HYRCANUS II. ARISTOBULUS II.
Brothers contend for the throne--Arrangement between the
brothers--The Idumæan Antipater--Hyrcanus's weakness--Aretas
besieges Jerusalem--Interference of Rome--Pompey at
Jerusalem--The Judæan colony in Rome--Flaccus in Asia
Minor--Cicero's oration against the Judæans--Weakening of the
power of the Synhedrion--Shemaya and Abtalion--Violent death
of Aristobulus and his son Alexander--Julius Cæsar and the
Judæans--Antipater's sons Phasael and Herod--Herod before the
Synhedrion--Operations of Cassius in Judæa--Malich--Antigonus
as King--Herod escapes to Rome.
69.40 B. C. E.
When Providence has decreed that a State shall be destroyed, no event
is more certain to hasten its fall than the contentions between two
rival parties for the possession of the throne. The noblest upholders
of the nation's rights are then invariably arrayed against each other,
until at last the civil wars in which they are engaged are usually
referred to some foreign ruler, whose yoke is all the more galling
as he appears invariably in the light of a peacemaker with the olive
branch in his hand.
The death of the queen gave the first incentive to the war which broke
out between the two brothers and divided the nation into two camps.
To Hyrcanus II, her eldest son, the dying mother had, in right of his
birth, bequeathed the throne. He, whose virtues would have graced the
modest life of a private individual, but who would have been but an
indifferent ruler even in a peaceful era, was certainly not fitted to
govern in troubled times. He did more harm by his good nature than many
another could do by acts of tyranny. His younger brother was the direct
opposite to him in character. Hyrcanus's cowardice contrasted vividly
with the reckless courage of Aristobulus, a quality in which he
resembled his father Alexander. Added to this, he possessed unlimited
ambition, which blinded him to practical considerations and quitted him
only with his last breath. His aim was to be the mighty ruler of Judæa,
and with the means at his command to make the neighboring countries
subject to his rule. But his rash impetuosity prevented him from
being successful, and, instead of gathering laurels, he brought only
contempt upon himself and his nation. Hardly had Alexandra expired when
Aristobulus, at the head of his mercenaries and Sadducæan followers,
marched upon Jerusalem for the purpose of dethroning his brother. Upon
Hyrcanus's side were ranged the Pharisees, the people and the army. The
wife and children of Aristobulus had been imprisoned as hostages in
the citadel of Baris in Jerusalem. The brothers met at Jericho, each
at the head of his army. Hyrcanus was defeated and fled to Jerusalem,
the greater number of his troops going over to Aristobulus. The younger
brother attacked and took the Temple, where many of his opponents had
sought refuge. Hyrcanus was obliged to lay down his arms when he saw
that the invader was master of the sanctuary and the capital. The two
brothers met again, agreed upon making peace, and signed their covenant
in the Temple. Aristobulus, as the one more capable of ruling, was to
wear the royal crown, whilst Hyrcanus was to retain the high priest's
diadem. This agreement was ratified by the marriage of Aristobulus's
son Alexander to Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus.
Aristobulus II, who had attained royal dignity by a successful stroke
of arms, does not appear to have in any way excited the displeasure of
the Pharisees. The position of the two parties in Judæa now assumed a
different character, and they might have become extinct as parties, had
it not been for the advent of a man whose measureless ambition and
personal interest brought him to the fore, and who, together with his
family, became the vampire of the nation, sucking its noblest blood
away. This man was Antipater, the descendant of a distinguished Idumæan
family, who, in common with all other Idumæans, had been compelled by
John Hyrcanus to accept Judaism. Never had a mistaken action found its
punishment more surely and swiftly. The fanaticism of Hyrcanus I was
now to bring ruin upon his house and family. The wealth and diplomatic
talents of Antipater had raised him to the post of satrap of Idumæa
during the reign of Alexander Jannæus and of his queen. His courteous
acts and generous presents had won the affections not only of his
countrymen, but also those of the inhabitants of Gaza and Ascalon.
Hyrcanus II, who required a guide in his helplessness, bestowed his
confidence upon Antipater, who abused it, and exerted his influence
to his own advantage. The Idumæan lost no opportunity of reminding
Hyrcanus of the degrading part that he had had to play in having been
called to the throne only to relinquish it to his younger brother. So
successfully did Antipater work upon his feelings, making him believe
that Aristobulus was actually planning his death, that Hyrcanus
was tempted into breaking the covenant he had sworn to respect, by
calling in a foreign ruler to decide between the claims of the two
brothers. Antipater had laid his plans beforehand with Aretas, king
of the Nabathæans. He fled one night from Jerusalem, bearing Hyrcanus
with him, and arrived by forced marches at Petra, the capital of the
Nabathæan king. Aretas was ready to help Hyrcanus, having been richly
bribed by Antipater, and having the prospect of recapturing twelve
cities east and south of the Dead Sea, which had been bought so dearly
by the Hasmonæans. He marched, therefore, upon Judæa, with an army of
fifty thousand men, whose numbers were augmented by the followers of
Hyrcanus (66). Thus the peace which the nation had enjoyed for nearly
three years was disturbed for many a long day by the scheming ambition
of Antipater and the boundless folly of Hyrcanus.
Aretas laid siege to Jerusalem in the beginning of the spring. To
escape so deplorable a sight, many of the most distinguished Judæans
(probably some of the Pharisaic leaders amongst them) fled from the
capital to Egypt. The siege lasted for several months, the strong walls
of the city to a certain extent making up for the insufficient numbers
of Aristobulus's warriors. But provisions began to fail, and, what was
a far more serious consideration for the pious Judæans, the animals
necessary for sacrificial purposes, particularly for the coming Paschal
feast, were sensibly diminishing. But Aristobulus relied, and rightly
so, upon the piety of the Judæan besiegers, who would not dare refuse
the required victims for the altar. He ordered baskets to be lowered
each day from the walls, containing the price of the lambs that were
placed in the baskets, and were drawn up in return. But as the siege
dragged on, and as the end seemed far off, some counselor--we may
imagine that it was Antipater--advised Hyrcanus to hurry on the final
scene, and to desist from supplying the sacrificial lamb. The basket
that was lowered after this advice had been tendered was found to
contain, when received within the city walls, a pig. This insult to the
Law created a feeling of disgust amongst the besieged, and so deeply
affected them that subsequently the breeding of swine was forbidden by
the Synhedrion.
The adherents of Hyrcanus were guilty of yet another enormity. Amongst
those who had left the besieged city was a pious man called Onias, who
had once successfully prayed for rain in a drought. The soldiers of
Hyrcanus dragged him from his solitary retreat, and believing that
Heaven would again answer his prayer, commanded him to pronounce a
curse upon Aristobulus and his followers. But instead of giving vent
to a curse, the old man exclaimed with fitting dignity, "Lord of the
universe, as the besieged and the besiegers both belong to Thy people,
I entreat of Thee not to grant the evil prayers of either party." The
coarse soldiers could not understand the feelings that prompted such
words, and murdered him as if he had been a criminal. In this way they
thought they could silence the spirit of Judaism rising to protest
against this civil war. But although the mighty ones of the land defied
all right and proper feeling, the people were grievously distressed,
and believed that the earthquake and the hurricane that devastated
Palestine and other parts of Asia at that time were the visible signs
of Divine wrath.
But more terrible than earthquake or hurricane was the harbinger of
evil that appeared in Judæa, "the beast with iron teeth, brazen claws,
and heart of stone, that was to devour much, and trample the rest under
foot," which came to the Judæan nation, to drink its blood, to eat
its flesh and to suck its marrow. The hour had struck when the Roman
eagle, with swift flight, was to swoop down upon Israel's inheritance,
circling wildly round the bleeding nation, lacerating her with cruel
wounds and finally leaving her a corpse.
Like inexorable fate, Rome watched over the destinies of the people of
western Asia, plundering, dividing and destroying. Judæa was destined
to the same lot. The bird of prey scented its booty from afar with
astonishing precision, and hastened to put out the last spark of
life. It came to Judæa for the first time in the person of Scaurus, a
legate of Pompey. In leaving for Asia, Scaurus hoped to exchange an
insignificant position in his own country for a powerful one in foreign
lands. He had imagined that in Syria he might acquire wealth and
honor, but finding that country already in possession of other birds of
prey, he turned his attention to Judæa. There he was warmly welcomed
by the rival brothers, who looked upon him as an arbitrator in their
difficulties. They both sent ambassadors to meet him, and as they knew
that the Romans were not indifferent to gold, they took care not to
appear empty-handed before him. But Aristobulus's gifts prevailed; he
sent three hundred talents, whilst Hyrcanus, or more properly speaking
Antipater, gave little but promises. Roman interest accorded well with
the greed of Scaurus. The Republic, fearing the growth of his power,
began by insisting that the Nabathæan king should retire from the civil
war in Palestine; Scaurus was therefore able to command Aretas to raise
the siege of Jerusalem. Aretas complied, but was overtaken with his
army at Rabbath Ammon by the troops of Aristobulus and defeated.
For the moment Aristobulus might fancy that he was the victorious
monarch of Judæa. The direction that Roman statesmanship had taken,
and the slow, deliberate movements that the commander Pompey employed
against Mithridates, lulled him into the delusion that his monarchy
was one of lasting duration. A lover of war like his father, he began
immediately to make inroads into neighboring provinces, and also
organized a fleet for warlike purposes. For two years Aristobulus
nursed this vain dream, and he may even have wished to establish a show
of independence by ordering, during this interval, coins to be struck
in his name. But Antipater's inventive genius soon dissipated this
dream; for in the arts of bribery and diplomacy he was far superior
to Aristobulus. Antipater had already induced Scaurus to side with
Hyrcanus, and to win for him the favor of Pompey, who was at this time
gathering laurels in Syria. Pompey looked upon the quarrel between
the two brothers as an excellent means for adding another conquest
to his long lists of triumphs. Although Aristobulus had made him a
magnificent gift, valuable in point of art as of intrinsic merit, the
contest had not been brought to an end. This gift consisted of a golden
vine, bearing clusters of golden grapes and golden leaves, valued
at five hundred talents, and it had probably been designed by King
Alexander for the adornment of the Temple. This work of art aroused the
admiration of all those who saw it, and for that reason Pompey hastened
to send it to Rome, where it was placed in the Temple of Jupiter on
the Capitol, as the harbinger of his triumphs. But the pious Judæans,
naturally, would not allow their own sanctuary to be deprived of such
an ornament, and spontaneously made contributions, some for golden
grapes, others for golden leaves; so that another golden vine, in later
days, graced the outer court of the Temple.
Although Pompey's vanity was flattered by this magnificent present, he
was far from deciding in favor of the donor. He had the insolence to
command Antipater and Nicodemus, the two envoys of the rival brothers,
to bid their masters appear in person at Damascus, where the vexed
question should be discussed, and where he would decide in favor of one
of the two princes. In spite of the deep humiliation which each felt,
both Hyrcanus and Aristobulus appeared, and upheld their individual
claims; the one resting upon his rights of birth, the other upon his
capacity for governing. But a third party had also appeared before
Pompey, which was to represent the right of the nation apart from the
angry princes. Weary of the Hasmonæan quarrels, a republican party had
sprung up, which was ready to govern the Judæan community, according to
the letter of the Law, without an hereditary sovereign. The republicans
especially complained that the last of the Hasmonæans had changed the
Judæan form of government from a hierarchy to a monarchy, in order
to reduce the nation to servitude. Pompey, however, gave ear neither
to the murmurs of the republicans nor to the arguments of the two
brothers. It was not his intention to put an end to the strife; what
he desired was, in the guise of a peaceful arbitrator, to bring Judæa
under the Roman rule. He soon saw that the weak-minded Hyrcanus (under
the tutelage of a designing minister) would be better adapted for the
part of a ward of Rome than the daring Aristobulus, and he inwardly
determined to support the weaker prince. But as he feared that by
too rash a decision he would only be involved in a long contest with
Aristobulus in an inaccessible country, and that he would only delay
his triumphal entry into Rome, he endeavored to put off the younger
brother with empty promises. Aristobulus, however, saw through the
snare that was prepared for him, and determined to make sure of his
freedom whilst there was yet time. He, therefore, entrenched himself
in the citadel of Alexandrion, intending to oppose the invasion of the
enemy from the walls of the fortress. But Roman greed of conquest was
now to manifest itself in all its abhorrent nakedness.
The Roman commander was pleased to look upon this prince's justifiable
act of self-defense as evidence of insubordination, and to treat him
as an obstinate rebel. He crossed the Jordan at Bethshean, and taking
the field against Aristobulus, commanded him to surrender, following
up this command by a series of delusive promises and serious threats,
such as would have induced a more wily man to take a false step.
The unfortunate prince surrendered the fortress of Alexandrion, but
soon repenting of this folly, returned to entrench himself behind
the strong walls of the city of Jerusalem, whither Pompey followed
him. When the Roman commander arrived at Jericho he heard, to his
infinite satisfaction, of the suicide of Mithridates, the great and
dangerous enemy of the Roman State, and he felt that he had now only
to subdue Aristobulus before celebrating his triumphs in Rome. It
seemed as if this end would be easily attained; for Aristobulus,
impelled by fear, came penitently to the feet of Pompey, loading him
with presents, and promising to deliver Jerusalem into his hands. For
this purpose Aristobulus started for the capital, accompanied by the
legate Gabinius; but their advance was repelled by the patriots, who
closed the gates of Jerusalem upon them, and Pompey was compelled to
lead his army against the city. The Hyrcanists, or lovers of peace, as
they were called, opened their gates to the enemy; but the patriots
entrenched themselves upon the Mount of the Sanctuary, and destroying
the bridge that connected the Temple with the town, prepared for a
desperate defense. Pompey, much against his will, found that he was
involved in a regular siege, the Temple Mount being strongly fortified.
Then he sent to Tyre for his battering-rams, and ordered trees to be
felled for bridging over the moats. The siege lasted for a long while,
and might have continued still longer, had not the storming of the
fortress been rendered easier to the besiegers by the patriots' strict
observance of the Sabbath-day. In accordance with either a Pharisaic
or a Sadducæan rendering of the Law, the besieged declared that they
were permitted to resist an attack of the invaders on the Sabbath,
but that they were infringing upon the sanctity of that day if they
merely defended the walls from the enemy's onslaughts. As soon as the
Romans were aware of this distinction, they turned it to their own
advantage. They let their weapons rest on the Sabbath-day, and worked
steadily at the demolishing of the walls. Thus it happened that upon
one Sabbath, in the month of Sivan (June, 63 B. C.), a tower of the
Temple fell, and a breach was effected by which the most daring of the
Romans prepared a way for entering the Sanctuary. The legions of Rome
and the foreign mercenaries crowded into the court of the Temple, and
killed the priests as they stood sacrificing before the altar. Many of
the unfortunate victims threw themselves headlong from the battlements
into the depths below, whilst others lit their own funeral pyre. It
is believed that twelve thousand Judæans met their death upon this
day. Pompey then penetrated into the Sanctuary, in order to satisfy
his curiosity as to the nature of the Judæan worship, about which the
most contradictory reports prevailed. The Roman general was not a
little astonished at finding within the sacred recesses of the Holy of
Holies, neither an ass's head nor, indeed, images of any sort. Thus the
malicious fictions busily circulated by Alexandrian writers, and of a
character so prejudicial to the Judæans, were now shown to be false.
The entrance of the Roman conqueror into the Temple, though deplorable
enough, was in a way favorable to Judaism. Whether he was penetrated by
awe at the sublime simplicity of the Holy of Holies, or whether he did
not wish to be designated as the robber of sanctuaries, we know not;
but, wonderful to relate, Pompey controlled his greed for gold and left
the treasury, containing 2000 talents, untouched. But the independence
of the nation ceased forever from that hour. Exactly a century after
the Maccabees had freed their people from the tyranny of the Syrians,
their descendants brought down the tyranny of the Romans upon Judæa.
What did Hyrcanus gain by his supplication for aid from the Republic?
Pompey deprived him of his royal title, only leaving him the dignity
of the high priesthood, with the doubtful appellation of ethnarch, and
made him the ward of Antipater, who was named governor of the country.
The walls of Jerusalem were razed to the ground, Judæa put into the
category of conquered provinces, and a tax was levied upon the capital.
The territory was brought within narrower confines, and its extent
became once more what it had been in pre-Hasmonæan times. Several
seaports lying along the coast, and inhabited by Greeks, as well as
those trans-Jordanic towns which Hyrcanus and Alexander had conquered
after hard fighting, and had incorporated with Judæa, were declared
to be free towns by Pompey, and were placed under the guardianship
of the Roman governor of Syria. But these cities, particularly the
trans-Jordanic ones, joined together in a defensive and offensive
league, calling themselves the Decapolis. Pompey ordered the most
determined of his prisoners of war, the zealots, to be executed, whilst
the rest were taken to Rome. The Judæan prince, Aristobulus, his son
Antigonus, his two daughters, and his uncle Absalom were forced to
precede Pompey's triumphal car, in the train of the conquered Asiatic
kings and kings' sons. Whilst Zion veiled her head in mourning, Rome
was reveling in her victories; but the Judæan prisoners that had been
dragged to Rome were to become the nucleus of a community destined
to carry on a new kind of warfare against long-established Roman
institutions, and ultimately to modify or partly destroy them.
There were, without doubt, many Judæans living in Rome and in other
Italian cities before Pompey's conquests, who may have emigrated into
Italy from Egypt and Asia Minor for commercial objects. As merchants,
bringing grain from the Nile country, or tribute money from Asia Minor,
they may have come into contact with the Roman potentates. But these
emigrants could hardly have formed a regular communal organization, for
there were no authorized teachers of the Law amongst them. Probably,
however, some learned men may have followed in Pompey's train of
captives, who were ransomed by their compatriots, and persuaded
to remain in Rome. The descendants of these prisoners were called
according to Roman law _libertini_ (the freed ones). The Judæan quarter
in Rome lay upon the right bank of the Tiber, on the slope of Mount
Vatican, and a bridge leading across that river to the Vatican was
known for a long while by the name of the Bridge of the Judæans (Pons
Judæorum). Theodus, one of the Judæans settled in Rome, introduced
into his own community a substitute for the paschal lamb, which could
not be eaten outside of Jerusalem, and the loss of which was a bitter
deprivation to the exiles. This aroused the displeasure of the Judæans
in the home country, who wrote to Theodus: "If thou wert not Theodus,
we should excommunicate thee."
The Roman Judæans influenced, to a certain extent, the course of
Roman policy. For as the original emigrants, as well as the ransomed
captives, enjoyed the power of voting in public assemblies, they were
able at times, by their combined action on a preconcerted plan, by
their assiduity, by their temperate and passionless conception of the
situation, perhaps also by their keen intelligence, to turn the scale
upon some popular question. So important was their quiet influence
that the eloquent but intolerant Cicero, who had learned to hate the
Judæans from his master Apollonius Molo, was afraid on one occasion
to give vent to his anti-Judæan feelings in a public speech, for fear
of stirring them up against him. He had to defend the unjust cause of
a prætor Flaccus, who was accused of having been guilty of numerous
extortions during his government of the Asia Minor provinces. Amongst
other things, Flaccus had seized upon the votive offerings of the
Temple (_aurum Judæorum_) given by the community of Asia Minor--about
two hundred pounds of gold, collected by the Judæan inhabitants of
the towns of Apamea, Laodicea, Adramyttium, and Pergamus (62). In
order to justify his proceedings Flaccus cited a resolution of the
Senate, by which all exportation of money was forbidden from Roman
to foreign provinces; and although Judæa had been conquered by Roman
arms, yet she did not enjoy the honor of being enrolled amongst the
provinces of the Republic. The Roman Judæans were intensely interested
in this trial, and many of them were present among the populace. The
cowardly Cicero was so much afraid of them that he would have liked
to speak in a low tone in order to be heard by the Judges but not by
the Judæans. In the course of his defense he made use of an unworthy
piece of sophistry, which might have made an impression upon some
bigoted Roman, but which could hardly satisfy an intelligent mind. "It
requires great decision of character," he said, "to oppose the barbaric
superstitions of the Judæans and, for the good of our country, to show
proper contempt towards these seditious people, who invade our public
assemblies. If Pompey did not avail himself of a conqueror's rights,
and left the treasures of the Temple untouched, we may be sure he did
not restrain himself out of reverence for the Judæan sanctuary, but out
of astuteness, to avoid giving the suspicious and slanderous Judæan
nation an opportunity of accusing him; for otherwise he would hardly
have spared foreign, still less Judæan, sanctuaries. When Jerusalem was
unconquered, and when the Judæans were living in peace, they displayed
a deeply-rooted antipathy to the glory of the Roman State, to the
dignity of the Roman name, and to the laws of our ancestors. During the
last war the Judæan nation proved most effectually how bitterly they
hate us. How little this nation is beloved by the immortal gods is now
evident, as her country is conquered and leased out." What impression
this speech made upon the audience, and what decision was given to
Flaccus, are unknown. A year later Cicero was punished by a sentence of
banishment. He was not allowed to be seen within eighty miles of Rome,
and his villas were razed to the ground.
After Pompey's departure from Syria, the thraldom imposed upon
dismembered Judæa became more onerous than before, because she was left
in the anomalous condition of a partly conquered province and a partly
independent country. The powerful minister of Hyrcanus contributed to
make this condition lasting and oppressive. He endeavored to strengthen
his connection with Rome by munificent presents, trusting that the
Republic would support him, in spite of his unpopularity with the
Judæan people, who hated him as the cause of their subjection. With the
sweat from Judæa's brow he sustained the Roman commander Scaurus, who
had opened a campaign against the Nabathæan king, Aretas. Meanwhile
Alexander II, the eldest son of Aristobulus, escaping from captivity
and arriving in Judæa, gained the support of the patriots, and putting
himself at the head of fifteen hundred horse and ten thousand foot
soldiers, marched upon Jerusalem. Hyrcanus, or more properly speaking
his master Antipater, could not resist so great a force, and left the
capital to Alexander, who entered and had it fortified. The great
Roman power fought alternately upon either side, according to the
bribes that were offered its officials. Alexander felt so secure of
his position that he had coins struck with the following inscription
in Greek and Hebrew, "King Alexander and High Priest Jonathan." Aulus
Gabinius, however, the governor of Syria, and the most unscrupulous of
the Roman extortioners of his times, succeeded in ending this revolt
and in subduing Alexander. The death-stroke that awaited the latter was
only warded off by his mother, who, embracing the knees of the Roman
commander, entreated him to show mercy to her son.
Gabinius succeeded in weakening the unity of the Judæan State,
which had of late been so unworthily represented by the last of the
Hasmonæans, but the integrity of which had always been so jealously
watched over by the Great Council. Judæa was no longer to be an
independent State with self-governing and legislative powers over the
whole country, but was to be divided into five provinces, each having
its own independent Senate or Synhedrion for the control of home
affairs. These assemblies were held at specially appointed towns, at
Jerusalem, Gazara, Emmaus, Jericho, and Sepphoris; and Judæans selected
from the aristocratic party, who were well disposed towards Rome, were
placed at the head of these councils.
Although the fact of having dismembered the State testified in favor
of Gabinius's political insight, yet he deceived himself as regarded
the ultimate success of his plans. As the Synhedrion had grown out of
the innermost life of the whole nation and had not been forced upon it
by outside influences, it was no easy matter to break its centralizing
power. The new scheme of dividing Judæa into five provinces was hardly
introduced before it disappeared with Gabinius, leaving no trace of
its existence. The Great Council remained as before the heart of the
people, but its power was lessened by unfavorable circumstances. From
that time it was called the "Synhedrion," and to distinguish it from
the small Councils, the "Great Synhedrion." But it could not boast of
any political power, for that was now entirely in the hands of the
Romans. Simon ben Shetach, the celebrated president of the Council, was
succeeded by his two most distinguished disciples, Shemaya (Sameas)
and Abtalion (Pollion). We can trace the despairing sentiments of that
generation in some of their sayings which have been handed down to us:
"Love thy handicraft and shun governing; estrange thyself from worldly
power." "Be prudent in your words," said Abtalion to the law-framers;
"do not bring upon yourselves the penalty of exile, for your disciples
would have to follow you into a land full of ensnaring influences
(poisonous waters) which they would imbibe, and the sacred name of God
would be through them profaned." These two presidents of the Synhedrion
seem to have been Alexandrian Judæans, or at least they must have spent
some years of exile in Alexandria, perhaps with their master Judah ben
Tabbai.
During their twenty-five years of official life (60-35), whilst the
political power of the Synhedrion was waning, their energy appears to
have been directed towards its inner or moral power. They assembled a
circle of eager disciples around them, to whom they taught the tenets
of the Law, their origin and application. They were indeed accredited
in after ages with so profound a knowledge of the Law, that to cite
Shemaya or Abtalion in support of an interpretation was considered
indisputable proof of its accuracy. One of their most distinguished and
most grateful disciples called them "the two great men of the era," and
the peculiarly careful study of the Law, for which the Pharisees became
so justly celebrated, may be said to have originated with them.
For some little time the history of Judæa contains nothing but accounts
of insubordination to Roman despotism and its unhappy consequences,
of scenes of oppression and robbery, and of acts of spoliation of the
Temple. Aristobulus, who had succeeded in escaping from Rome with his
son Antigonus, now appeared in Judæa. The rule of the Romans was of so
galling a character that Aristobulus, who had not been a favorite in
the old days, was now received with unbounded enthusiasm. Sufficient
arms could not be procured for the volunteers who flocked to his camp.
He was joined by Pitholaus, a Judæan commander, who had once served as
a general to Hyrcanus. Aristobulus placed himself at the head of 8000
men, and began immediately to regarrison the citadel of Alexandrion,
whence he hoped to exhaust the Romans by guerrilla warfare. But his
impatient temper led him into open battle, in which a large part of his
army was utterly destroyed, and the rest scattered. Still unsubdued,
Aristobulus threw himself with the remnant of his followers into the
citadel of Machærus, but at the approach of the Romans with their
battering-rams he was obliged to capitulate, and for the second time
was sent with his sons into captivity at Rome (56).
Another insurrection, organized by his son Alexander, who had obtained
his freedom from the then all-powerful Pompey, was doomed to come to
as disastrous a termination. Galled by the oppression of the Governor
of Syria, the inhabitants of that unfortunate country sent an army of
30,000 men to join Alexander. They commenced by killing all the Romans
who came in their way, Gabinius's troops not being strong enough to
oppose them. But the Governor craftily succeeded in detaching some
of Alexander's followers from his ranks, and then tempted the Judæan
prince into open battle. At Mount Tabor (in 55), the Judæans were
signally defeated.
Meanwhile the three most eminent men of Rome--Julius Cæsar,
distinguished by his brilliant sagacity, Pompey by his martial renown,
and Crassus by his boundless wealth--had agreed to break the power
of the Senate, and to manage the affairs of the State according to
their own will. The triumvirs began by dividing the fairest lands
into provinces, which they separately appropriated. Syria fell to
the share of Crassus, who was intensely avaricious in spite of his
vast riches. Judæa from this time on was annexed to Syria quite as a
matter of course. Crassus went out of his way, when marching against
the Parthians, to enter Jerusalem, being tempted thither by the rich
treasury of the Temple. He made no secret of his wish to seize upon
the two thousand talents that Pompey had spared. In order to satisfy
his greed, a pious priest, Eleazer, delivered up to him a solid bar
of gold, the existence of which, hidden as it was in a hollow staff
of curiously carved wood, had been unknown to the priests. Upon the
receipt of this gift, Crassus swore solemnly that he would spare the
treasury of the Temple. But when was a promise known to be binding
that was made by a Roman to a Judæan? He took the golden bar, the two
thousand talents, and all the golden vessels of the Temple, which were
worth another eight thousand talents (54). Laden with these and other
spoils of the Sanctuary, Crassus marched against the Parthians; but
the Roman arms had always failed to subdue this people. Crassus was
slain, and his army was so entirely disabled that his legate, Cassius
Longinus, returned to Syria with scarcely the tenth part of the army
of one hundred thousand men (53). The Parthians pursued the weakened
army, and the Syrians, weary of the Roman yoke, lent them secret aid.
To the Judæans this seemed an auspicious moment also for their own
emancipation.
It fell to Pitholaus to call the army together, which he led against
Cassius. Fortune, however, always deserted the Judæan arms when they
were turned against the Romans. Shut up in Tarichea on the lake of
Tiberias, the troops were obliged to surrender. Upon the urgent demand
of Antipater, Pitholaus was sentenced to death by Cassius, and thirty
thousand Judæan warriors were sold into slavery (52).
But the imprisoned Aristobulus looked forward once again to the hope
of placing himself upon his father's throne and of banishing Antipater
into obscurity. Julius Cæsar, the greatest man that Rome ever
produced, had openly defied the Senate, and broken with his associate
Pompey. The bitter strife between the two Roman potentates lit the
torch of war in the most distant provinces of the Roman empire. Cæsar
had given Aristobulus his freedom, and in order to weaken Pompey's
influence, had sent him with two legions to Palestine to create a
diversion in his favor. But the partisans of Pompey contrived to
poison the Judæan prince. His followers embalmed his body in honey
and carried it to Jerusalem, where it was buried beside the bodies
of the Hasmonæan princes. His eldest son, the gallant Alexander, was
decapitated by order of Scipio, a follower of Pompey, at Antioch. The
widow of Aristobulus and his surviving son Antigonus found protection
with Ptolemy, prince of Chalcis, whose son Philippion had fallen in
love with Alexandra, the daughter of Aristobulus, and had brought her
to his father's court. But Ptolemy, out of criminal love to his own
daughter-in-law, caused his son to be murdered and married the widow.
Antipater continued to be Pompey's faithful ally, until the Roman
general met with a miserable end in Egypt. Then the Idumæan offered
his services to Cæsar. When the great general found himself in Egypt,
without sufficient forces, without news from Rome, in the midst of a
hostile population, Antipater evinced a touching eagerness to help
him, which did not remain unrewarded. He provided the army of Cæsar's
ally, Mithridates, king of Pergamus, with all necessaries, and sent him
a contingent of Judæan troops; he aided him in conquering Pelusium,
and conciliated the Egyptian-Judæans who had taken the part of his
opponent. He was now well able to forego the favor of Hyrcanus. To no
effect did Antigonus, the last surviving son of Aristobulus, seek an
interview with Cæsar, in which he dwelt upon his father's and his
brother's loyalty to the Roman general; Antipater had but to display
his wounds, which he had received in the very last campaign, to gain
the victory over his rival. Cæsar, who was an astute reader of men,
and who had himself revolted from the legitimate order of things, knew
well enough how to value Antipater's loyalty and energy, and did not
support the rightful claims of Antigonus. Out of consideration for
Antipater (47), Hyrcanus was proclaimed high priest and ethnarch, and
to Judæa was given some relief from her burdens. The walls of Jerusalem
were rebuilt, the provinces that formerly belonged to Judæa, namely,
Galilee, the towns in the plains of Jezreel, and Lydda, were once
more made part of her territory. The Judæans were no longer forced to
provide winter quarters for the Roman legions, although the landowners
were obliged to give the fourth part of their harvest every second year
to the Roman troops.
Cæsar was altogether benevolent to the Judæans, and rewarded them for
their loyalty. To the Alexandrian Judæans he granted many privileges,
confirming their long-enjoyed equality with the Greeks, and permitting
them to be governed by a prince of their own (Ethnarch). Money was
again liberally provided for the Temple. Cæsar enabled the supplies to
reach their destination. He prevented the Greek inhabitants of Asia
Minor from molesting the Judæans of those provinces, from summoning
them before the courts of justice on the Sabbath, from interfering with
their public assemblages and the building of their synagogues, and in
general from disturbing them in their religious observances (47-44).
Cæsar must also have extended his generosity to the Judæan community in
Rome, for they evinced the warmest devotion to his memory.
But in spite of all these favors, the Judæan nation as a whole
remained cold and distant. The foreign communities of Judæans might
bless Cæsar as their benefactor, but the Palestinean Judæans could see
in him only the Roman, the patron of the hated Idumæan. So defiant was
the attitude of the nation that Antipater felt himself compelled to
threaten the disaffected with the triple wrath of Cæsar, of Hyrcanus
and of himself, whilst he promised liberal bounty to the obedient and
loyal Judæans. Meanwhile, a small body of men taken from the army of
Aristobulus had assembled under the command of Ezekias upon one of
the mountain heights of Galilee, where they only awaited an opportune
moment for raising the standard of revolt against Rome. The Romans,
it is true, only looked upon this little army as a band of robbers,
and upon Ezekias as a robber chieftain, but to the Judæans they were
the avengers of their honor and their freedom. For they were deeply
mortified that Antipater had placed the reins of government in the
hands of his sons, and that he cared only for the growing power of his
house. Of the four sons born to him by Kypros, the daughter of the King
of Arabia, he proclaimed Phasael, the eldest, Governor of Jerusalem and
Judæa, and the second, Herod, a youth of the age of twenty, Governor of
Galilee.
This prince was destined to become the evil genius of the Judæan
nation; it was he who brought her as a bound captive to Rome; it was he
who placed his feet triumphantly upon her neck. Like an ominous cloud
weighted down with misfortune, he seems from the very first to have
thrown a dark shadow upon the life of the nation, which, as it slowly
but surely advanced, quenched all light in the gathering darkness and
withered all growth, until nothing remained but a scene of desolation.
True to his father's policy, Herod began by basely flattering Rome
and by wounding the Judæan spirit. In order to gain favor with Cæsar,
and also to establish the security of his family, he undertook a
campaign against the followers of Ezekias; he captured the leader of
the band, and, without any trial or show of justice, sentenced him and
his followers to decapitation. Eager were the words of praise and of
thanks awarded to him by the Syrians and the Romans; he was called the
"Robber-subduer"; but whilst he was loaded with favors by Sextus Cæsar,
the Roman Governor of Syria, all true patriots mourned.
The bitter degradation which the people suffered at the hands of
this Idumæan family inspired some of the most distinguished Judæans
to lay before the weak-minded Hyrcanus the true state of their own
and of their High Priest's new position. They explained to him that
his dignity was but an empty name, that all real power lay with
Antipater and his sons. They pointed to the execution of Ezekias and
his followers as an act of gross contempt for the Law. These bitter
complaints would have had but little effect upon the weak Hyrcanus,
had not the mothers of the slain torn his heart with their cries of
anguish. Whenever he appeared in the Temple they threw themselves
before him and entreated him not to let the death of their sons remain
unavenged.
At last Hyrcanus permitted the Synhedrion to summon Herod before the
seat of justice. But Antipater did not fail to warn his son of the
terrible storm that was gathering over his head, and of the danger
of entering Jerusalem alone and unarmed; while at the same time he
cautioned him not to appear surrounded by too many troops, and so
arouse the suspicions of Hyrcanus. Herod appeared at the appointed
time, but with an armed escort, and with a letter from Sextus Cæsar,
making the king answerable for the life of the favorite. Thus the day
arrived for the great trial to which all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were looking forward with feverish impatience. When the members of
the court had taken their places, the accused, clad in purple, with
aggressive demeanor, and escorted by his followers, appeared before
them. At this sight most of the accusers felt their courage fail
them; Herod's bitterest enemies looked downcast and shamefaced, and
even Hyrcanus was embarrassed. A painful silence ensued, during which
each man stood breathless. Only one member found words to save the
waning dignity of the Council, the President, Shemaya. Quietly and
calmly he spoke: "Is it not the intention of the accused to put us to
death if we pronounce him guilty? And yet I must blame him less than
the king and you, who suffer such contempt to be cast upon the Law.
Know, then that he, before whom you are all trembling, will one day
deliver you to the sword of the executioner." These words roused the
fainting courage of the judges, and they soon showed themselves to be
as determined as they had before appeared to be cowardly. But Hyrcanus
was afraid of their growing wrath, and commanded the Council to adjourn
the sitting. Meanwhile Herod withdrew from the anger of the people,
and was cordially received at Damascus by Sextus Cæsar, who proclaimed
him governor of Cœlesyria (46). Overwhelmed with honors, he was on the
point of wreaking his vengeance upon the king and the Council, when his
father and his brother Phasael urged him to milder measures. But he
silently nursed his revenge, determined to gratify it upon some future
occasion.
The wide-spread disturbance occasioned by the murder of Cæsar (44)
involved Palestine in new troubles. The Roman Judæans justly were so
inconsolable at the death of this great man that they spent several
entire nights mourning beside the grave that contained his ashes. The
internal struggles, the bloody warfare, the constant proscriptions,
were but the labor-throes of Rome previous to the birth of a new
order of things; but for Judæa they were to a certain extent a fresh
attack of a fatal disease. The heads of the republican party supplanted
those of the Cæsarian party, but merely to be supplanted by them again
in a short time; and this was the case not only in Judæa, but in
various parts of the Roman empire. The republican, Cassius Longinus,
had arrived in Syria for the purpose of raising troops and money, and
demanded that Judæa should supply him with 700 talents. Cassius was in
desperate haste, for any moment might deprive him of the supreme power
with which he ruled at that time over persons and events in Syria. Thus
he threw the inhabitants of four Palestinean cities into chains and
sold them into slavery, because their contributions were not delivered
quickly enough.
The eyes of the unfortunate monarch, Hyrcanus, were opened at last to
the fact that the Idumæans were seeking only their own interest under
the cloak of warm partisanship for his cause. He began to be suspicious
in his dealings with them, and turned for support to a true and
faithful friend, Malich, who had long since recognized the duplicity
of the Idumæans. As yet Hyrcanus knew nothing of the fiendish plot by
which he was to be dethroned, and which was to raise Herod, by the
help of the Roman legions, to the throne of Judæa. But this rumor had
reached the ears of Malich. Determined to rid the king of the hated
Antipater, he contrived to poison him when he was feasting at a banquet
with Hyrcanus (43). In cutting at the root, he failed, however, to
destroy the growing evil, for Herod surpassed his father, not only in
determination and in audacity, but also in duplicity. He avenged the
death of Antipater by the assassination of Malich. All attempts to ruin
the Idumæan brothers were unsuccessful. Even when Herod fell suddenly
and grievously ill, Phasael was fortunate enough to subdue his enemies.
A plot conceived by Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus II, supported by
his kinsman Ptolemy of Chalcis, to deprive the Idumæans of their power,
failed likewise, and Herod compelled Hyrcanus to crown him with the
garland of victory when he made his entry into Jerusalem. As a means
of disarming this terrible and mighty prince, Hyrcanus tried to attach
him to his house, by betrothing him to his granddaughter Mariamne,
celebrated in history no less for her beauty than for her misfortunes.
The victim was to be bound to the executioner by the bonds of marriage,
and her own mother, Alexandra, helped to bring about this miserable
alliance.
Fortune smiled so persistently upon the Idumæan that all changes in
the political world, however they might appear to damage his cause,
only gave him greater power. The republican army was completely
routed at Philippi (in 42), the leaders, Brutus and Cassius,
committed suicide, and the Roman world lay at the feet of the second
triumvirate--Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus. Herod and Phasael looked
upon these changes with a troubled eye; for had they not displayed
the warmest zeal for the opponents of the triumvirate? Besides this,
some of the Judæan nobles had hurried forth to meet the victor Antony
in Bithynia, carrying to him their complaints of the rapacity of
the Idumæan brothers. But Herod soon found the means to scatter the
clouds. He also appeared before Antony with a smooth tongue and ready
money. Antony did not fail to remember that he had formerly tasted of
Antipater's hospitality. He turned a deaf ear to the Judæan nobles, and
dismissed Herod with marks of favor. The voice of the nation, which
made itself heard through its ambassadors, was no longer heeded. Antony
sentenced some of the unfortunate envoys to be thrown into prison, and
others to be executed, whilst he proclaimed the two Idumæan brothers
governors of Judæa, with the title "Tetrarch."
At one time it seemed as if this constant good fortune were about to
desert the Idumæan brothers and to return to the Hasmonæan house. The
Parthians, stimulated by the fugitive Roman republican Labienus, had
made, under the command of their king's son Pacorus, and his commander,
Barzapharnes, an inroad into Asia Minor and Syria, whilst Mark
Antony was reveling at the court of the bewitching queen Cleopatra.
The Parthians, enemies of the Roman republic, were also violently
antagonistic to Herod and Phasael; they became doubly so on account of
their connection with Lysanias, the son of Ptolemy, who was related to
the house of Aristobulus, and who had promised great rewards to the
Parthian commanders if they would sweep the hated brothers out of the
way, dethrone Hyrcanus, and crown Antigonus. The Parthians agreed to
this scheme, and, dividing their army into two detachments, marched
by the sea-coast and the inland road upon Jerusalem. At every step
they were met and joined by Judæan troops, who outstripped them in
their haste to arrive at the capital. Upon entering Jerusalem they
besieged the Hasmonæan palace, and flocked to the Mount of the Temple.
The common people, in spite of being unarmed, supported the invaders.
The festival of Pentecost was at hand, and a crowd of worshipers from
all parts of Judæa were streaming into Jerusalem; they also declared
themselves in favor of Antigonus. The Idumæans held the palace and its
fortress, and the invaders, the city. Hyrcanus and Phasael were at last
persuaded by Pacorus, the king's cup-bearer, to go as envoys of peace
to the general, Barzapharnes, whilst Herod was closely watched. Upon
arriving at Ecdippa the two unfortunate ambassadors were thrown into
prison, where Phasael committed suicide, and where Hyrcanus had his
ears mutilated, in order to incapacitate him thereafter for holding his
priestly office. Plots were also laid to ensure the downfall of Herod,
but, warned by some faithful followers of his brother, he contrived to
escape from his palace at night. Accompanied by his bride Mariamne,
and by the female members of his family, he hurried to the fortress
Masada, which he left in command of his brother Joseph, retiring first
into Arabia, then into Egypt, and finally to Rome. He was followed by
the execrations of the people. Antigonus was now proclaimed king of
Judæa (the Parthians carrying off Hyrcanus to Babylon), and feeling
himself to be in truth a monarch, he had coins struck with his Hebrew
and Greek names: "Mattathias, High Priest, and the Commonwealth of the
Judæans," and also "King Antigonus." The Parthian auxiliary troops were
dismissed, and Antigonus destroyed the last of the Roman contingent
that still held some of the fortresses in Palestine. So Judæa was once
more freed from foreign soldiery, and could indulge in the sweet dream
of regained independence after thirty hard years of internal troubles
and terrible warfare.