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It was the Pharisees, who had sent an embassy of two hundred of their most respected men to the Roman general and procured from him the overthrow of the kingdom; not to the advantage of their own nation, but doubtless to that of the Romans, who from the nature of the case could not but here revert to the old rights of the Seleucids, and could not tolerate a conquering power like that of Jannaeus within the limits of their empire.
It was the Pharisees, who had sent an embassy of two hundred of their most respected men to the Roman general and procured from him the overthrow of the kingdom; not to the advantage of their own nation, but doubtless to that of the Romans, who from the nature of the case could not but here revert to the old rights of the Seleucids, and could not tolerate a conquering power like that of Jannaeus within the limits of their empire.
Weakness of Republican Government; Jealousy of the several Tribes; Resolution to have a King; Rules for regal Government; Character of Saul; of David; Troubles of his Reign; Accession of Solomon; Erection of the Temple; Commerce; Murmurs of the People; Rehoboam; Division of the Tribes; Kings of Israel; Kingdom of Judah; Siege of Jerusalem; Captivity; Kings of Judah; Return from Babylon; Second Temple; Canon of Scripture; Struggles between Egypt and Syria; Conquest of Palestine by Antiochus; Persecution of Jews; Resistance by the Family of Maccabaeus; Victories of Judas; He courts the Alliance of the Romans; Succeeded by Jonathan; Origin of the Asmonean Princes; John Hyrcanus; Aristobulus; Alexander Jannaeus; Appeal to Pompey; Jerusalem taken by Romans; Herod created King by the Romans; He repairs to the Temple; Archelaus succeeds him, and Antipas is nominated to Galilee; Quirinius Prefect of Syria; Pontius Pilate; Elevation of Herod Agrippa; Disgrace of Herod Philip; Judea again a Province; Troubles; Accession of Young Agrippa; Felix; Festus; Floris; Command given to Vespasian; War; Siege of Jerusalem by Titus.
The next king of the Asmonean line, Alexander Jannaeus, was brave, but unsuccessful, and died after an unquiet and turbulent reign of twenty-seven years, 77 B.C. His widow, Alexandra, ruled as regent with great tact and energy for nine years, and was succeeded by her son Hyrcanus II. This feeble and unfortunate prince had to contend with the intrigues and violence of his more able but unscrupulous brother, Aristobulus, who sought to steal his sceptre, and who at one time even drove him from his kingdom.
Aristobulus, the younger son of Jannaeus, gave his countenance to the body who opposed his brother, and at length threw off his disguise so completely as to aspire to supreme power in defiance of the rights of birth and of a legal investiture.
This account is taken from a source unfriendly to the Pharisees. Though the story is based apparently on an old Jewish tradition, since we find it told of Alexander Jannaeus in the Talmud, it looks as if Josephus obtained his version from some author that shared the aristocratic prejudices against the democratic leaders.
Moreover, the Hellenistic cities along the coast of Palestine and on the other side of Jordan, which had been subjugated by John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus, were restored to independence, and placed under special Roman protection, and the Jewish territory itself was shortly thereafter split by the Roman governor Gabinius into five toparchies, or provinces, each with a separate administration.
The throne was next occupied by Alexander Jannaeus, a man of ignoble birth, but of a warlike and very ambitious temper. The distracted state of the neighbouring countries induced him to take the field, with the view of reducing several towns on the coast of the Mediterranean, an undertaking which finally involved him in the troubled politics of Egypt and Cyprus.
That it was a religious city, and much given to idolatry, its temples and altars declare. While Josephus speaks of the capture of this city by Alexander Jannaeus, about 85 B.C., we look in vain for a mention of it in the Bible. But some recent investigators, notably Dr. Dr.
The leaders of the Pharisees, to whom after the manner of priests the victory of their faction seemed not too dearly bought at the price of the independence and integrity of their country, solicited Aretas the king of the Nabataeans for aid against Aristobulus, in return for which they promised to give back to him all the conquests wrested from him by Jannaeus.
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