background, was round-topped like adome; Eschol had her pomegranates, Sorek her vineyards, Carmel her fieldsof sesame; and the tower of Antonia, with its enormous cube, dominatedJerusalem. The tetrarch turned his gaze from it to contemplate the palms ofJericho on his right; and his thoughts dwelt upon other cities of his belovedGalilee, -Capernaum, Endor, Nazareth, Tiberias-whither it might be hewouldnever return.The Jordan wound its way through the arid plains that met his gaze; whiteand glittering under the clear sky, it dazzled the eye like snow in the rays ofthe sun.The Dead Sea now looked like a sheet of lapis-lazuli; and at its southern ex-tremity, on the coast of Yemen, Antipas recognised clearly what at first hehad been able only dimly to perceive. Several tents could now