Alexandra Reigns Nine Years, During Which Time The Pharisees
Were The Real Rulers Of The Nation.
1. Now Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra his wife, and depended
upon it that the Jews would now very readily submit to her, because she
had been very averse to such cruelty as he had treated them with,
and had opposed his violation of their laws, and had thereby got the
good-will of the people. Nor was he mistaken as to his expectations; for
this woman kept the dominion, by the opinion that the people had of her
piety; for she chiefly studied the ancient customs of her country, and
cast those men out of the government that offended against their holy
laws. And as she had two sons by Alexander, she made Hyrcanus the elder
high priest, on account of his age, as also, besides that, on account of
his inactive temper, no way disposing him to disturb the public. But
she retained the younger, Aristobulus, with her as a private person, by
reason of the warmth of his temper.
2. And now the Pharisees joined themselves to her, to assist her in
the government. These are a certain sect of the Jews that appear more
religious than others, and seem to interpret the laws more accurately.
Now Alexandra hearkened to them to an extraordinary degree, as being
herself a woman of great piety towards God. But these Pharisees artfully
insinuated themselves into her favor by little and little, and became
themselves the real administrators of the public affairs: they banished
and reduced whom they pleased; they bound and loosed [men] at their
pleasure; 4 and, to say all at once, they had the enjoyment of the royal
authority, whilst the expenses and the difficulties of it belonged to
Alexandra. She was a sagacious woman in the management of great
affairs, and intent always upon gathering soldiers together; so that she
increased the army the one half, and procured a great body of foreign
troops, till her own nation became not only very powerful at home, but
terrible also to foreign potentates, while she governed other people,
and the Pharisees governed her.
3. Accordingly, they themselves slew Diogenes, a person of figure,
and one that had been a friend to Alexander; and accused him as having
assisted the king with his advice, for crucifying the eight hundred men
[before mentioned.] They also prevailed with Alexandra to put to death
the rest of those who had irritated him against them. Now she was so
superstitious as to comply with their desires, and accordingly they slew
whom they pleased themselves. But the principal of those that were in
danger fled to Aristobulus, who persuaded his mother to spare the men on
account of their dignity, but to expel them out of the city, unless she
took them to be innocent; so they were suffered to go unpunished, and
were dispersed all over the country. But when Alexandra sent out her
army to Damascus, under pretense that Ptolemy was always oppressing
that city, she got possession of it; nor did it make any considerable
resistance. She also prevailed with Tigranes, king of Armenia, who lay
with his troops about Ptolemais, and besieged Cleopatra, 5 by agreements
and presents, to go away. Accordingly, Tigranes soon arose from
the siege, by reason of those domestic tumults which happened upon
Lucullus's expedition into Armenia.
4. In the mean time, Alexandra fell sick, and Aristobulus, her younger
son, took hold of this opportunity, with his domestics, of which he had
a great many, who were all of them his friends, on account of the warmth
of their youth, and got possession of all the fortresses. He also used
the sums of money he found in them to get together a number of mercenary
soldiers, and made himself king; and besides this, upon Hyrcanus's
complaint to his mother, she compassionated his case, and put
Aristobulus's wife and sons under restraint in Antonia, which was a
fortress that joined to the north part of the temple. It was, as I have
already said, of old called the Citadel; but afterwards got the name of
Antonia, when Antony was [lord of the East], just as the other cities,
Sebaste and Agrippias, had their names changed, and these given them
from Sebastus and Agrippa. But Alexandra died before she could punish
Aristobulus for his disinheriting his brother, after she had reigned
nine years.