Berne, Synod op, an assembly of the clergy of Berne, Switzerland, to consolidate the work of the Reformation, held in 1532. It was the first of the Re- formed synods of Berne, and was attended by 230 of the clergy, June l. 1 I, 1532. A Church Director}' and Manual fur Pastors were adopted, cont lining many ex- cellent regulations, and full of the Christian spirit, as
are the Acts of the Synod. They were published in Basle, 1532 ; and again enjoined in 1728 and 1775 ; re- published, Basle, 1830, 8vo, with a German version.— Herzog, lual-EneyJdopiidie, ii, 87.
Berni'ce (Bspvi'wj in Acts, also in Josephus ; Bere- nice = <PepeviK>i, see Sturz, Dial. Maced. p. 31 ; the form Beronice is also found, comp. Eustath. ad II. x, 192 ; Yalckenaer, ad Herod, p. 477 ; Niebuhr, Kl. Schr. i, 237), the name of several Egyptian princesses (see Smith's Diet, of Class. Biog. s. v. Berenice), and also of several Jewish females of royal connection named in Josephus, and one of them in the New Testament.
1. The daughter of Costabarus and Salome, and niece of Herod the Great. She was married to Aristo- bulus, the son of Herod, who, proud of his descent from the Maccabees through his mother Mariamne, is said to have taunted her with her comparatively low origin ; and her consequent complaints to her mother served to increase the feud, which resulted in the death of Aristobulus (Josephus, Ant. xviii, 5, 4; xvi, 1, 2; 4, 1 ; 7, 3 ; War, i, 23, 1; 24, 3). See Aristo- bulus. After his execution, B.C. 6, Bernice became the wife of Theudion, maternal uncle to Antipater, the eldest son of Herod — Antipater having brought about the marriage, with the view of conciliating Salome and disarming her suspicions toward himself (Joseph. Ant. xvii, 1,1; War, i, 28, 1). Josephus does not mention the death of Theudion, but it is probable that he suffered for his share in Antipater's plot against the life of Herod (.4 n<. xvii, 4, 2; War, i, 30, 5): See An- tipater. Bernice certainly appears to have been again a widow when she accompanied her mother to Rome with Archelaus, who went thither at the com- mencement of his reign to obtain from Augustus the ratification of his father's will (Joseph. Ant. xvii, 9, 3; War, ii, 2, 1). See Archelaus. She seems to have continued at Rome the rest of her life, enjoying the fa- vor of Augustus and the friendship of Antonia (q. v.), the wife of the elder Drusus. The affection of Antonia for Bernice, indeed, exhibited itself even after the lat- ter's death, and during the reign of Tiberius, in offices of substantial kindness to her son Agrippa I (q. v.), whom she furnished with the means of discharging his del.it to the imperial treasury (Strabo, xvi, 7G5 ; Jose- phus, Ant. xviii, 6, 1-6).
2. The eldest daughter of Agrippa I (q. v.) by his wife Cypros : she was espoused at a very early age to Marcus, son of Alexander the Alabarch ; but he died before the consummation of the marriage, and she then became the wife of her uncle Flerod, king of Chalcis, by whom she had two sons (Josephus, Ant. xviii, 5, 4; xix, 5, 1 ; 9, 1 ; xx, 5, 2; 7, 3; War, ii, 2, 6). After the death of this Herod, A.D. 48, Bernice, then but 20 years old, lived for a considerable time with her own brother, Agrippa II (q. v.), and not without just suspicion of an incestuous commerce with him, to avoid the scandal of which she induced Polemon, king of ( 'ilieia, to marry her ; but she soon deserted him and returned again to her brother (Joseph. Ant. xx, 7, 3; Juvenal, vi, 156), in connection with whom she is men- tioned Acts xxv, 13, 23 ; xxvi, 30, as having visited Festus at Ca?sarea on his appointment as procurator of Judaea, when Paul defended himself before them all. A.D. 55. About A.D. 65 we hear of her being at Jerusalem (whither she had gone in pursuance of a vow), and interceding for the Jews with the procura- tor Florus, at the risk of her life, during his cruel massacre of them (Joseph. War, ii, 15, 1). Together with her lirother she endeavored to divert her country- men from the purpose of rebellion (Joseph. War, ii, 1G, 5) ; and, having joined the Romans with him at the outbreak of the final war, she gained the favor of Yes- pasian by her munificent presents, and the love of Titus by her beauty. Her connection with the latter continued at Ro no, whither she went after the capture of Jerusalem, and it is even said that he wished to make her his wife ; but the fear of offending the Ro-
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mans by such a step compelled him to dismiss her. and, though she afterward returned to Rome, he still avoided a renewal of their intimacy (Tacitus, Hist, ii, 2, 81 ; Sueton. Til. 7; Dio Cass, lxvi, 15, 18). Quin- tilian (Inst. Omt. iv, 1) speaks of having pleaded her cause on some occasion not otherwise alluded to, on •which she herself sat as judge. See Nolde, Hist. lilum. p. 403 sq.
3. The daughter of Archclaus son of Chelcias, and Mariamne daughter of Herod Agrippa I (Josephus, Ant. xx, 7, 1).