We trace now the fortunes of the next member of the family, John Hyrcanus. Having been unani mously proclaimed high-priest and ruler at Jerusa lem, his first step was to march against Jericho, and avenge the death of his father and brothers. Ptolemy held there in his power the mother of Hyr canus and her surviving sons, and shutting himself up in a fortress near to Jericho—which Josephus calls Dagon, and Ewald, DOk—he exposed them upon the wall, scourged and tormented them, and threatened to throw them down headlong, unless Hyrcanus would desist from the siege. This had the effect of paralyzing the efforts of Hyrcanus, and in spite of his heroic mother's entreaties to prosecute it with vigour, and disregard her sufferings, caused him to protract it till the approach of the Sabbatical year obliged him to raise the siege. Ptolemy, after kill ing the mother and brethren of Hyrcanus, fled to Philadelphia,* which is the last we hear of him. It not easy to see why Milman calls this reason of the Sabbatical year, which is the one assigned by Josephus, ' improbable.' Ewald assigns the ap proach of that year as a reason for the flight of Pto lemy to Zeno, the tyrant of Philadelphia, because it had already raised the price of provisions, so that it became impossible for him to remain. Antiochus meanwhile, alarmed at the energydisplayed by John, invaded Judaea, burning up and desolating the country on his march, and at last besieging him in Jerusalem. He compassed the city with seven en campments and a double ditch, and Hyrcanus was reduced to the last extremities. On the recurrence, however, of the Feast of Tabernacles, Antiochus granted a truce for a week, and sup plied the besieged with sacrifices for the occasion, and ended with conceding a peace, on condition that the Jews surrendered their arms, paid tribute for Joppa and other towns, and gave him Soo talents of silver and hostages. On this occasion Josephus says that Hyrcanus opened the sepulchre of David, and took out of it 3000 talents, which he used for his present needs and the payment of foreign mercenaries. This story is utterly dis credited by Prideaux, passed over in silence by Milman, but apparently believed Ewald. Some time afterwards, having made a league with Antio chus, he marched with him on an expedition to Parthia, to deliver Demetrius Nicator, the king's captive brother. This expedition proved fatal to Antiochus, who was killed in battle. Demetrius, however, made his escape, and succeeded him on the throne of Syria, whereupon Hyrcanus availed himself of the opportunity to shake off the Syrian yoke, and establish the independence of Judaea, which was maintained till the time of the subjuga tion by the Romans. He took two towns beyond the Jordan, Samega and Medaba, as well as the city of Sichem, and destroyed the hated Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, which for 200 years had been an object of abhorrence to the Jews. He then turned his arms towards Idumea, where he captured the towns of Dora (Ewald spells it Adora) and Marissa, and forced the rite of circumcision on the Idumeans, who ever afterwards retained it. He proceeded further to strengthen himself by renewing a treaty, offensive and defensive, with the Romans. Demetrius, meanwhile, had little enjoy ment of his kingdom. He was unacceptable to the army, who besought Ptolemy Physcon to send them a sovereign of the family of Seleucus, and he accord ingly chose for them Alexander Zebina, a pretended son of Alexander Balas. Demetrius was beaten in the fight which ensued between them, and subsequently slain; whereupon Alexander took the kingdom and made a league with Hyrcanus. He found a rival, however, in the person of Antiochus Grypus, the son of Demetrius, who defeated and slew him. The struggle which now took place between the brothers Grypus and Cyzicenus, rivals for the throne, only tended to consolidate the power of Hyrcanus, who quietly enjoyed his independence and amassed great wealth. He likewise made an expedition to Samaria, and reduced the place to great distress by siege. His sons, Antigonus and Aristobulus, were appointed to conduct it, and when Antiochus Cyzicenus came to the relief of the Samaritans, he was defeated and put to flight by Aristobulus. Cyzicenus, however, returned with a reinforcement of boo° Egyptians, and ravaged the country, thinking to compel Hyrcanus to raise the siege. The attempt was unsuccessful, and he re tired, leaving the prosecution of the Jewish war to two of his officers. They likewise failed, and, after a year, Samaria fell into the hands of Hyr canus, who entirely demolished it, and having dug trenches on the site, flooded it with water. After this Hyrcanus, who himself belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, was exposed to some indignity from one of their party during a banquet, which exasper ated him so far that he openly renounced them, and joined himself to the opposite faction of the Sadducees. This occurrence, however, does not seem to have prevented him from passing the re mainder of his days happily. He built the palace or castle of Bans on a rock within the fortifications of the temple. Here the princes of his line held their court. It was identical with what Herod afterwards called Antonia. There is some confu sion as to the length of his reign. It probably lasted about thirty years. He left five sons. With him terminates the upper house of the Asmonxans or Maccabees, B. C. 107.
Aristobulus succeeded his father as high-priest and supreme governor. He was the first also, after the Captivity, who openly assumed the title of king. He threw his mother, who claimed the throne, into prison, and starved her to death. Three of his brothers, also, he held in bonds. Antigonus, the other one, by whose help he sub dued Iturea or Auranitis, a district at the foot of the Anti-libanus, was killed by treachery ; and, after a year of misery and crime, Aristobulus died. His wife, Salome or Alexandra, immediately re leased his brethren, and Alexander Jannmus was made king. One of his brothers, who showed signs of ambition, he slew, the other one he left alone. His first military act was the siege of Ptole mais, which was in the hands of the Syrians. The inhabitants sought help from Ptolemy Lathyrus. who governed Cyprus, but fearing the army of 3o,o0o men he brought with him, declined to open their gates to him, whereupon he attacked Gaza and Dora. Alexander pretended to treat with him for the surrender of these places, and at the same time sent to Cleopatra, the widow of Physcon, for a large army to drive him from Palestine. He de tected the duplicity of this conduct, and took ample vengeance on Alexander by ravaging the country. He also defeated him with the loss of 30,00o men. Judaea was saved by a large army from Cleopatra, commanded by Chelcias and An anias, two Jews of Alexandria. They pursued Ptolemy into Cce]e-Syria, and besieged Ptolemais, which was reduced. Alexander next invaded the country beyond Jordan. Here also he was de feated, but not thereby discouraged from attacking Gaza, which, after some fruitless attempts, he cap tured and totally destroyed. His worst enemies, however, were the Pharisees, who had great in fluence with the people, and a sedition arose during the Feast of Tabernacles, in which the troops slew 6000 of the mob. He again invaded the Trans Jordanic country, and was again defeated. The
Jews rose in rebellion, and for some years the land suffered the horrors of civil war. The rebels ap plied for aid to Demetrius Euchmrus, brother of Ptolemy Lathyrus, and king of Damascus, who completely routed Alexander. A sudden change of fortune, however, put him at the head of 6o,000 men, and he marched in triumph to Jerusalem, where he took signal vengeance on his subjects. The rest of his life was peaceful. After a reign of twenty-seven years he died, B. C. 79, solemnly charging his wife, Alexandra, to espouse the Phari saic party, if she wished to retain her kingdom. His eldest son, Hyrcanus II., became high-priest. Aristobulus, the younger son, espoused the oppo site party to his mother. In order to employ his active mind, the queen sent him northwards to check the operations of Ptolemy, king of Chalcis. He got possession of Damascus, and won the affec tions of the army. After a reign of nine years his mother died, B. C. 7o, and Aristobulus forthwith marched towards Jerusalem. Hyrcanus and the Pharisees seized his wife and children as hostages, and met his army at Jericho, but were discomfited, and Aristobulus entered Jerusalem and besieged his brother in the tower of Baris. At length they agreed that Hyrcanus should retire to a private station, and that Aristobulus should be king. This was a fatal blow to the Pharisees. But there was a worse enemy waiting for the conqueror. This was none other than Antipater the Idumean, who had been made general of all Idumea by Alexander Jannmus. He was wealthy, active, and seditious, and possessed, moreover, of great influence with the deposed Hyrcanus. Suspicious of the power, successes, and designs of Aristobulus, he persuaded his brother Hyrcanus to fly to Petra, to Aretas king of Arabia, and with his help an army of 50,00o men was marched against Aristobulus. The Jews were defeated, and the usurper fled to Jeru salem, where he was closely besieged by Aretas, Antipater, and Hyrcanus. Here, however, de liverance was at length brought by Scaurus, the general of Pompey, who, having come to Damascus, and finding that the city had been taken by Me tellus and Lollius, himself proceeded hastily into Judaea. His assistance was eagerly sought by both parties. Aristobulus offered him 40o talents, and Hyrcanus the same ; but as the former was in pos session of the treasure, Scaurus thought that his promises were the most likely to be fulfilled, and consequently made an agreement with Aristobulus, raised the siege, and ordered Aretas to depart. He then returned to Damascus ; whereupon Aris tobulus gathered an army, defeated Aretas and Hyrcanus, and slew 6000 of the enemy, together with Phalion, the brother of Antipater. Shortly after Pompey himself came to Damascus, when both the brothers eagerly solicited his protec tion. Antipater represented the cause of Hyr canus. Pompey, however, who was intent on the subjugation of Petra, dismissed the messen gers of both, and on his return from Arabia marched directly into Judma. Aristobulus fled to Jerusalem, but finding the city too distracted to make good its defence, offered to surrender. Gabinius was sent forward to take possession ; meanwhile the soldiery had resolved to resist, and when he came he was surprised to find that the gates were shut, and the walls manned. Pompey, enraged at this apparent treachery, threw Aristo bulus into chains, and advanced to Jerusalem. The fortress of the Temple was impregnable ex cept on the north, and notwithstanding his engines, Pompey was unable to reduce it for three months, neither could he have done so then, had it not been for the Jewish scruples about observing the Sabbath. The Romans soon found that they could prosecute their operations on that day with out disturbance ; and after a time the battering rams knocked down one of the towers, and the soldiers effected an entrance (Midsummer B.C. 63), on the anniversary of the capture of the city by Nebuchadnezzar. Great was the astonishment of Pompey at finding the Holy of Holies empty, without an image or a statue. The wealth he found in the building he magnanimously left un touched ; Hyrcanus he reinstated in the high priesthood ; the country he laid under tribute ; the walls he demolished ; Aristobulus and his family he carried captives to Rome. Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, on the journey made his escape, and, raising a considerable force, garrisoned Ma chcerus, Hyrcania, and the stronghold of Alexan drion. Gabinius, however, subdued him, but had no sooner done so than Aristobulus likewise escaped from Rome, and entrenched himself in Alexandrion. He was taken prisoner, and sent in chains to Rome. At the entreaty of his wife, who had always espoused the Roman cause, Antigonus his son was released, but he remained a prisoner. Alexander, with So,000 men, once more tried his strength with the Romans on the field of battle, but was put to flight. He was subsequently exe cuted by Metellus Scipio at Antioch, B. c. 49. Thus Hyrcanus retained the sovereignty, but Anti pater enjoyed the real power ; he contrived to ingratiate himself with Caesar, who made him a Roman citizen and procurator of all Judaea. He began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and made his eldest son, Phasael, governor of that city ; and his younger son, Herod, governor of Galilee. The latter soon began to distinguish himself against the banditti that infested the hills. He carefully con trived also to make friends with the Roman gover nor of Syria, as a step to his own aggrandisement. His riches enabled him to do this by means of enormous bribes. He found, however, a trouble• some enemy in Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, who allied himself with the Parthians, and for a time held Jerusalem and kept Herod in check.
At Masada, also, a city on the west coast of the Dead Sea, Antigonus was nearly successful, until Herod at last compelled him to raise the siege. He afterwards suffered a defeat by Herod, and was finally vanquished by the Roman general Sosius, who in derision called him by the female name Antigona, and sent him in chains to Antony, by whom, at the request of Herod, he was put to death, B.C. 37. Thus fell the last of the Macca bees, who seemed to inherit something of their ancient spirit. Hyrcanus, who before this had been incapacitated for the priesthood by having his ears -cut off, was subsequently, B. B. 30, in his eightieth year, put to death by Herod. The latter, meanwhile, by Augustus and Antony, was made king of and consolidated his throne by his marriage with Mariamne, a woman of incom parable beauty, the daughter of Alexander, son of Aristobulus, by Alexandra, the daughter of Hyr canes H., and therefore grand-daughter to both brothers. In her the race of the Asmonmans came to an end, and by her marriage passed into the Iduman line of the Herodians.
The following scheme will best illustrate the Maccabaaan history. The dates given are those of the death in each case in years B.C.
For a table of contemporary Syrian kings, see vol. i. 162 ; and for further information, see The books of the Maccabees ; Joseph. Aniiq., from book xii. 6. to book xiv. ; Milman, Hist, of yews, vol. ii. ; Prideaux, Connection, vol. ii., Oxford 1838; Ewald, Geschichte des V Israel, vol. iii. pt. 2; and Herzfeld, Geschichte d. Volk. Isr.—S. L.