Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/557

Rh HYRCANUS. tivity in Parthia, and re-established himself on the throne of Syria, after the death of hi&brother, Antiochus, was preparing to direct his arms against Judaea, when he was prevented by the breaking out of the civil war, which ended in his own de- feat and death, B. c. 125. Hyrcanus afterwards concluded an alliance with the pretender, Alex- ander Zebina, but does not appear to have afforded him any active assistance : his object was not to take part in the civil wars that distracted the Syrian monarchy, but to take advantage of these to strengthen and extend his own power, for which the ceaseless contests of the Seleucidae among themselves left him free scope. A long interval elapsed, during which he appears to have been content to govern Judaea in peace, and the country is said to have enjoyed the utmost prosperity under his mild and equitable rule, while he himself amassed vast treasures. At length, he felt suffi- cient confidence in his own strength to invade Sa- maria, and lay siege to the city of that name, which had been for ages the rival and enemy of JftTusalem. The Samarians invoked the assistance of Antiochus Cyzicenus, who advanced with an army to their support, but was defeated by Anti- gonus and Aristobulus, the two sons of Hyrcanus ; his generals, Epicrates and Callimander, were equally unsuccessful : and Samaria, at length, fell into the hands of Hyrcanus, who razed to the ground the hated city, B. c. 109. (Joseph. ^«^. xiii. 9. § 3. 10. § 1—3. B. J. i. 2. § 7.) The tran- quillity of the latter years of his reign appears to have been in some measure disturbed hy the dis- sensions between the two powerful sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees ; Hyrcanus, who had been at first attached to the former party, quitted them on some disgust, and threw himself into the arms of their rivals. But these disputes did not break out into open insurrection, and Hyrcanus closed his long reign in peace and prosperity. There is much confusion in the chronology of Josephus, HYRCANUS. 543 Simon. hifih priest B.C. 144. died B. c. 135. I Judas Maccabaeus. Eleazar died B. c. 160. Jonathan, 111. i i ^1 Judas, Mattathias, A daughter Joannes Hvrcanu*, nut to put to death married to high priest and prince death B.C. 135; Ptolemy, ol Judaea, b. c. 136, B.C. 135. governor of died b. c. 106. Jericho. I Aristobitliis I. Antigonus, kir.K of Judaea, put to death B. c. 106, died by his brother, B. c. 106. Aristobulus, B. c. 105. Two other sons, names unknown. AlJtXANDER Jannarus, king of Judaea, B.C. 105. Married .lexandra. Died fl. c. 78. I Hyrcanus II. high priest and king, Alexandra married her cousin Alex- .-mder. Put to death by Herod. J I Aristobti'.us li- king of Judaea, B.C. 68. Poisoned B.C. 49. I Alexander, married Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus II. Put to death at An- Uoch B. c. 49. Antkjonus, king of Judaea B. c. 40. Put to death by M. Antony, B.C. 37. Mariamne, mar- ried to Herod the (ireat. Put to death by him. (For their de- scendants, see Hbhoubs.) Aristobui.t.'s, appointed high priest by Herod the Great, B.C. .36. Astassinated B. c. 35. who in one place assigns to Hyrcanus a reign of thirty-one years, in another one of thirty-three : Eusebius, on the contrar}^ allows him only twenty- six : it appears probable that he reigned in fact between twenty-nine and thirty years, and died in B.C. 106, or the beginning of 105. He left five sons, of whom the eldest, Aristobulus, succeeded him. (Joseph. Ant. xiii. 10. $ 5 — 7, B. J. i. 2. § 8 ; Euseb. Arm.^. 94.) Although Joannes Hyrcanus did not himself assume the title of king, he may be justly regarded as the founder of the monarchy of Judaea, which continued in his fiimily till the accession of Herod. The foregoing genealogical table exhibits the line of the kings and princes of the Asamonean race, as well as their descent from the Maccabees. [E.H.B.] HYRCANUS II. {"tpKavSs), high priest and king of the Jews, was the eldest son of Alexander Jannaeus, and his wife, Alexandra. On the death of Alexander (b. c. 78) the royal authority de- volved, according to his will, upon his wife Alex- andra, who immediately appointed Hyrcanus to the high-priesthood — a choice which he probably owed not so much to his seniority of age, as to his feeble, indolent character, which offered a strong contrast to the daring, ambitious spirit of his younger brother, Aristobulus. Accordingly, dur- ing the nine years of his mother's reign, he ac- quiesced uniformly in all her measures, and at- tached himself to the party of the Pharisees, which she favoured. On the death of Alexandra (b. c. 69), he succeeded, for a time, to the sovereign power, but Aristobulus, who had already taken his measures, quickly raised an army, with which he defeated him near Jericho, and compelled him to take refuge in the citadel of Jerusalem, where he was soon induced to consent to a treaty, by which he resigned the sovereignty into the hands of Aristobulus, and retired unmolested into a pri- vate station. The easy, unambitious disposition of Hyrcanus would probably have led him to ac- quiesce permanently in this arrangement : but he was worked upon by the artifices and intrigues of An- tipater, who succeeded in exciting his apprehen- sions, and ultimately induced him to fly from Je- rusalem, and take refuge at the court of Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea, b. c. 65. That monarch now assembled an array, with which he defeated Aristobulus in his turn, and blockaded him in the temple of Jerusalem, Hyrcanus and his partisans being masters of the rest of the city. But their progress was now stopped by the intervention of Pompey's lieutenant, M. Aemilius Scaurus, who had arrived at Damascus with a Roman army, and being gained over by the bribes and promises of Aristobulus, ordered Aretas and Hyrcanus to with- draw from Judaea. The next year, Pompey him- self arrived in Syria, and the two brothers has- tened to urge their respective claims before him : but Aristobulus gave oflfence to the Roman general h his haughty demeanour, and the disposition of Pompey to favour Hyrcanus became so apparent, that Aristobulus, for a time, made preparations for resistance. But when Pompey returning victorious from his campaign against the Nabathaean Arabs, entered Judaea at the head of his army, he aban- doned all hopes of defence, and surrendered him- self into the hands of the Roman general. The Jews, however, refused to follow his example : they shut the gates of Jerusalem, and prepared to hold out to the last ; nor was it till after a long and ar-