and which he received probably with more favour than he would have done, if his presence had not been required in another part of his dominions.* Alexandra having attained the advanced age of seventythree, fell sick, and it becoming evident that she could not long survive, Aristobulus, having resolved to seize the crow upon her death, left Jerusalem privately by night, and repaired to the castles in which his father's friends had at his instigation been placed as garrisons, and by whom he was so well received, that within a fortnight he was in possession of twenty-two of the fortresses of Judea. But, besides his own friends and partizans, both the army and the people were ready to declare for him, so oppressively had the Pharisaic administration conducted itself. As soon, however, as the Pharisees discovered how Aristobulus was likely to succeed, they placed Hyrcanus at their head, and went to the dying queen for her advice and instructions; but she told them, that as she was no longer able to give directions about worldly affairs, they must manage for themselves as well as they could; and dying soon afterwards left Hyrcanus heir of all her possessions.† HYRCANUS II. HYRCANUS II. accordingly assumed the diadem, and the Pharisees supported him at first with all their power; but Aristobulus having collected an army, a decisive battle took place near Jericho, where most of the troops of Hyrcanus going over to his brother, the former was obliged to retreat to Jerusalem, and shut himself and his followers up in the castle of Baris, where the wife and children of Aristobulus were confined as hostages. But the few troops which remained with him at last going over to Aristobulus, Hyrcanus was compelled to submit to an arrangement, by which he resigned both the government and priesthood to his brother, upon condition that he should be allowed to live in peace quiet, and enjoy his private fortune without molestation.* and The course of the history of this very interesting and wonderful people now approaches New Testament times, and we shall soon meet with names, with which the perusal of that portion of the sacred volume makes us familiar. The peace which had been established between the two brothers appears to have been sincere; and there is no probability that either of them would have violated their mutual engagements, if a more mischievous spirit had not excited feuds between them. Such a spirit unhappily was found in Antipas or Antipater, an Idumæan, and who, or whose family, had embraced Judaism upon the conquest of that country by Hyrcanus I.† Being of a noble family he had been made governor of Idumea under Alexander Janneus and his queen Alexandra; but, after their decease identifying himself with the fortunes of their son, Hyrcanus II, when that prince was deposed, he lost all prospect of future advancement.+ Having induced Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, to furnish him with an army, he with difficulty, and under the misrepresentation that his brother intended to assassinate him, prevailed upon Hyrcanus to fly from Jerusalem, and place himself at the head of the Arabian army; with which, to the amount of fifty thousand men, he marched towards Jerusalem, and defeating Aristobulus drove him into the city, when that prince was obliged to take refuge in the mountain of the Prid. ii. 480. + See p. 402. Prid. ii. 497 temple, where all the priests joined him, but most of the people revolted to Hyrcanus.* On the approach of the passover, Aristobulus and his party, being greatly in want of lambs and beasts for the sacrifices, made a treaty with their besiegers to supply them on receiving payment, and the money was accordingly let down to them over the wall; but they kept the money and refused to supply the animals, and thereby sacrilegiously occasioned the worship of God to be neglected. At the same time the besiegers committed another act of great cruelty and wickedness; for Onias, a man of great sanctity of life, being then at Jerusalem, having, as was believed, obtained rain from heaven in a time of great drought by his prayers, they concluded that his curses would be equally effectual; and, therefore, bringing him forth before the army, they urged him to curse Aristobulus and all his party. The holy man long resisted all importunity; but finding there was no resource he devoutly 'prayed, “O Lord God, rector of the universe, since those that are with us are thy people, and they that are besieged in thy temple are thy priests, I pray that thou wouldst hear the prayers of neither of them against the other;" upon which the besiegers were so enraged, that they stoned him to death upon the spot.† Soon after these events, Scaurus, one of the lieutenants of Pompey, the Roman general, being at Damascus with a detachment of troops, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus both sent to him for assistance; but accepting of the offers of the former, as did also Gabinius, another of the same general's lieutenants, who was also in the province, they sent word to Aretas Pompey had been appointed by the senate to succeed Lucullus in the government of Asia, chiefly with a view to finish the war to draw off his forces; and that prince immediately raising the siege, Aristobulus followed him with what troops he could collect, and defeated him with great slaughter at a place called Papyrion, in which battle a great many Jews of the party of Hyrcanus perished, and amongst the rest Cephalion, the brother of Antipater.* Pompey having at length arrived at Damascus, kept a sort of court there, when the ambassadors of several neighbouring potentates attended him, and amongst others, some from Judea, who presented him with a vine of gold,† of the value of four hundred talents, which was afterwards deposited in the temple of Jupiter in the capitol of Rome, inscribed as the gift of Alexander,‡ king of the Jews.§ After prosecuting the war against Mithridates, Pompey returned again into Cole-Syria, when Antipater, on the part of Hyrcanus, and Nicodemus, on behalf of Aristobulus, both appealed to him respecting the controversy between those two unhappy brothers, whom their respective factions would not suffer to live in peace. Pompey dismissed them both with every appearance of impartiality; but, at the same time, ordering them to appear personally before him, when he would decide equitably between them. Nicodemus, however, injured his master's cause by complaining of the extortion of the four hundred talents by Scaurus, and three hundred by Gabinius, before alluded to.|| Pompey having been obliged to prosecute the conclusion of the Mithridatic war,¶ the cause between the rival brothers * Prid. ii. 498. + A vine or garden, called Terpule, the delight. Jos. ii. 258. Prid. ii. 498. They would not own Aristobulus to be king, and, therefore, put his father's name upon it, instead of his. Prid. ii. 499. || Prid. ii. 501. Prid. ii. 501-506. Where see a concise account of the Mithridatic war, and the character of that monarch. was postponed till the return of the Roman general, when both of them, with their respective partisans, appeared before him. There was, however, a third party of Jews who were alike hostile to the claims of each, and who pleaded that they might not be governed by a king; that it had been formerly the usage of their nation to be governed by the high priest of the God they worshipped, who, without assuming any other title, administered justice to them according to the laws and constitutions transmitted down to them from their forefathers; that it was true indeed the two contending brothers were of the sacerdotal race; but they had changed the former manner of the government, and introduced another form, that they might thereby subject the people to slavery.* Hyrcanus relied upon his right of primogeniture, against which Aristobulus alleged his brother's incapacity, and the necessity of a more efficient administration. Pompey not wishing to take an active part in Jewish affairs till he had finished his war with Aretas, suspended his decision; but Aristobulus anticipating the prejudices of the Roman general, retired from Damascus without taking leave, and returned home to Jerusalem, and prepared for war, which greatly incensed Pompey.† Pompey having compelled Aretas to submit to him, marched into Judea, towards the castle of Alexandrion,+ which Aristobulus had strongly fortified. Pompey having sent for him, he came to him, by the persuasion of his friends, very unwillingly, two or three times; but continuing his warlike preparations notwithstanding, the Roman general at last compelled him to surrender all his castles to him. On A strong fortress situated in the entrance of the country, on an high mountain, built by Alexander, the father of Aristobulus. Prid. |