HOW ARISTOBULUS AND HYRCANUS CAME TO POMPEY IN ORDER TO ARGUE WHO OUGHT TO HAVE THE KINGDOM; AND HOW UPON THE PLIGHT OF ARISTOBULUS TO THE FORTRESS ALEXANDRIUM POMPEY LED HIS ARMY AGAINST HIM AND ORDERED HIM TO DELIVER UP THE FORTRESSES WHEREOF HE WAS POSSESSED. FJAJ 14.12
1. A LITTLE afterward Pompey came to Damascus, and marched over Celesyria;
at which time there came ambassadors to him from all Syria, and Egypt,
and out of Judea also, for Aristobulus had sent him a great present, which
was a golden vine (3)
This "golden vine," or "garden," seen by Strabo at
Rome, has its inscription here as if it were the gift of Alexander, the
father of Aristobulus, and not of Aristobulus himself, to whom yet Josephus
ascribes it; and in order to prove the truth of that part of his history,
introduces this testimony of Strabo; so that the ordinary copies seem to
be here either erroneous or defective, and the original reading seems to
have been either Aristobulus, instead of Alexander, with one Greek copy,
or else "Aristobulus the son of Alexander," with the Latin copies;
which last seems to me the most probable. For as to Archbishop Usher's
conjectures, that Alexander made it, and dedicated it to God in the temple,
and that thence Aristobulus took it, and sent it to Pompey, they are both
very improbable, and no way agreeable to Josephus, who would hardly have
avoided the recording both these uncommon points of history, had he known
any thing of them; nor would either the Jewish nation, or even Pompey himself,
then have relished such a flagrant instance of sacrilege.
of the value of five hundred talents
Now Strabo of Cappadocia mentions
this present in these words: "There came also an embassage out of
Egypt, and a crown of the value of four thousand pieces of gold; and out
of Judea there came another, whether you call it a vine or a garden;
they call the thing Terpole, the Delight
However, we ourselves
saw that present reposited at Rome, in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus,
with this inscription, 'The gift of Alexander, the king of the Jews.' It
was valued at five hundred talents; and the report is, that Aristobulus,
the governor of the Jews, sent it." FJAJ 14.13
2. In a little time afterward came ambassadors again to him, Antipater
from Hyrcanus, and Nicodemus from Aristobulus; which last also accused
such as had taken bribes; first Gabinius, and then Scaurus, - the one three
hundred talents, and the other four hundred; by which procedure he made
these two his enemies, besides those he had before
And when Pompey had
ordered those that had controversies one with another to come to him in
the beginning of the spring, he brought his army out of their winter quarters,
and marched into the country of Damascus; and as he went along he demolished
the citadel that was at Apamia, which Antiochus Cyzicenus had built, and
took cognizance of the country of Ptolemy Menneus, a wicked man, and not
less so than Dionysius of Tripoli, who had been beheaded, who was also
his relation by marriage; yet did he buy off the punishment of his crimes
for a thousand talents, with which money Pompey paid the soldiers their
wages
He also conquered the place called Lysias, of which Silas a Jew
was tyrant
And when he had passed over the cities of Heliopolis and Chalcis,
and got over the mountain which is on the limit of Colesyria, he came from
Pella to Damascus; and there it was that he heard the causes of the Jews,
and of their governors Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who were at difference
one with another, as also of the nation against them both, which did not
desire to be under kingly' government, because the form of government they
received from their forefathers was that of subjection to the priests of
that God whom they worshipped; and [they complained], that though these
two were the posterity of priests, yet did they seek to change the government
of their nation to another form, in order to enslave them
Hyrcanus complained,
that although he were the elder brother, he was deprived of the prerogative
of his birth by Aristobulus, and that he had but a small part of the country
under him, Aristobulus having taken away the rest from him by force
He
also accused him, that the incursions which had been made into their neighbors'
countries, and the piracies that had been at sea, were owing to him; and
that the nation would not have revolted, unless Aristobulus had been a
man given to violence and disorder; and there were no fewer than a thousand
Jews, of the best esteem among them, who confirmed this accusation; which
confirmation was procured by Antipater
But Aristobulus alleged against
him, that it was Hyrcanus's own temper, which was inactive, and on that
account contemptible, which caused him to be deprived of the government;
and that for himself, he was necessitated to take it upon him, for fear
lest it should be transferred to others
And that as to his title [of king],
it was no other than what his father had taken [before him]
He also called
for witnesses of what he said some persons who were both young and insolent;
whose purple garments, fine heads of hair, and other ornaments, were detested
[by the court], and which they appeared in, not as though they were to
plead their cause in a court of justice, but as if they were marching in
a pompous procession. FJAJ 14.14
3. When Pompey had heard the causes of these two, and had condemned
Aristobulus for his violent procedure, he then spake civilly to them, and
sent them away; and told them, that when he came again into their country,
he would settle all their affairs, after he had first taken a view of the
affairs of the Nabateans
In the mean time, he ordered them to be quiet;
and treated Aristobulus civilly, lest he should make the nation revolt,
and hinder his return; which yet Aristobulus did; for without expecting
any further determination, which Pompey had promised them, he went to the
city Delius, and thence marched into Judea. FJAJ 14.15
4. At this behavior Pompey was angry; and taking with him that army
which he was leading against the Nabateans, and the auxiliaries that came
from Damascus, and the other parts of Syria, with the other Roman legions
which he had with him, he made an expedition against Aristobulus; but as
he passed by Pella and Scythopolis, he came to Corem, which is the first
entrance into Judea when one passes over the midland countries, where he
came to a most beautiful fortress that was built on the top of a mountain
called Alexandrium, whither Aristobulus had fled; and thence Pompey sent
his commands to him, that he should come to him
Accordingly, at the persuasions
of many that he would not make war with the Romans, he came down; and when
he had disputed with his brother about the right to the government, he
went up again to the citadel, as Pompey gave him leave to do; and this
he did two or three times, as flattering himself with the hopes of having
the kingdom granted him; so that he still pretended he would obey Pompey
in whatsoever he commanded, although at the same time he retired to his
fortress, that he might not depress himself too low, and that he might
be prepared for a war, in case it should prove as he feared, that Pompey
would transfer the government to Hyrcanus
But when Pompey enjoined Aristobulus
to deliver up the fortresses he held, and to send an injunction to their
governors under his own hand for that purpose, for they had been forbidden
to deliver them up upon any other commands, he submitted indeed to do so;
but still he retired in displeasure to Jerusalem, and made preparation
for war
A little after this, certain persons came out of Pontus, and informed
Pompey, as he was on the way, and conducting his army against Aristobulus,
that Mithridates was dead, and was slain by his son Pharmaces. FJAJ 14.16