HOW ALEXANDER, UPON THE LEAGUE OF MUTUAL DEFENSE WHICH CLEOPATRA HAD AGREED WITH HIM, MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST COELESYRIA, AND UTTERLY OVERTHREW THE CITY OF GAZA; AND HOW HE SLEW MANY TEN THOUSANDS OF JEWS THAT REBELLED AGAINST HIM. ALSO CONCERNING ANTIOCHUS GRYPUS, SELEUCUS ANTIOCHUS CYZICEIUS, AND ANTIOCHUS PIUS, AND OTHERS. FJAJ 13.86
1. WHEN Cleopatra saw that her son was grown great, and laid Judea waste,
without disturbance, and had gotten the city of Gaza under his power, she
resolved no longer to overlook what he did, when he was almost at her gates;
and she concluded, that now he was so much stronger than before, he would
be very desirous of the dominion over the Egyptians; but she immediately
marched against him, with a fleet at sea and an army of foot on land, and
made Chelcias and Ananias the Jews generals of her whole army, while she
sent the greatest part of her riches, her grandchildren, and her testament,
to the people of Cos (34)
This city, or island, Cos, is not that remote island in the Aegean Sea,
famous for the birth of the great Hippocrates, but a city or island of
the same name adjoining to Egypt, mentioned both by Stephanus and Ptolemy,
as Dr. Mizon informs us. Of which Cos, and the treasures there laid up
by Cleopatra and the Jews, see Antiq. B. XIV. ch. 7, sect. 2.
Cleopatra also ordered her son Alexander to sail with a great fleet to
Phoenicia; and when that country had revolted, she came to Ptolemais; and
because the people of Ptolemais did not receive her, she besieged the city;
but Ptolemy went out of Syria, and made haste unto Egypt, supposing that
he should find it destitute of an army, and soon take it, though he failed
of his hopes
At this time Chelcias, one of Cleopatra's generals, happened
to die in Celesyria, as he was in pursuit of Ptolemy. FJAJ 13.87
2. When Cleopatra heard of her son's attempt, and that his Egyptian
expedition did not succeed according to his expectations, she sent thither
part of her army, and drove him out of that country; so when he was returned
out of Egypt again, he abode during the winter at Gaza, in which time Cleopatra
took the garrison that was in Ptolemais by siege, as well as the city;
and when Alexander came to her, he gave her presents, and such marks of
respect as were but proper, since under the miseries he endured by Ptolemy
he had no other refuge but her
Now there were some of her friends who
persuaded her to seize Alexander, and to overrun and take possession of
the country, and not to sit still and see such a multitude of brave Jews
subject to one man
But Ananias's counsel was contrary to theirs, who said
that she would do an unjust action if she deprived a man that was her ally
of that authority which belonged to him, and this a man who is related
to us; "for (said he) I would not have thee ignorant of this, that
what in
justice thou dost to him will make all us that are Jews to be
thy enemies
This desire of Ananias Cleopatra complied with, and did no
injury to Alexander, but made a league of mutual assistance with him at
Scythopolis, a city of Celesyria. FJAJ 13.88
3. So when Alexander was delivered from the fear he was in of Ptolemy,
he presently made an expedition against Coelesyria
He also took Gadara,
after a siege of ten months
He took also Areathus, a very strong fortress
belonging to the inhabitants above Jordan, where Theodorus, the son of
Zeno, had his chief treasure, and what he esteemed most precious
This
Zeno fell unexpectedly upon the Jews, and slew ten thousand of them, and
seized upon Alexander's baggage
Yet did not this misfortune terrify Alexander;
but he made an expedition upon the maritime parts of the country, Raphia
and Anthedon, (the name of which king Herod afterwards changed to Agrippias,)
and took even that by force
But when Alexander saw that Ptolemy was retired
from Gaza to Cyprus, and his mother Cleopatra was returned to Egypt, he
grew angry at the people of Gaza, because they had invited Ptolemy to assist
them, and besieged their city, and ravaged their country
But as Apollodotus,
the general of the army of Gaza, fell upon the camp of the Jews by night,
with two thousand foreign and ten thousand of his own forces, while the
night lasted, those of Gaza prevailed, because the enemy was made to believe
that it was Ptolemy who attacked them; but when day was come on, and that
mistake was corrected, and the Jews knew the truth of the matter, they
came back again, and fell upon those of Gaza, and slew of them about a
thousand
But as those of Gaza stoutly resisted them, and would not yield
for either their want of any thing, nor for the great multitude that were
slain, (for they would rather suffer any hardship whatever than come under
the power of their enemies,) Aretas, king of the Arabians, a person then
very illustrious, encouraged them to go on with alacrity, and promised
them that he would come to their assistance; but it happened that before
he came Apollodotus was slain; for his brother Lysimachus envying him for
the great reputation he had gained among the citizens, slew him, and got
the army together, and delivered up the city to Alexander, who, when he
came in at first, lay quiet, but afterward set his army upon the inhabitants
of Gaza, and gave them leave to punish them; so some went one way, and
some went another, and slew the inhabitants of Gaza; yet were not they
of cowardly hearts, but opposed those that came to slay them, and slew
as many of the Jews; and some of them, when they saw themselves deserted,
burnt their own houses, that the enemy might get none of their spoils;
nay, some of them, with their own hands, slew their children and their
wives, having no other way but this of avoiding slavery for them; but the
senators, who were in all five hundred, fled to Apollo's temple, (for this
attack happened to be made as they were sitting,) whom Alexander slew;
and when he had utterly overthrown their city, he returned to Jerusalem,
having spent a year in that siege. FJAJ 13.89
4. About this very time Antiochus, who was called Grypus, died (35) This account of the death of Antiochus Grypus is confirmed by Appion, Syriac. p. 132, here cited by Spanheim. His death was caused by Heracleon's treachery, when he had lived forty-five years, and had reigned twenty-nine. FJAJ 13.90
(36)
Porphyry says that this Antiochus Grypus reigned but twenty-six years,
as Dr. Hudson observes. The copies of Josephus, both Greek and Latin, have
here so grossly false a reading, Antiochus and Antoninus, or Antonius Plus,
for Antiochus Pius, that the editors are forced to correct the text from
the other historians, who all agree that this king's name was nothing more
than Antiochus Plus.
His son Seleucus succeeded him in the kingdom, and made war with Antiochus,
his father's brother, who was called Antiochus Cyzicenus, and beat him,
and took him prisoner, and slew him
But after a while Antiochus, the son
of Cyzicenus, who was called Pius, came to Aradus, and put the diadem on
his own head, and made war with Seleucus, and beat him, and drove him out
of all Syria
But when he fled out of Syria, he came to Mopsuestia again,
and levied money upon them; but the people of Mopsuestin had indignation
at what he did, and burnt down his palace, and slew him, together with
his friends
But when Antiochus, the son of Cyzicenus, was king of Syria,
Antiochus, (37)
These two brothers, Antiochus and Philippus are called twins by Porphyry;
the fourth brother was king of Damascus: both which are the observations
of Spanheim.
the brother of Seleucus, made war upon him, and was overcome, and destroyed,
he and his army
After him, his brother Philip put on the diadem, and reigned
over some part of Syria; but Ptolemy Lathyrus sent for his fourth brother
Demetrius, who was called Eucerus, from Cnidus, and made him king of Damascus.
Both these brothers did Antiochus vehemently oppose, but presently died;
for when he was come as an auxiliary to Laodice, queen of the Gileadites,
(38)
This Laodicea was a city of Gilead beyond Jordan. However, Porphyry says
that this Antiochus Pius did not die in this battle; but, running away,
was drowned in the river Orontes. Appian says that he, was deprived of
the kingdom of Syria by Tigranes; but Porphyry makes this Laodice queen
of the Calamans; � all which is noted by Spanheim. In such confusion of
the later historians, we have no reason to prefer any of them before Josephus,
who had more original ones before him. This reproach upon Alexander, that
he was sprung from a captive, seems only the repetition of the old Pharisaical
calumny upon his father, ch. 10. sect. 5.
when she was making war against the Parthians, and he was fighting courageously,
he fell, while Demetrius and Philip governed Syria, as hath been elsewhere
related. FJAJ 13.91
5. As to Alexander, his own people were seditious against him; for at
a festival which was then celebrated, when he stood upon the altar, and
was going to sacrifice, the nation rose upon him, and pelted him with citrons
[which they then had in their hands, because] the law of the Jews required
that at the feast of tabernacles every one should have branches of the
palm tree and citron tree; which thing we have elsewhere related
They
also reviled him, as derived from a captive, and so unworthy of his dignity
and of sacrificing
At this he was in a rage, and slew of them about six
thousand
He also built a partition-wall of wood round the altar and the
temple, as far as that partition within which it was only lawful for the
priests to enter; and by this means he obstructed the multitude from coming
at him
He also maintained foreigners of Pisidie and Cilicia; for as to
the Syrians, he was at war with them, and so made no use of them
He also
overcame the Arabians, such as the Moabites and Gileadites, and made them
bring tribute
Moreover, he demolished Amathus, while Theodorus (39)
This Theodorus was the son of Zeno, and was in possession of Areathus,
as we learn from sect. 3 foregoing.
durst not fight with him; but as he had joined battle with Obedas, king
of the Arabians, and fell into an ambush in the places that were rugged
and difficult to be traveled over, he was thrown down into a deep valley,
by the multitude of the camels at Gadurn, a village of Gilead, and hardly
escaped with his life
From thence he fled to Jerusalem, where, besides
his other ill success, the nation insulted him, and he fought against them
for six years, and slew no fewer than fifty thousand of them
And when
he desired that they would desist from their ill-will to him, they hated
him so much the more, on account of what had already happened; and when
he had asked them what he ought to do, they all cried out, that he ought
to kill himself
They also sent to Demetrius Eucerus, and desired him to
make a league of mutual defense with them. FJAJ 13.92