HOW HYRCANUS WAS SET AT LIBERTY BY THE PARTHIANS, AND RETURNED TO HEROD; AND WHAT ALEXANDRA DID WHEN SHE HEARD THAT ANANELUS WAS MADE HIGH PRIEST. FJAJ 15.6
1. NOW after Herod was in possession of the kingdom, Hyrcanus the high
priest, who was then a captive among the Parthians, came to him again,
and was set free from his captivity, in the manner following: Barzapharnes
and Pacorus, the generals of the Parthians, took Hyreanus, who was first
made high priest and afterward king, and Herod's brother, Phasaelus captives,
and were them away into Parthis
Phasaelus indeed could not bear the reproach
of being in bonds; and thinking that death with glory was better than any
life whatsoever, he became his own executioner, as I have formerly related. FJAJ 15.7
2. But when Hyrcanus was brought into Parthia the king Phraates treated
him after a very gentle manner, as having already learned of what an illustrious
family he was; on which account he set him free from his bonds, and gave
him a habitation at Babylon, (1)
The city here called "Babylon" by Josephus, seems to be one which
was built by some of the Seleucidae upon the Tigris, which long after the
utter desolation of old Babylon was commonly so called, and I suppose not
far from Seleueia; just as the latter adjoining city Bagdat has been and
is often called by the same old name of Babylon till this very day.
where there were Jews in great numbers
These Jews honored Hyrcanus as
their high priest and king, as did all the Jewish nation that dwelt as
far as Euphrates; which respect was very much to his satisfaction
But
when he was informed that Herod had received the kingdom, new hopes came
upon him, as having been himself still of a kind disposition towards him,
and expecting that Herod would bear in mind what favor be had received
from him; and when he was upon his trial, and when he was in danger that
a capital sentence would be pronounced against him, he delivered him from
that danger, and from all punishment
Accordingly, he talked of that matter
with the Jew that came often to him with great affection; but they endeavored
to retain him among them, and desired that he would stay with them, putting
him in mind of the kind offices and honors they did him, and that those
honors they paid him were not at all inferior to what they could pay to
either their high priests or their kings; and what was a greater motive
to determine him, they said, was this, that he could not have those dignities
[in Judea] because of that maim in his body, which had been inflicted on
him by Antigonus; and that kings do not use to requite men for those kindnesses
which they received when they were private persons, the height of their
fortune making usually no small changes in them. FJAJ 15.8
3. Now although they suggested these arguments to him for his own advantage,
yet did Hyrcanus still desire to depart
Herod also wrote to him, and persuaded
him to desire of Phraates, and the Jews that were there, that they should
not grudge him the royal authority, which he should have jointly with himself,
for that now was the proper time for himself to make him amends for the
favors he had received from him, as having been brought up by him, and
saved by him also, as well as for Hyrcanus to receive it
And as he wrote
thus to Hyrcanus, so did he send also Saramallas, his ambassador, to Phraates,
and many presents with him, and desired him in the most obliging way that
he would be no hinderance to his gratitude towards his benefactor
But
this zeal of Herod's did not flow from that principle, but because he had
been made governor of that country without having any just claim to it,
he was afraid, and that upon reasons good enough, of a change in his condition,
and so made what haste he could to get Hyrcanus into his power, or indeed
to put him quite out of the way; which last thing he compassed afterward. FJAJ 15.9
4. Accordingly, when Hyrcanus came, full of assurance, by the permission
of the king of Parthia, and at the expense of the Jews, who supplied him
with money, Herod received him with all possible respect, and gave him
the upper place at public meetings, and set him above all the rest at feasts,
and thereby deceived him
He called him his father, and endeavored, by
all the ways possible, that he might have no suspicion of any treacherous
design against him
He also did other things, in order to secure his government,
which yet occasioned a sedition in his own family; for being cautious how
he made any illustrious person the high priest of God, (2)
Here we have an eminent example of Herod's worldly and profane politics,
when by the abuse of his unlawful and usurped power, to make whom he pleased
high priest, in the person of Ananelus, he occasioned such disturbances
in his kingdom, and in his own family, as suffered him to enjoy no lasting
peace or tranquillity ever afterward; and such is frequently the effect
of profane court politics about matters of religion in other ages and nations.
The Old Testament is full of the miseries of the people of the Jews derived
from such court politics, especially in and after the days of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, "who made Israel to sin;" who gave the most
pernicious example of it; who brought on the grossest corruption of religion
by it; and the punishment of whose family for it was most remarkable. The
case is too well known to stand in need of particular citations.
he sent for an obscure priest out of Babylon, whose name was Ananelus,
and bestowed the high priesthood upon him. FJAJ 15.10
5. However, Alexandra, the daughter of Hyrcanus, and wife of Alexander,
the son of Aristobulus the king, who had also brought Alexander [two] children,
could not bear this indignity
Now this son was one of the greatest comeliness,
and was called Aristobulus; and the daughter, Mariamne, was married to
Herod, and eminent for her beauty also
This Alexandra was much disturbed,
and took this indignity offered to her son exceeding ill, that while be
was alive, any one else should be sent for to have the dignity of the high
priesthood conferred upon him
Accordingly, she wrote to Cleopatra (a musician
assisting her in taking care to have her letters carried) to desire her
intercession with Antony, in order to gain the high priesthood for her
son. FJAJ 15.11
6. But as Antony was slow in granting this request, his friend Dellius
(3)
Of this wicked Dellius, see the note on the War, B. I. ch. 15. sect. 3. came
into Judea upon some affairs; and when he saw Aristobulus, he stood in
admiration at the tallness and handsomeness of the child, and no less at
Mariarune, the king's wife, and was open in his commendations of Alexandra,
as the mother of most beautiful children
And when she came to discourse
with him, he persuaded her to get pictures drawn of them both, and to send
them to Antony, for that when he saw them, he would deny her nothing that
she should ask
Accordingly, Alexandra was elevated with these words of
his, and sent the pictures to Antony
Dellius also talked extravagantly,
and said that these children seemed not derived from men, but from some
god or other
His design in doing so was to entice Antony into lewd pleasures
with them, who was ashamed to send for the damsel, as being the wife of
Herod, and avoided it, because of the reproaches he should have from Cleopatra
on that account; but he sent, in the most decent manner he could, for the
young man; but added this withal, unless he thought it hard upon him so
to do
When this letter was brought to Herod, he did not think it safe
for him to send one so handsome as was Aristobulus, in the prime of his
life, for he was sixteen years of age, and of so noble a family, and particularly
not to Antony, the principal man among the Romans, and one that would abuse
him in his amours, and besides, one that openly indulged himself in such
pleasures as his power allowed him without control
He therefore wrote
back to him, that if this boy should only go out of the country, all would
be in a state of war and uproar, because the Jews were in hopes of a change
in the government, and to have another king over them. FJAJ 15.12
7. When Herod had thus excused himself to Antony, he resolved that he
would not entirely permit the child or Alexandra to be treated dishonorably;
but his wife Mariamne lay vehemently at him to restore the high priesthood
to her brother; and he judged it was for his advantage so to do, because
if he once had that dignity, he could not go out of the country
So he
called his friends together, and told them that Alexandra privately conspired
against his royal authority, and endeavored, by the means of Cleopatra,
so to bring it about, that he might be deprived of the government, and
that by Antony's means this youth might have the management of public affairs
in his stead; and that this procedure of hers was unjust, since she would
at the same time deprive her daughter of the dignity she now had, and would
bring disturbances upon the kingdom, for which he had taken a great deal
of pains, and had gotten it with extraordinary hazards; that yet, while
he well remembered her wicked practices, he would not leave off doing what
was right himself, but would even now give the youth the high priesthood;
and that he formerly set up Ananelus, because Aristobulus was then so very
young a child
Now when he had said this, not at random, but as he thought
with the best discretion he had, in order to deceive the women, and those
friends whom he had taken to consult withal, Alexandra, out of the great
joy she had at this unexpected promise, and out of fear from the suspicions
she lay under, fell a weeping; and made the following apology for herself;
and said, that as to the [high] priesthood, she was very much concerned
for the disgrace her son was under, and so did her utmost endeavors to
procure it for him; but that as to the kingdom, she had made no attempts,
and that if it were offered her [for her son], she would not accept it;
and that now she would be satisfied with her son's dignity, while he himself
held the civil government, and she had thereby the security that arose
from his peculiar ability in governing to all the remainder of her family;
that she was now overcome by his benefits, and thankfully accepted of this
honor showed by him to her son, and that she would hereafter be entirely
obedient
And she desired him to excuse her, if the nobility of her family,
and that freedom of acting which she thought that allowed her, had made
her act too precipitately and imprudently in this matter
So when they
had spoken thus to one another, they came to an agreement, and all suspicions,
so far as appeared, were vanished away. FJAJ 15.13