THE death of their great leader was a terrible blow to the hopes of the Jewish patriots, and for a short time their plans were totally disorganized. The Syrians regained their ascendancy everywhere, Alcimus was reinstated in the high-priesthood, and Bacchides wreaked his vengeance on the adherents of Judas with unrelenting cruelty. All the advantages which that brave chieftain had gained during six years of incessant warfare, seemed to have been utterly thrown away, and the national cause to be on the verge of destruction.
At length, however, the Maccabæan party rallied, and offered the command to Jonathan, surnamed Apphus (the wary), the youngest son of Mattathias. In view of the present desperate circumstances of the nation, the new leader did not attempt to operate in the open country, but retired to the wilderness of Tekoa, where the Syrian general in vain endeavoured to surprise and capture him. Thence, crossing the Jordan, he carried on a guerilla warfare, while Bacchides resolving to keep the Jews in subjection, employed himself in strengthening the fortifications of Emmaus, Beth-horon, Gazara, and Beth-zur. At the same time he furnished the garrison in the Acra, which commanded the city and temple of Jerusalem, with fresh supplies of arms and provisions, and placed there the children of several of the chief Jewish families as hostages. Meanwhile Alcimus, bent on his plan of fusing Jew and Gentile, gave orders that the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary should be pulled down, and was in the act of seeing them carried out, when he was suddenly struck with paralysis, and died in great misery.
Upon this, Bacchides returned to Antioch, and Jonathan re-appearing from his hiding-place, established himself in Judæa, where, for upwards of two years, he was left unmolested by the Syrians, in accordance with orders from Demetrius, who by this time had received the commands of the Roman senate forbidding all hostilities towards their new allies. This condition, however, of tranquillity by no means fell in with the views of the large Hellenizing party in Judæa, and they invited Bacchides to return once more and crush their enemy. Accordingly the Syrian commander re-entered Judæa at the head of a considerable army, and Jonathan retiring as before into the wilderness, maintained a desultory warfare, while his brother Simon occupied the fortress of Beth-basi, in the Jordan valley, not far from Jericho. Though he attacked it with all his forces, Bacchides was utterly unable to reduce this stronghold, and at length, wearying of a campaign which brought little glory and less profit, he turned against those who had advised the expedition, and sought means to secure an honourable retreat. Informed of the altered feelings of his foe, Jonathan thereupon sent envoys, and succeeded in concluding a peace, agreeing to acknowledge Bacchides as governor under the Syrian king, and obtaining a promise from that general that he would not enter the land again.
On these terms, hostilities were suspended, and the authority of Jonathan as deputy governor of Judæa was publicly recognised. Establishing himself at Michmash (1 Macc. ix. 73), he ruled the people according to the law of Moses, though Jerusalem and many of the stronger towns were still retained by garrisons of Syrians or apostate Jews.
After the lapse, however, of a very few years, a revolution took place in Syria, which produced a surprising change in his fortunes. About the year B.C. 153, Demetrius retired to a new palace he had built at Antioch, and there gave himself up to pleasure, and various luxurious excesses38. This, added to other causes, made him extremely unpopular with his subjects, and gave rise to a conspiracy which was fostered by Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, Attalus king of Pergamus, and especially by Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt, from whom Demetrius had taken the island of Cyprus. By their connivance, a young man named Balas39 was persuaded to give himself out as the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and to claim the Syrian throne. Through the intrigues of Heraclides, a former treasurer of Epiphanes, his claim was admitted by the Romans, and on his landing at Ptolemais after a visit to Rome, the place was betrayed by the garrison, and his standard was joined by numerous disaffected subjects of Demetrius, B.C. 152.
Roused at last from his lethargy, that monarch collected an army, and prepared to defend his crown. Both kings had an equal interest in securing the friendship of Jonathan, who could render essential service to whichever side he joined. The promises of Demetrius were lavish even to desperation. He offered to make Jonathan commander-in-chief over Judæa, to allow him to levy soldiers, and also undertook to release the Jewish hostages held by the Syrian garrison in the Acra. Jonathan read the letter containing these offers to the soldiers in the citadel, and they straightway delivered up the hostages, while the garrisons retired from most of the stronger towns, save those of Beth-zur and Jerusalem, which were chiefly composed of apostate Jews (1 Macc. x. 3–9, 12–14), who dreaded to leave their places of refuge. The power of the Maccabæan chief was thus greatly extended; he levied troops, and supplied them with arms; he rebuilt and repaired the walls of Jerusalem, particularly around Mount Zion, which were strongly fortified, and took up his own abode in the capital (1 Macc. x. 10, 11).
It was now the turn of Balas to court the alliance of the Jewish prince, and he resolved to outdo Demetrius in the liberality of his promises. Accordingly, he wrote a letter in which he saluted Jonathan as his “brother” (1 Macc. x. 18), conferred upon him the high-priesthood, which had now been vacant seven years, and sent him the purple robe, and the crown of an ethnarch, or independent prince of Judæa. Jonathan accepted all that the other conferred, and without openly espousing the cause of either king, assumed the pontifical robes at the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Macc. x. 21), and with them the purple. Thus the high-priesthood, which had remained in the family of Jozadak ever since the time of Cyrus, was transferred to that of Joiarib, and the reign of the Priest-kings of the Asmonean line commenced, B.C. 153.
As soon as Demetrius was informed of the offers of Balas, he wrote a second time to Jonathan, and made him the most extravagant promises if he would espouse his cause. But the Jews, remembering what they had suffered at his hands, could not be convinced of his sincerity, and threw all the weight of their influence into the cause of his rival. At first the efforts of Balas were unsuccessful, but eventually, B.C. 150, he succeeded in completely routing the army of Demetrius, mounted the Syrian throne, and at Ptolemais was united in marriage with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philometor, king of Egypt. On this occasion Jonathan also repaired to that city, where he was received by Balas with every mark of friendship and regard, raised to the rank of meridarch, or ruler of a part of the empire (1 Macc. x. 65), and invested with regal honours.
But the prosperity of the usurper of the Syrian throne was shortlived. So long as the contest with the late king continued, he evinced both energy and courage, but no sooner was his power confirmed, than he gave himself up without restraint to the indulgence of the worst passions, and became only an object of contempt to his subjects. At this time Demetrius, surnamed afterwards Nicator, was at Cnidus. Hearing of the feelings with which Balas was regarded, he landed in Cilicia at the head of a considerable force, and rapidly gained over a number of adherents, and amongst them Apollonius, governor of Cœlesyria, who openly revolted and espoused his cause. Jonathan, however, still remained faithful in his allegiance, and attacking Apollonius near Azotus, completely defeated him, laid that city in ashes, and returned to Jerusalem with rich spoils. This complete suppression of the revolt in Cœlesyria excited the warmest gratitude in the heart of Balas, who sent his faithful ally a rich gold chain, such as was worn by none but princes of the highest rank (1 Macc. x. 88, 89), and bestowed upon him the city and territory of Ekron as a free gift.
But though checked in Cœlesyria, the rebellion made such progress in other parts of his dominions, that he shut himself up in the city of Antioch, and appealed for aid to Philometor, the father of his wife Cleopatra.
Accordingly, B.C. 146, that monarch set out attended by a fleet and a numerous army to assist his son-in-law. As he proceeded along the coast of Palestine, every city threw open its gates in token of friendship, and at Joppa he was met by Jonathan, who escorted him as far as the river Eleutherus (1 Macc. xi. 1–7). No sooner, however, had he reached Antioch, than he threw off the mask, and wrote to Demetrius offering to support his claims, and to unite him in marriage with his daughter. Demetrius eagerly accepted his offer, and, though not without some difficulty, was acknowledged as king. Early in the following year Balas made a determined effort to recover his crown, but being defeated in battle, fled to Abæ in Arabia, where five days after he was murdered by a native chief named Zabdiel, who sent his head to Demetrius (1 Macc. xi. 17).
THE accession of the new Syrian monarch once more raised the hopes of the faction opposed to Jonathan, who had gathered his forces and laid siege to the Syrian garrison in the Acra (1 Macc. xi. 20). This was eagerly reported to Demetrius, and he instantly sent for the priest-king to meet him at Ptolemais. Great as was the risk, without suspending the siege, Jonathan forthwith set out thither with some of the elders of the Sanhedrin, and pleaded his cause with such effect that he not only succeeded in silencing the clamour of his enemies, but was confirmed in all the dignities he had received from Balas, and even secured for himself still further advantages. Three principalities, hitherto included in the district of Samaria, were added to his dominions, and all previous claims for tribute due from his kingdom were remitted (1 Macc. xi. 23–37).
Successful beyond his utmost expectations, Jonathan returned to Jerusalem, and again pushed forward the siege of the Syrian garrison. But such was the energy of the defenders, and such the strength of the fortress, that all his efforts were frustrated, and he resolved on making an application to Demetrius for an order directing the evacuation of the stronghold, as also of Beth-zur.
At the time when this request reached him, Demetrius himself was in the greatest straits. Young and inexperienced he had entrusted the entire management of his affairs to a Cretan officer, named Lasthenes, who had assisted him in obtaining his crown with a large body of mercenaries (1 Macc. x. 6740), and by his advice had disbanded the whole of the national troops. This, added to the ferocious conduct of his general, naturally roused the illwill of the citizens of Antioch, and they broke out into a furious revolt, which all the efforts of the king were unable to quell. At this juncture he received the message of Jonathan, and anxious for assistance from whatever quarter, professed his readiness to grant all his demands, on condition of receiving help in putting down the rebellion of his own subjects. To this Jonathan readily assented. A force of 3000 Jews marched to Antioch, and, aided by the royal mercenaries, slew upwards of 100,000 of the rioters, and quenched the rebellion in blood. But the priest-king soon found reason to regret the step he had taken. Once more secure upon his throne, Demetrius not only refused to order the evacuation of the fortress, but demanded the speedy payment of all the tribute, which he had agreed to remit at Ptolemais41.
But in a very short time he learned to repent of his perfidy. Attached to the court of the late usurper Balas was a Syrian Greek, named Diodotus, or, as he was afterwards called, Tryphon, the Luxurious. Perceiving the growing unpopularity of Demetrius, he repaired to the Arab chief Zabdiel, to whom Balas had entrusted the care of his young son Antiochus, and by dint of much importunity prevailed upon him to surrender the young prince into his charge. Then returning to Antioch he shewed him to the disaffected soldiers, whom Lasthenes had disbanded, and easily persuaded them to revolt against Demetrius. A battle was fought in which that king was defeated, and the young prince was crowned at Antioch, and assumed the title of Theos, the God.
One of the first steps of the new monarch was to secure the co-operation of Jonathan and his people. Accordingly he not only confirmed all former grants made to the Jewish nation, and remitted all arrears of tribute, but sent him a purple robe and gold chain, and invested his brother Simon with the command of all the royal forces between the “ladder of Tyre” and the frontiers of Egypt. Jonathan, who had every reason to resent the ingratitude of Demetrius, readily accepted his proposals, and at the head of a large army speedily subdued the entire country, as far as Damascus, to the power of Antiochus, while Simon captured the fortress of Beth-zur, and garrisoned it with Jewish soldiers (1 Macc. xi. 65, 66)42.
Resolved to make the most of the present advantageous turn of events, the Jewish prince now sent ambassadors to Rome, renewed the previous treaty, and at the same time concluded another with the Lacedæmonians (1 Macc. xii. 1, 2)43. Meanwhile Demetrius had assembled an army, with which he encamped at Hamath on the extreme north of Palestine. Thither Jonathan quickly went forth to meet him, and gaining information that a night attack on his camp was meditated, made such a disposition of his troops that the enemy gave up their design, and retired beyond the river Eleutherus. Returning thence he fell upon the Nabathæan Arabs, who had espoused the cause of Demetrius, and defeated them, while Simon attacked and succeeded in taking Joppa (1 Macc. xii. 25–35).
Never did the fortunes of the Jewish patriots appear brighter than at this period. Masters of the entire province of Judæa, strong in the confidence of the Syrian monarch, invested with the command of numerous trained warriors, the Maccabæan brothers seemed on the verge of restoring their country to a condition of complete independence. Accordingly they convened an assembly of the elders, and consulted on the present state of affairs. The reduction of the garrison in the Acra was the great object of the national hopes. It was clear that this could never be accomplished so long as the garrison was able to communicate, as had hitherto been the case, with the city and the country, and there buy provisions. While therefore Simon was sent to fortify several of the more important towns, Jonathan himself remained in the city, and superintended in person the erection of new defences. Accordingly the wall of the Temple was repaired, especially on the eastern side, towards the valley of the Kidron, while a new wall was built between Mount Zion and the rest of the city, of such a height and strength as to cut off the hostile garrison from all communication with the city on the west, and the country on the east44 (1 Macc. xii. 36, 37).
It soon appeared that these precautions had not been unreasonable. Tryphon, though he had placed Antiochus on the throne, now resolved to usurp the royal authority for himself. The only serious obstacle to his design was the faithfulness of Jonathan to the Syrian king. At all risks, therefore, he determined to get the Jewish prince into his power, and for this purpose advanced into Palestine as far as Beth-shan or Scythopolis, with a considerable force. Here Jonathan met him with an army of 40,000 men. Afraid to confront so numerous a force, Tryphon resorted to treachery, and pretended that the sole object of his coming was to mark his gratitude for Jonathan’s services in the cause of Antiochus, by placing him in possession of Ptolemais45. Completely deceived, the Jewish prince disbanded all his forces, excepting 3000 men, and having left 2000 of these in Galilee, set out with the scanty remainder for Ptolemais. No sooner however had he entered the city, than the traitor Tryphon ordered the gates to be shut, butchered Jonathan’s retinue to a man, and flung him loaded with chains into a dungeon (1 Macc. xii. 37–52).
NEWS of these occurrences filled the Jews with the deepest sorrow and the utmost consternation. For 17 years their late leader had conducted the affairs of the country with prudence, vigour and success. Now all their fair hopes seemed destined to be crushed, if the perfidious Tryphon should succeed in following up the success he had already gained. In this emergency the eyes of all were turned towards Simon surnamed Thassi, the elder and only surviving brother of Jonathan, whom the aged Mattathias on his death-bed had commended for his prudence in council. He therefore assumed the command of the patriot forces, and was acknowledged as their leader.
His first step was to finish the walls and fortifications of Jerusalem and to place the country in a complete posture of defence (1 Macc. xiii. 10, 11). He then went forth to meet Tryphon, who taking Jonathan with him, had moved up from Ptolemais with a large force, and encamped at Adida or Adithaim (Joshua xv. 36), a town on an eminence overlooking the low country of Judæa. No sooner however did he find a Jewish army ready to oppose him, than he once more had recourse to treachery, and representing that Jonathan was merely held in custody on account of a debt of 100 talents, offered to deliver him up on condition of receiving the money and two of his children as hostages. Though he was certain this was nothing more than an artifice, Simon determined that it never should be said he had left any means untried for the release of his brother (1 Macc. xiii. 17–19), and accordingly sent the money and the hostages. But, as he had expected, Tryphon failed to fulfil his word, and began to ravage the neighbouring country.
Meanwhile the Syrian garrison in Jerusalem, suffering severely from the long-continued blockade, sent messengers begging Tryphon to come to their aid. Thereupon the other ordered his cavalry to press forward instantly to their relief, but a heavy fall of snow rendered the roads impassable, and Tryphon finding it impossible to render the required assistance, retired across the Jordan into the land of Gilead. Here he put the heroic Jonathan to death at the city of Bascama, and hurrying into Syria, murdered the young king Antiochus, and seized the supreme power, which he exercised with cruelty and violence (1 Macc. xiii. 23). As soon as he retired Simon sent to Bascama, and brought thence the body of his brother to Modin, where he laid it with great pomp in the ancestral tomb, and erected over it a magnificent monument, consisting of seven pillars, and adorned with the beaks of ships, a conspicuous sea-mark for all the vessels which sailed along the coast (1 Macc. xiii. 27–30).
The continued tyranny of Tryphon once more raised the hopes of Demetrius, and the Jews resolved to espouse his cause in preference to that of his treacherous enemy. Accordingly Simon sent an embassy offering to acknowledge his supremacy, and to aid him against the usurper. Demetrius received the proposition with alacrity, and in a royal edict formally drawn up and ratified, agreed to recognize Simon as the high-priest and prince of Judæa, to renounce all claims on the Jewish nation for tribute, customs, and taxes, and to grant an amnesty for all past offences against himself. This amounted to a virtual recognition of the complete independence of the country, and the year B.C. 143, in which it was granted, was regarded as the first year of the “freedom of Jerusalem” (1 Macc. xiii. 42).
Secure from all immediate danger of foreign interference, Simon now devoted his energies to provide for the internal security of his kingdom. He began by reducing the fortresses that still held out, and garrisoned Gaza, Jamnia, and Joppa. He then turned his attention to the Syrian garrison in the Acra, and reduced it to such straits that the troops composing it were in imminent danger of perishing by famine, and finally agreed to evacuate the fortress on condition that their lives were spared. These terms were accepted, and, to his inexpressible satisfaction, Simon entered the place on the 23rd day of the second month of the year B.C. 142, with thanksgivings, and branches of palm-trees, and with harps and cymbals, and with viols and hymns and songs (1 Macc. xiii. 51). The fortress was then entirely demolished, and the eminence on which it had stood was lowered, until it was reduced below the height of the Temple-hill beside it. This operation cost incredible labour, and occupied upwards of 3 years46. The fortifications of the hill, on which the Temple stood, were next strengthened, and a fortress, called Baris47, was erected to command the site of the Acra, and here Simon and his immediate adherents took up their abode.
The dominion of the priest-king was now confirmed on every side, and the land enjoyed profound quiet. His subjects tilled their ground in peace, and the earth gave her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit. The ancient men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel ... every man sat under his vine and his fig-tree, and there was none to fray them (1 Macc. xiv. 4–13). Taking advantage of these circumstances Simon sent an ambassador to Rome bearing a golden shield weighing upwards of 1000 pounds. His present was accepted, and Lucius the consul (1 Macc. xv. 16) sent letters recognizing his authority, and claiming protection for the Jews from the kings of Syria, Pergamus, Cappadocia, and Pontus, from the inhabitants of Sparta, Delos, Sicyon, Gortyna in Crete, Samos, Cos, Rhodes, Myndus, Halicarnassus, Cnidus, Aradus, Cyprus, and Cyrene (1 Macc. xv. 22, 23); “a singular illustration,” it has been remarked, “of the widespread dispersion of the Jews, and of the all-commanding policy of Rome48.” In the same year, B.C. 141, an assembly of the elders met at Jerusalem, and out of gratitude for the services rendered to the nation by the house of Mattathias, it was resolved that the high-priesthood and the dignity of regent should be henceforth hereditary in the family of Simon. This resolution was then engraven upon tables of brass, and set up in a conspicuous place in the Temple, and copies of it were deposited in the treasury (1 Macc. xiv. 41–49).
During this period, taking advantage of the disturbed condition of Syria, Arsaces VI., king of Parthia, who was also called Mithridates, had extended his authority from the Euphrates to the confines of India. Wishing to collect forces, or in some way to strengthen his position against the usurper Tryphon (1 Macc. xiv. 1), Demetrius penetrated into the Parthian territory, and after several engagements was taken prisoner B.C. 139. The conqueror, however, treated his captive honourably, gave him his daughter Rodoguna in marriage, and permitted him to reside in Hyrcania, with every indulgence due to his rank (1 Macc. xiv. 3).
News of this marriage, and of the improbability of her husband ever returning no sooner reached his wife Cleopatra, whom he had left regent, than she sent to his younger brother, who was then residing at Rhodes, and offered him her hand and kingdom. Antiochus entered into the project with all the eagerness of youthful ambition, levied an army, and assuming the title of king of Syria, wrote to Simon begging his aid in recovering his father’s dominions from the usurper Tryphon, and in turn confirming all his former privileges, and further conceding that of the right to coin money of his own. Then sailing to Syria, he married Cleopatra, and joining her forces to his own, commenced hostilities against Tryphon, who fled to Dora, on the coast of Samaria, where he straitly besieged him (1 Macc. xv. 11–14)49. Thence, however, he managed to effect his escape to Apamea in Syria, and there was put to death, or, according to some authorities, committed suicide.
Antiochus Sidetes50 had no sooner become undisturbed master of the Syrian kingdom, than, forgetting the promises already made to Simon, he sent Athenobius to Jerusalem to demand the surrender of Gazara and Joppa, of the fortress on Mount Zion, and other strongholds, or in lieu of these 500 talents of silver, and an additional 500 as a compensation for the injuries done to the Syrian dominions. Simon replied that he was willing to give 500 talents for Gazara and Joppa, but the other places were the inheritance of his fathers, and could not be given up or bartered. This answer greatly irritated Antiochus, and as soon as he had reduced Dora, he sent Cendebeus, the governor of Phœnicia, to invade Judæa with a portion of his forces, and enforce the payment of his demands.
Accordingly the Syrian general entered upon the expedition with a powerful army of horse and foot, and capturing Cedron near Azotus and Jamnia, fortified it in order to command the road of Judæa (1 Macc. xv. 39; xvi. 9), and ravaged the neighbouring country. Simon was at this time far too advanced in age to bear the fatigues of a campaign, and therefore entrusted the command of the Jewish forces to his two sons John Hyrcanus and Judas. The brothers forthwith set out, and bivouacking for the night at Modin, descended on the following day into the lower ground, and after a sharp engagement succeeded in defeating the Syrian general, and carried a portion of his forces into Cedron, and the remainder into Azotus, the tower of which they laid in ashes (1 Macc. xvi. 1–10).
This invasion repulsed, the Jews enjoyed during three years a season of peace, and the priest-king, though far advanced in age, devoted himself assiduously to the superintendence of the internal affairs of his people, while his three sons guarded the frontier. In the prosecution of his design of inspecting in person the national defences, he now visited Jericho where his son-in-law Ptolemy held the supreme command. A prominent leader of the Hellenizing faction, and a man of great wealth, Ptolemy bore no goodwill towards the priest-king, and, in concert, it is probable, with Antiochus Sidetes, had resolved to assassinate his father-in-law, and raise himself to supreme power. The visit of Simon, with his two younger sons Judas and Mattathias, presented a favourable opportunity for carrying out his designs, and he treacherously murdered the three at a banquet, B.C. 137. Then sending messengers to John Hyrcanus at Gazara he instructed them to stab him also, and would have succeeded, had not the latter received speedy tidings of what had occurred at Jericho. He therefore put the intended assassins to death, and hurrying to Jerusalem, was acknowledged as his father’s successor, and afterwards besieged Ptolemy in his stronghold of Dôk, whence he effected his escape to the court of the prince of Philadelphia, to be heard of afterwards no more (1 Macc. xvi. 15–21)51.
THOUGH the confederacy between Ptolemy and Antiochus was thus disconcerted by the rapid movements of Hyrcanus, the Syrian monarch nevertheless led his forces into Palestine, overran the whole country, and laying siege to Jerusalem, reduced Hyrcanus to the greatest extremities. So close, in fact, was the siege, that for fear of famine Hyrcanus was constrained to expel from the city all such as were, from age or infirmity, unable to bear arms. As the Syrians refused them a passage through their ranks, the fugitives presented a miserable spectacle, wandering about between the two armies, and perishing in extreme wretchedness amidst the outworks52.
At length the Feast of Tabernacles drew near, and Hyrcanus requested a week’s respite to celebrate that time-honoured festival. With rare generosity, his adversary not only granted his request, but supplied the besieged with victims for the sacrifices, and gold and silver vessels for the Temple service. Such kindness induced Hyrcanus to send an embassy, and endeavour to obtain a suspension of hostilities. In this he succeeded, and peace was concluded on far better terms than he had any right to expect. A portion of the fortifications of the city was dismantled, tribute was exacted for the fortresses held out of Judæa, but the conqueror was induced, by a present of 500 talents, to forego the rebuilding of the fortress on the Acra, and the introduction of a Syrian garrison53.
The unexpected forbearance of Antiochus on this occasion won for him not only the admiration, but the friendship of Hyrcanus, and when the Syrian king led an expedition against the Parthians, who were now extending their dominions on every side, the Jewish prince resolved to accompany him. For this purpose he took into his pay a body of foreign mercenaries, and with these and a detachment of his Jewish forces followed him across the Tigris. At first Antiochus was successful, but his army giving themselves up to luxury and dissipation, he was unexpectedly attacked, and lost his life, B.C. 128.
Disorders of every kind, civil wars, murders, and mutinies of troops, now rapidly succeeded one another in the Syrian kingdom, and Hyrcanus, who had fortunately returned to Jerusalem before the overthrow of his late ally, now threw off the Syrian yoke altogether, and employed himself in extending his own kingdom. After reducing, therefore, various fortresses on the further side of the Jordan, he invaded Samaria, captured Sychem, and levelled with the ground the temple on Mount Gerizim, which for 200 years had been a constant offence to his subjects. Then, B.C. 129, turning his arms against the Idumæans, who had made themselves masters of the southern part of Judæa, he vanquished them in battle, and offered them the choice of leaving the country, or adopting the Jewish religion. They chose the latter alternative, submitted to circumcision, and became so completely identified with their conquerors, that their name as an independent power henceforth disappears.
During the next 20 years Judæa enjoyed profound peace under the energetic government of Hyrcanus, who renewed the treaties with Rome, and secured his subjects from foreign aggression. At length, B.C. 110, he resolved to overpower the province of Samaria, and entrusted the command of the expedition to his two sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus. Twice the Samaritans applied for aid to Antiochus Cyzicenus, prince of Damascus, who was twice defeated by the Jewish forces, and at length, after an obstinate defence which lasted an entire year, their capital fell, and with Scythopolis and other towns, passed into the hands of the conqueror54.
During his long and prosperous reign, Hyrcanus had raised his nation to a height of greater power and dignity than it had ever enjoyed since the return from the Captivity. But while triumphant abroad, his domestic peace began to be troubled by serious dissensions between two rival parties, now rapidly growing in power, the Pharisees and Sadducees. An examination of their respective tenets may be reserved for another place. For the present it will be sufficient to say that Hyrcanus was an adherent of the Pharisaic party, till a characteristic incident induced him to espouse the cause of their rivals. Towards the close of his administration he invited the chiefs of the Pharisees to a banquet, and requested them to inform him if he had been guilty of any dereliction of duty towards God or man. All the guests with one accord testified to his blameless integrity, and praised his government, save one, Eleazar, who affirmed that he ought to resign the high-priesthood, because his mother had once been a captive, and it was doubtful whether he was descended from Aaron, or from a heathen. Indignant at this calumnious charge, Hyrcanus demanded the trial of Eleazar for aspersions upon his character. By the influence of the Pharisees the sentence was limited to scourging and imprisonment, and the priest-king, considering this a proof of hostility to himself, listened to the representations of Jonathan, a Sadducee, that the rival faction was bent on lowering his sovereign power, and henceforth alienated himself entirely from the Pharisaic party, and deposed from their high offices many who had been the firmest supporters of his dynasty55.
Escaping the fate of the older members of the Maccabæan family, Hyrcanus died in peace, B.C. 106, bequeathing the sovereignty to his wife. And now the decline of the Asmonean dynasty rapidly set in. Aristobulus, the son of the deceased king, seized the supreme power, flung his mother into prison, and starved her to death. He also imprisoned three of his four brothers, sparing but one, Antigonus, the next in age to himself. Assuming the diadem and the royal title, he hastened to take advantage of the distracted state of affairs in Syria, and turning his arms against Ituræa, a district south of Anti-Libanus, forced the inhabitants, like the Idumæans, to conform to the Jewish religion, on pain of being expelled from their country. During this expedition he was seized with a dangerous illness, which compelled him to return to Jerusalem, and leave his brother Antigonus to complete the subjugation of the country. As he had no children, his queen Salome, according to the Jewish law, would, in the event of his death, be expected to marry Antigonus; but such was her aversion to him, that she resolved to compass his death rather than be united with him in marriage56.
An opportunity soon presented itself for carrying out her design. Successful in subjugating Ituræa, Antigonus returned to Jerusalem, and at the Feast of Tabernacles hastened to the Temple, with his body-guard, to offer up his petitions for his brother’s recovery. This act was represented to Aristobulus as covering a seditious design against his own life. Scarcely able to credit such a calumny, the king, who still lay sick in his chamber in the tower of Baris, desired that his brother should appear before him, but without arms. A dark underground passage led from the Temple to the tower, and here, by the queen’s connivance, a company of soldiers was stationed with instructions to put Antigonus to death if he appeared clad in armour. She then caused it to be represented to the unfortunate prince that it was the royal will he should appear in a suit of splendid armour, which his brother wished to see. Thus deceived he entered the underground passage, and was instantly assassinated. What had occurred was reported to Aristobulus, and brought on a sudden paroxysm of his malady followed by an excessive hæmorrhage. A slave bore away the vessel into which the blood had flowed, and stumbling on the very spot where Antigonus had been murdered, caused the blood of the two brothers to mingle on the floor. A cry of horror ran through the palace, and reaching the ears of the king, roused a wish to know the cause. For some time his attendants refused to tell the truth, but at length he forced them to declare what had occurred, and had no sooner heard it than he was seized with such an agony of remorse that he instantly expired.
After this tragical event, Alexander Jannæus, the eldest of the imprisoned brothers, was placed upon the throne, B.C. 104. Taking advantage of the disordered condition of the Syrian kingdom, he turned his arms against Moab, Gilead, Ammon, and Arabia Petræa, and after several successes laid siege to the port of Ptolemais. The inhabitants called in the aid of Ptolemy Lathyrus, who came to their aid with an army of 30,000 men. But no sooner did he appear before the gates, than the very party which had invoked his aid refused to admit him. On this he turned his arms against Gaza, and Jannæus, while pretending to negotiate with him for a friendly surrender of the place, secretly corresponded with his mother Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, and besought her aid in expelling him from the country. Discovering this, Ptolemy marched into Judæa, defeated Alexander with enormous loss, and to spread the terror of his name, fell upon some villages, murdered the women and children, and cutting their bodies in pieces boiled their flesh.
The kingdom of Judæa would now have been totally lost, had it not been for the intervention of an Egyptian army led by two Jews of Alexandria, They drove Lathyrus into Cœlesyria, and once more restored to Jannæus the sovereignty of the country, who now embarked on fresh expeditions east and west of the Jordan, captured Gadara, Raphia, and Anthedon, and at length succeeded in reducing Gaza.
But the domestic discords, which had distracted the reign of Hyrcanus, broke out with tenfold violence in that of his son. The Pharisees had by this time gained an extraordinary degree of influence over the people. Detesting their turbulence and lofty pretensions, Alexander attached himself to the Sadducaic faction, and thus brought down upon himself the concentrated hatred of the Pharisees, who lost no opportunity of aspersing his name and character. At length their opposition took a more violent turn, and at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the priest-king, clad in his gorgeous robes, was officiating before the altar, they excited the people to fling at him the citrons, which it was the custom of the Jews to carry in their hands at this feast, and to deny his right to the high-priesthood. A fearful outbreak ensued, in the midst of which Alexander ordered his body-guard to fall on the unarmed multitude, and slew upwards of 6000.
To obviate a recurrence of such insults, he next caused a wooden partition to be erected between the court of the priests and that of the people, and surrounded himself with Pisidian and Cilician mercenaries. But a defeat he sustained, while carrying on an expedition in the country east of the Jordan, was the signal for a general rising, which resulted in civil war carried on for upwards of six years, and marked by the most shocking barbarities on both sides.
At first Jannæus met with much success, but on endeavouring to come to terms with his subjects, they declared that nothing would satisfy them short of his death, and even invoked the aid of Demetrius Euchærus, king of Syria, and in a battle near Shechem utterly routed the priest-king, with the loss of all his mercenaries. Thereupon he fled to the mountains, rallied fresh troops, drove Demetrius from the country, and took the majority of his rebellious subjects prisoners in the fortress of Bethone. Returning to Jerusalem he crucified 800 of them in one day, and seated at a banquet surrounded by his concubines, caused their wives and children to be slain before their eyes, and glutted his vengeance with the spectacle of their dying agonies.
This shocking act, which won for him the title of “the Thracian,” shews how terribly the Asmonean princes were degenerating. Externally, indeed, the country appeared to be prosperous, for the realm of Jannæus extended over Samaria and Idumæa, the entire western seaboard from Strato’s Tower to Rhinocorura, and a considerable district beyond the Jordan, but the temper neither of prince nor people was the same as in the times of Mattathias and Judas, and evil days were at hand.
Four years after his triumph over his rebellious subjects, Alexander Jannæus died, B.C. 79, having on his death-bed advised his queen Alexandra to ally herself closely with the Pharisaic faction, as being alone able to control the people. Acting on this advice, she convened the most eminent of that faction, and entrusted to them the entire management of affairs. Upon this their conduct underwent an instant change; the highest honours were paid to the memory of the late king, and the priesthood was conferred on his eldest son Hyrcanus II.