We now come to the period in which it was besieged by another Antiochus, viz. Antiochus Sidetes. Hircanus having been, by the death of Simon, appointed high-priest and prince of the Jews, Antiochus marched with all possible haste, at the head of a powerful army, to reduce Judea, and unite it to the empire of Syria. Hircanus shut himself up in the city, where he sustained a long siege with incredible valour. At length he was compelled, by the extremity of his necessities, to make proposals of peace. Several of the king's councillors, however, advised him not to listen to any proposals of that nature. "The Jews," said they, "were driven out of Egypt, as impious persons, hated by the gods, and abhorred by men. They are enemies to all the rest of mankind. They have no communication with any but those of their own persuasion. They will neither eat nor drink nor have any familiarity with other people; they do not adore the gods that we do; their laws, customs, manners, and religion, are entirely different from those of all other nations; they therefore deserve to be treated by all the nations with equal contempt; to receive hatred for hatred; and to be utterly extirpated."
Such was the language addressed to Antiochus; and had he not been devout and generous, says Diodorus, this advice had been followed. He listened, however, to milder counsels, and agreed that the besieged should have leave to surrender their arms; and that their fortifications being demolished, a peace should be granted. All this was done.
Some years after this, Jerusalem was taken possession of by the Romans under the command of Pompey the Great, and the temple carried by storm. There were two parties in the city. One, the adherents of Hircanus, opened the gates; the other retired to the mountain where the temple stood, and caused the bridges of the ditch and valley which surrounded it to be broken down. Upon this, Pompey, who was already master of the city, ventured to besiege the temple. The place held out three months, and might, perhaps, have done so for three months longer, and perhaps even obliged the Romans to abandon their enterprise, but for the rigour with which the besieged thought proper to observe the sabbath. They believed, indeed, that they might defend themselves when attacked; but not that they might prevent the works of the enemy, or make any for themselves. The Romans knew how to take advantage of this inaction on sabbath-days. They did not attack the Jews upon them; but filled up the fosses, made their approaches, and fixed their engines without opposition. At length, being able to make a breach in the walls, the place was carried by the sword, and not less than 12,000 persons were slain. The victors entered the temple; and Pompey went even so far as to penetrate to the Holy of Holies, and altered the name of Jerusalem (then called Hierosolyma) to Hierosolymarius. Not long after, Crassus, marching against the Parthians, entered the temple, the treasures of which Pompey held sacred, and rifled it of a sum equivalent, in our money, to £1,500,000.
Pompey caused the walls to be demolished: Cæsar afterwards caused them to be rebuilt; and Antipater, executing that commission, soon put the city into as good a position of defence as it had been before the demolition. Notwithstanding this, Jerusalem became subject to another siege by the Romans, acting in behalf of Herod, with 60,000 men. The place held out many months with great resolution; and if the besieged had been as expert in the art of war and the defence of places, as they were brave and resolute, it would not, perhaps, have been taken. But the Romans, who were much better skilled in those things than they, carried the place, after a siege of more than six months. They entered, made themselves masters, plundered and destroyed all before them, and filled every part of the city with blood. The crown of all Judea was soon after placed in the hands of a stranger,—an Idumean—(Herod); in whose reign Jesus Christ was born.
During the reign of Herod the Great, Jerusalem was much enlarged and embellished. He erected a superb palace, a theatre, and an amphitheatre. He, also, projected the design of enlarging the temple,[305] which had been erected after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity; and, having begun the work in the eleventh year of his reign, he completed it in eight years.
Tacitus call this erection "immensæ opulentiæ templum;" and Josephus says, "it was the most astonishing temple he had ever seen, as well on account of its architecture as its magnitude; the richness and magnificence of its various parts, and the reputation of its sacred appurtenances." This temple Herod began to build about sixteen years before the birth of Christ. It was so far completed in nine years and a half, as to be fit for divine service: and what is very remarkable, it was afterwards destroyed by the Romans, in the same month and day of the month, in which Solomon's temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians.
In its most flourishing state Jerusalem was divided into four parts, each separated by a wall, viz. 1. The old city of Jēbus, standing on Mount Zion, where David built a magnificent palace and castle. This part was called the city of David. 2. The lower city; called the Daughter of Zion, in which part Solomon built two magnificent palaces, for himself and his queen; and which contained that of the Maccabean princes; and the amphitheatre of Herod. Also the citadel of Antiochus; and lastly the citadel built by Herod, upon a high rock, and thence called Antonia. 3. The "New City;" mostly inhabited by merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics. 4. Mount Moriah; on which Solomon built his temple.
The height of the temple thus repaired is said to have been one thousand two hundred feet. The stones of which it was built were all of marble, forty cubits long, twelve thick, eight high, and so exquisitely joined that they appeared to be of one combined piece. There were one thousand four hundred and fifty-three columns of Parian marble, and two thousand nine hundred and six pilasters, of such thickness, that three men could hardly embrace them; and their height and capital proportionable, and all of the Corinthian order.[306] All the materials of the original fabric were, as it is well known, finished and adapted to their several ends before they were brought to Jerusalem: that is, the stones in their quarries, and the cedars in Lebanon; so that there was no noise of axe, hammer, or any other tool, heard in the rearing of it. There were no less than one hundred and sixty-three thousand men employed in this work; and yet it took nine years in the building.
The expense of building this wonderful structure was prodigious: the gold and silver employed for this purpose, amounted to 800,000,000l. sterling, which, according to Prideaux's calculation, was a sum equal to have built the whole of solid silver; but it can scarcely be questioned, we think, that some error has crept into the account[307]: There could not have been so much bullion, much less coin, at that time in the world.
In ancient Jerusalem there were ten gates and four towers. Its extent was about one mile. In Solomon's time, this extent appears to have been twice, if not thrice, more. In the time of Titus it was four miles 125 paces. Eusebius lays the circumference at 2550 toises.