Wars and Conquests of John Hyrcanus. During the early part of John's reign Judea was again invaded by the Syrians. Jerusalem was besieged and the Jews were again obliged to recognize the old suzerainty. Fortunately for them the Syrian king was intent upon invading Parthia and, therefore, in order to secure the support of John Hyrcanus, left him in possession of his kingdom. After the death of Antiochus Sidetes in this eastern campaign, John was free to complete the conquest of the ancient foes of his race. His first campaign was east of the Dead Sea and resulted in the capture of the old Moabite city of Medeba. He then marched against Shechem and Mount Gerizim, the home of the Samaritans. Their temple was left in ruins and their territory was joined to the Jewish kingdom. The Idumean stronghold, Marissa,[(108)] on the borders of the Philistine Plain, and Dora, or Adora, a few miles southwest of Hebron, were captured and the Idumeans were completely subdued. These close kinsmen and hereditary foes of the Jews were compelled to submit to the right of circumcision and to accept the Hebrew laws. Thus at the point of the sword was brought into the Jewish nation an element which was destined in the end to prove its undoing. Last of all, Hyrcanus conquered, by means of a protracted siege, the then Greek city of Samaria. The Syrian army sent to its relief was vanquished and the city completely demolished.

Reign of Aristobulus I. Notwithstanding its independence and political strength, the Jewish kingdom was at this time largely Hellenized. Aristobulus I, the son of John Hyrcanus, was, as his name indicates, a man strongly influenced by the Greek culture and ideas that were pressing into Palestine from every side. Following the example of the Greek states, he assumed in 104 B.C. the title of king. His brief reign was characterized by great brutality. His mother he allowed to starve to death in prison, and through his insane jealousy he slew his favorite brother. By far the most significant event of his reign was the conquest of Galilee. Its Iturean or half-Arabian population was assimilated to Judaism and the foundations laid for that freer, more virile life which was the background of early Christian history.

The Cruel Rule of Alexander Janneus. Alexander Janneus, the brother who succeeded Aristobulus, was known among the Jews as "the Thracian," and he well deserved the title. His chief interests were war and revelry. By his rash attacks upon the neighboring peoples he repeatedly brought disaster upon his kingdom. He succeeded in alienating his subjects so completely that they called in the king of Damascus to free them from this inhuman monster. In the hour of their success, however, they repented of their action, brought Janneus back from the mountains whither he had fled, and restored him to the throne. Instead of showing gratitude he hung upon crosses eight hundred of the Pharisees who had opposed him, first slaying their wives and children before their eyes. Notwithstanding his rashness and his unmeasured excesses, he succeeded by sheer persistency in extending the bounds of his kingdom, so that at his death his authority was paramount along the Mediterranean coast from Mount Carmel to the borders of Egypt, in central Palestine from upper Galilee to the South Country, and in the east-Jordan land from east of the Sea of Galilee to the Arnon. The outlying Greek cities which he conquered were many of them laid in ruins and the land given up to bands of robbers. At the moment when the Maccabean kingdom reached its widest bounds its decay had already begun and distress was the lot of most of its citizens.

The Rivalry of Parties Under Alexandra. Alexander Janneus was succeeded by his wife Alexandra. The only other woman who had sat on an Israelite throne was Athaliah of Judah, although reigning queens were not uncommon in oriental history. She reversed the policy of her husband and placed the Pharisees, the party of the people, in control. They made the great mistake, however, of using their power to take bloody revenge upon their Sadducean rivals. The result was that the fatal breach between the two parties was broadened rather than healed. The Sadducean and military party rallied about Aristobulus, while the Pharisees upheld the cause of Alexandra's older son, Hyrcanus. Both of her sons were lacking in kingly qualities. Hyrcanus was inefficient and without ambition, more eager to enjoy a quiet life than to assume the responsibilities of government; Aristobulus was imperious and greedy of power.

The Influence of Antipater. At the death of Alexandra, Hyrcanus was made high priest while Aristobulus II assumed the kingship. The division was wise and equable, although in the circumstances a permanent truce between the rival parties was impossible. It was at this crisis that Antipater, the father of Herod the Great, became a power in Jewish politics. Antipas, his father, an Idumean, had been made governor of Idumea by Alexander Janneus. Antipater was suspicious of Aristobulus and eager to secure power at any cost. In the weak Hyrcanus he recognized a tool adapted to his aim. Accordingly he persuaded the high priest to flee from Jerusalem, and enlisting the support of his friend, Aretas, the powerful Nabatean king whose capital was at Petra, he advanced to Jerusalem with a large army, in order to wrest the kingdom from Aristobulus and to make Hyrcanus nominal king. In the first engagement Aretas defeated Aristobulus, who then took refuge with his army in the temple.

Advance of Rome. It was at this juncture that Rome advanced to the conquest of the lands along the eastern Mediterranean. Already this growing world-power had gained possession of Egypt and a foothold in eastern Asia Minor. In 66 B.C. Pompey was sent to crush the allied rival powers of Pontus and Armenia. After accomplishing this mission he advanced southward toward Damascus. Already his lieutenant had ordered the Nabatean army to leave Judea. The contest between the two brothers, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, gave Rome, which had already acted as a patron toward the Judean kingdom, the desired opportunity to step in and assume control of the much coveted territory. Again Palestine and Syria were the bone of contention between two great world-powers. The political horizon, however, had broadened and now the rivals were Rome in the distant west, and Parthia, the successor of the ancient Persian empire in the east.

The Appeal to Pompey. The Jews had long been aware of the importance of Rome's influence in the territory lying along the eastern Mediterranean. It was natural, therefore, that the claimants for the Jewish throne should refer their case to Pompey. At Damascus representatives of the two factions pleaded their case before him. More indicative still of the spirit of the Jewish race was an embassy representing the people and especially the Pharisaic party, demanding that the claims of both the rivals be set aside, so that the Jews might be allowed in quiet to worship their God in accordance with their sacred laws, under the protecting rule of a foreign power. Pompey reserved his decision until he arrived at Jerusalem. His line of approach was apparently along the Jordan valley past Bethshean, then known as Scythopolis, to Korea, which Josephus describes as the "first entrance into Judea when one passes over the midland countries." This is probably to be identified with the modern Karawa, on the southwestern side of the beautiful plain through which the Wady el-Farah finds its way to the Jordan. Through this wady the highway runs westward to what was at that time the northern boundary of Judea. Aristobulus, anticipating that Pompey's decision would be adverse to him, had shut himself up in the fortress of Alexandrium, built by his father, Alexander Janneus. Apparently this famous fortress stood on the height of Karn Sartabeh, which rises over two thousand two hundred feet above the Jordan valley, just south of Korea and opposite the point where the Wady Farah enters the river. Its top is strewn to-day with large, rough-dressed blocks of stone, which probably belonged to the ancient castle.

Pompey's Capture of the Temple. Aristobulus surrendered when ordered to do so by Pompey, but his followers refused to lay down arms when the Romans approached Jerusalem. Instead, they intrenched themselves on the temple hill. Pompey, aided by Hyrcanus and Antipater, attacked this inner fortress from the north. The deep ravine which led up from the Kidron and the deep cutting across the northern extension of the temple hill made the approach, even at this, the most vulnerable point, exceedingly difficult. By filling in the great rock-cut fosse Pompey was able at last to bring up his battering rams and to surmount the high walls and fortresses that were massed at this point.

Palestine Under the Rule of Rome. In the settlement which followed the capture of Jerusalem, Pompey condemned Aristobulus to follow the chariot as a captive in the great triumphal procession at Rome. Hyrcanus was stripped of all political power, but was allowed to retain his position as high priest. Many of the Greek cities, both along the coast of the Mediterranean and east of the Jordan, were rebuilt. All of them were separated from Judea and placed under the immediate direction of the Roman governor of Syria. Galilee, Judea, and Idumea were annexed to the Roman empire, but governed together as a sub-province. Under Gabinius, who carried out the policy of Pompey, they were divided into five administrative districts, with centres at Jerusalem in the south, Jericho, Amathus, and Gadara along the Jordan valley, and Sepphoris in Galilee.

Rebellions Led by Aristobulus and His Sons. The peace of Palestine was repeatedly disturbed by the attempts of the survivors of the Maccabean house to recover their kingdom. The first rebellion, in 57 B.C., was led by Alexander, son of the deposed king, Aristobulus II, about whom the Sadducean nobility and the military class in Judea quickly rallied. He rebuilt the fortress of Alexandrium, but his followers were defeated by a Roman army before its walls and he was taken prisoner. The next year Aristobulus, with his son Antigonus, escaped from Rome and rallied his followers again at Alexandrium. He soon, however, abandoned this stronghold for the more inaccessible fortress of Machærus, built by his father, Janneus, on a hill in the middle of a deep ravine which led up on the eastern side of the Dead Sea.[(38)] Being far away from the majority of their followers and without proper equipment for a long siege, the rebels were soon obliged to capitulate. The third rebellion, again led by Alexander, was quickly put down as the result of a decisive battle near Mount Tabor. For years after, bands of robbers and rebels kept central Galilee in a constant state of unrest, until finally the Roman general, Cassius, subdued the country and sold thirty thousand of them into slavery.