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KINGS OF THE JEWS 184 HYRCANUS II, ARISTOBULUS II, ANTIGONUS II 67–37 BCE The closing chapter in the history of the Hasmonean kings of the Jews is a tale of family strife, civil war, and the beginnings of Roman rule in Judaea. It is the story of three kings for whom the troubled affairs of the nation were of little concern compared to questions of their personal fortunes. When Queen Alexandra Salome died, Hyrcanus II, the older of her two sons, succeeded her on the throne as she had ordained. But unlike the dynamic grandfather after whom he had been named, Hyrcanus had little interest in matters of state and was generally lackadaisical. In sharp contrast, his brother, Aristobulus II, was spirited, ambitious, and determined to seize the crown. As soon as word came that Alexandra had died, Aristobulus marched on Jerusalem with army units he commanded in Judaean towns where he had cultivated strong support during the last years of his mother’s reign. Newly enthroned Hyrcanus sent his army to meet his younger brother’s challenge . But many of his soldiers switched allegiances and joined the forces of the more inspiring Aristobulus. Demoralized, Hyrcanus’s remaining troops were decisively beaten in a clash at Jericho. Resuming his march on Jerusalem, Aristobulus took the city, seized the Temple and would have appropriated the throne as well if his brother had not willingly handed it over. Now having even less of a wish to carry the tedious burdens of public duty, Hyrcanus was content to live an uneventful life, with the comforts accessible to a prince of the royal blood. The amicable accord between the brothers was sealed with a public fraternal embrace and with the marriage of Aristobulus’s son Alexander to his cousin, Hyrcanus ’s daughter Alexandra. The people of Judaea welcomed their reconciliation with relief. Even the rivalry between the Pharisees and Sadducees was toned down. However, what had transpired was not universally welcomed. Members of the entourage of the obliging, retiring Hyrcanus had expected that he would remain king and that they would enjoy the status and benefits that would thereby flow to them. By accepting downgraded status, he was downgrading them as well. One of his courtiers was particularly outraged by the agreement between the brothers and was to play a role of considerable consequence in the history of the Jews. THE HASMONEANS 185 Antipater was son of the governor of the Judaean-dominated Arab land of Idumaea. Its inhabitants, including Antipater’s family, had been forcibly converted to Judaism when the first Hyrcanus had ruled Judaea some five decades earlier. Shrewd and manipulative, Antipater had maneuvered himself into the position of chief adviser to the lackluster young prince, Hyrcanus. But he saw no future in being the confidant of a figure who had abandoned his claim to the throne and who disclaimed all interest in public affairs. His own position devalued and his aspirations frustrated, Antipater resolved to change the mind of his timid superior. He persuaded Hyrcanus that his brother, anointed king in his place, had treated him cruelly by usurping the throne, and also was criminally corrupting the religious standards of the nation. Hyrcanus did not much care and wished to be left in peace. But Antipater persisted , warning that Aristobulus would have him murdered. He insisted his brother would have no choice but to eliminate the continuing threat to the throne posed by the mere existence of his older sibling, the rightful king. Harping relentlessly on such warnings, Antipater persuaded Hyrcanus to flee for his life across the Jordan River to Petra, capital of the Arab kingdom of Nabataea . He had already bribed the Nabataean king to give him sanctuary. He also arranged for the elders of a dozen Judaean-ruled Arab towns in Transjordan to supply an army to take Jerusalem and retrieve the lost crown for weak-willed Hyrcanus. With a force of fifty thousand Arabs, the freshly emboldened Hyrcanus marched on the holy city where he received the important backing of the leaders of the Pharisees. Just as thousands of Judaeans had switched to the side of harddriving Aristobulus when he had snatched the crown from his older brother, now thousands deserted the usurper king to support the sidelined, more legitimately regal Hyrcanus. Much weakened, Aristobulus’s defending army was routed in battle. He and the forces remaining faithful to him were driven back by the Nabataeans through Jerusalem to the Temple Mount where they held out...

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