CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF
EIGHTY-TWO YEARS,
FROM THE DEATH OF JUDAS MACCABEUS
TO THE DEATH OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA.
CHAPTER 1.
HOW JONATHAN TOOK THE GOVERNMENT
AFTER HIS BROTHER JUDAS; AND HOW HE, TOGETHER WITH HIS BROTHER SIMON,
WAGED WAR AGAINST BACCHIDES.
1. BY what means the nation
of the Jews recovered their freedom when they had been brought into slavery
by the Macedonians, and what struggles, and how great battles, Judas,
the general of their army, ran through, till he was slain as he was fighting
for them, hath been related in the foregoing book; but after he was dead,
all the wicked, and those that transgressed the laws of their forefathers,
sprang up again in Judea, and grew upon them, and distressed them on every
side. A famine also assisted their wickedness, and afflicted the country,
till not a few, who by reason of their want of necessaries, and because
they were not able to bear up against the miseries that both the famine
and their enemies brought upon them, deserted their country, and went
to the Macedonians. And now Bacchides gathered those Jews together who
had apostatized from the accustomed way of living of their forefathers,
and chose to live like their neighbors, and committed the care of the
country to them, who also caught the friends of Judas, and those of his
party, and delivered them up to Bacchides, who when he had, in the first
place, tortured and tormented them at his pleasure, he, by that means,
at length killed them. And when this calamity of the Jews was become so
great, as they had never had experience of the like since their return
out of Babylon, those that remained of the companions of Judas, seeing
that the nation was ready to be destroyed after a miserable manner, came
to his brother Jonathan, and desired him that he would imitate his brother,
and that care which he took of his countrymen, for whose liberty in general
he died also; and that he would not permit the nation to be without a
governor, especially in those destructive circumstances wherein it now
was. And where Jonathan said that he was ready to die for them, and esteemed
no inferior to his brother, he was appointed to be the general of the
Jewish army.
2. When Bacchides heard this,
and was afraid that Jonathan might be very troublesome to the king and
the Macedonians, as Judas had been before him, he sought how he might
slay him by treachery. But this intention of his was not unknown to Jonathan,
nor to his brother Simon; but when these two were apprized of it, they
took all their companions, and presently fled into that wilderness which
was nearest to the city; and when they were come to a lake called Asphar,
they abode there. But when Bacchides was sensible that they were in a
low state, and were in that place, he hasted to fall upon them with all
his forces, and pitching his camp beyond Jordan, he recruited his army.
But when Jonathan knew that Bacchides Was coming upon him, he sent his
brother John, who was also called Gaddis, to the Nabatean Arabs, that
he might lodge his baggage with them until the battle with Bacchides should
be over, for they were the Jews' friends. And the sons of Ambri laid an
ambush for John from the city Medaba, and seized upon him, and upon those
that were with him, and plundered all that they had with them. They also
slew John, and all his companions. However, they were sufficiently punished
for what they now did by John's brethren, as we shall relate presently.
3. But when Bacchides knew
that Jonathan had pitched his camp among the lakes of Jordan, he observed
when their sabbath day came, and then assaulted him, [as supposing that
he would not fight because of the law for resting on that day]: but he
exhorted his companions [to fight]; and told them that their lives were
at stake, since they were encompassed by the river, and by their enemies,
and had no way to escape, for that their enemies pressed upon them from
before, and the river was behind them. So after he had prayed to God to
give them the victory, he joined battle with the enemy, of whom he overthrew
many; and as he saw Bacchides coming up boldly to him, he stretched out
his right hand to smite him; but the other foreseeing and avoiding the
stroke, Jonathan with his companions leaped into the river, and swam over
it, and by that means escaped beyond Jordan while the enemies did not
pass over that river; but Bacchides returned presently to the citadel
at Jerusalem, having lost about two thousand of his army. He also fortified
many cities of Judea, whose walls had been demolished; Jericho, and Emmaus,
and Betboron, and Bethel, and Tinma, and Pharatho, and Tecoa, and Gazara,
and built towers in every one of these cities, and encompassed them with
strong walls, that were very large also, and put garrisons into them,
that they might issue out of them, and do mischief to the Jews. He also
fortified the citadel at Jerusalem more than all the rest. Moreover, he
took the sons of the principal Jews as pledges, and hut them up in the
citadel, and in that manner guarded it.
4. About the same time one
came to Jonathan, and to his brother Simon, and told them that the sons
of Ambri were celebrating a marriage, and bringing the bride from the
city Gabatha, who was the daughter of one of the illustrious men among
the Arabians, and that the damsel was to be conducted with pomp, and splendor,
and much riches: so Jonathan and Simon thinking this appeared to be the
fittest time for them to avenge the death of their brother, and that they
had forces sufficient for receiving satisfaction from them for his death,
they made haste to Medaba, and lay in wait among the mountains for the
coming of their enemies; and as soon as they saw them conducting the virgin,
and her bridegroom, and such a great company of their friends with them
as was to be expected at this wedding, they sallied out of their ambush,
and slew them all, and took their ornaments, and all the prey that then
followed them, and so returned, and received this satisfaction for their
brother John from the sons of Ambri; for as well those sons themselves,
as their friends, and wives, and children that followed them, perished,
being in number about four hundred.
5. However, Simon and Jonathan
returned to the lakes of the river, and abode there. But Bacchides, when
he had secured all Judea with his garrisons, returned to the king; and
then it was that the affairs of Judea were quiet for two years. But when
the deserters and the wicked saw that Jonathan and those that were with
him lived in the country very quietly, by reason of the peace, they sent
to king Demetrius, and excited him to send Bacchides to seize upon Jonathan,
which they said was to be done without any trouble, and in one night's
time; and that if they fell upon them before they were aware, they might
slay them all. So the king sent Bacchides, who, when he was come into
Judea, wrote to all his friends, both Jews and auxiliaries, that they
should seize upon Jonathan, and bring him to him; and when, upon all their
endeavors, they were not able to seize upon Jonathan, for he was sensible
of the snares they laid for him, and very carefully guarded against them,
Bacchides was angry at these deserters, as having imposed upon him, and
upon the king, and slew fifty of their leaders: whereupon Jonathan, with
his brother, and those that were with him, retired to Bethagla, a village
that lay in the wilderness, out of his fear of Bacchides. He also built
towers in it, and encompassed it with walls, and took care that it should
be safely guarded. Upon the hearing of which Bacchides led his own army
along with him, and besides took his Jewish auxiliaries, and came against
Jonathan, and made an assault upon his fortifications, and besieged him
many days; but Jonathan did not abate of his courage at the zeal Bacchides
used in the siege, but courageously opposed him. And while he left his
brother Simon in the city to fight with Bacchides, he went privately out
himself into the country, and got a great body of men together of his
own party, and fell upon Bacchides's camp in the night time, and destroyed
a great many of them. His brother Simon knew also of this his falling
upon them, because he perceived that the enemies were slain by him; so
he sallied out upon them, and burnt the engines which the Macedonians
used, and made a great slaughter of them. And when Bacchides saw himself
encompassed with enemies, and some of them before and some behind him,
he fell into despair and trouble of mind, as confounded at the unexpected
ill success of this siege. However, he vented his displeasure at these
misfortunes upon those deserters who sent for him from the king, as having
deluded him. So he had a mind to finish this siege after a decent manner,
if it were possible for him so to do, and then to return home.
6. When Jonathan understood
these his intentions, he sent ambassadors to him about a league of friendship
and mutual assistance, and that they might restore those they had taken
captive on both sides. So Bacchides thought this a pretty decent way of
retiring home, and made a league of friendship with Jonathan, when they
sware that they would not any more make war one against another. Accordingly,
he restored the captives, and took his own men with him, and returned
to the king at Antioch; and after this his departure, he never came into
Judea again. Then did Jonathan take the opportunity of this quiet state
of things, and went and lived in the city Michmash; and there governed
the multitude, and punished the wicked and ungodly, and by that means
purged the nation of them.
CHAPTER 2.
HOW ALEXANDER [BALA] IN HIS
WAR WITH DEMETRIUS, GRANTED JONATHAN MANY ADVANTAGES AND APPOINTED HIM
TO BE HIGH PRIEST AND PERSUADED HIM TO ASSIST HIM ALTHOUGH DEMETRIUS PROMISED
HIM GREATER ADVANTAGES ON THE OTHER SIDE. CONCERNING THE DEATH OF DEMETRIUS.
1. NOW in the hundred and sixtieth
year, it fell out that Alexander, the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, (1)
came up into Syria, and took Ptolemais the soldiers within having betrayed
it to him; for they were at enmity with Demetrius, on account of his insolence
and difficulty of access; for he shut himself up in a palace of his that
had four towers which he had built himself, not far from Antioch and admitted
nobody. He was withal slothful and negligent about the public affairs,
whereby the hatred of his subjects was the more kindled against him, as
we have elsewhere already related. When therefore Demetrius heard that
Alexander was in Ptolemais, he took his whole army, and led it against
him; he also sent ambassadors to Jonathan about a league of mutual assistance
and friendship, for he resolved to be beforehand with Alexander, lest
the other should treat with him first, and gain assistance from him; and
this he did out of the fear he had lest Jonathan should remember how ill
Demetrius had formerly treated him, and should join with him in this war
against him. He therefore gave orders that Jonathan should be allowed
to raise an army, and should get armor made, and should receive back those
hostages of the Jewish nation whom Baechides had shut up in the citadel
of Jerusalem. When this good fortune had befallen Jonathan, by the concession
of Demetrius, he came to Jerusalem, and read the king's letter in the
audience of the people, and of those that kept the citadel. When these
were read, these wicked men and deserters, who were in the citadel, were
greatly afraid, upon the king's permission to Jonathan to raise an army,
and to receive back the hostages. So he delivered every one of them to
his own parents. And thus did Jonathan make his abode at Jerusalem, renewing
the city to a better state, and reforming the buildings as he pleased;
for he gave orders that the walls of the city should be rebuilt with square
stones, that it might be more secure from their enemies. And when those
that kept the garrisons that were in Judea saw this, they all left them,
and fled to Antioch, excepting those that were in the city Bethsura, and
those that were in the citadel of Jerusalem, for the greater part of these
was of the wicked Jews and deserters, and on that account these did not
deliver up their garrisons.
2. When Alexander knew what
promises Demetrius had made Jonathan, and withal knew his courage, and
what great things he had done when he fought the Macedonians, and besides
what hardships he had undergone by the means of Demetrius, and of Bacchides,
the general of Demetrius's army, he told his friends that he could not
at present find any one else that might afford him better assistance than
Jonathan, who was both courageous against his enemies, and had a particular
hatred against Demetrius, as having both suffered many hard things from
him, and acted many hard things against him. If therefore they were of
opinion that they should make him their friend against Demetrius, it was
more for their advantage to invite him to assist them now than at another
time. It being therefore determined by him and his friends to send to
Jonathan, he wrote to him this epistle: "King Alexander to his brother
Jonathan, sendeth greeting. We have long ago heard of thy courage and
thy fidelity, and for that reason have sent to thee, to make with thee
a league of friendship and mutual assistance. We therefore do ordain thee
this day the high priest of the Jews, and that thou beest called my friend.
I have also sent thee, as presents, a purple robe and a golden crown,
and desire that, now thou art by us honored, thou wilt in like manner
respect us also."
3. When Jonathan had received
this letter, he put on the pontifical robe at the time of the feast of
tabernacles, (2) four years after the death of his brother Judas, for
at that time no high priest had been made. So he raised great forces,
and had abundance of armor got ready. This greatly grieved Demetrius when
he heard of it, and made him blame himself for his slowness, that he had
not prevented Alexander, and got the good-will of Jonathan, but had given
him time so to do. However, he also himself wrote a letter to Jonathan,
and to the people, the contents whereof are these: "King Demetrius to
Jonathan, and to the nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting. Since you have
preserved your friendship for us, and when you have been tempted by our
enemies, you have not joined yourselves to them, I both commend you for
this your fidelity, and exhort you to continue in the same disposition,
for which you shall be repaid, and receive rewards from us; for I will
free you from the greatest part of the tributes and taxes which you formerly
paid to the kings my predecessors, and to myself; and I do now set you
free from those tributes which you have ever paid; and besides, I forgive
you the tax upon salt, and the value of the crowns which you used to offer
to me (3) and instead of the third part of the fruits [of the field],
and the half of the fruits of the trees, I relinquish my part of them
from this day: and as to the poll-money, which ought to be given me for
every head of the inhabitants of Judea, and of the three toparchies that
adjoin to Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and Peres, that I relinquish to
you for this time, and for all time to come. I will also that the city
of Jerusalem be holy and inviolable, and free from the tithe, and from
the taxes, unto its utmost bounds. And I so far recede from my title to
the citadel, as to permit Jonathan your high priest to possess it, that
he may place such a garrison in it as he approves of for fidelity and
good-will to himself, that they may keep it for us. I also make free all
those Jews who have been made captives and slaves in my kingdom. I also
give order that the beasts of the Jews be not pressed for our service;
and let their sabbaths, and all their festivals, and three days before
each of them, be free from any imposition. In the same manner, I set free
the Jews that are inhabitants of my kingdom, and order that no injury
be done them. I also give leave to such of them as are willing to list
themselves in my army, that they may do it, and those as far as thirty
thousand; which Jewish soldiers, wheresoever they go, shall have the same
pay that my own army hath; and some of them I will place in my garrisons,
and some as guards about mine own body, and as rulers over those that
are in my court. I give them leave also to use the laws of their forefathers,
and to observe them; and I will that they have power over the three toparchies
that are added to Judea; and it shall be in the power of the high priest
to take care that no one Jew shall have any other temple for worship but
only that at Jerusalem. I bequeath also, out of my own revenues, yearly,
for the expenses about the sacrifices, one hundred and fifty thousand
[drachmae]; and what money is to spare, I will that it shall be your own.
I also release to you those ten thousand drachmae which the kings received
from the temple, because they appertain to the priests that minister in
that temple. And whosoever shall fly to the temple at Jerusalem, or to
the places thereto belonging, or who owe the king money, or are there
on any other account, let them be set free, and let their goods be in
safety. I also give you leave to repair and rebuild your temple, and that
all be done at my expenses. I also allow you to build the walls of your
city, and to erect high towers, and that they be erected at my charge.
And if there be any fortified town that would be convenient for the Jewish
country to have very strong, let it be so built at my expenses."
4. This was what Demetrius
promised and granted to the Jews by this letter. But king Alexander raised
a great army of mercenary soldiers, and of those that deserted to him
out of Syria, and made an expedition against Demetrius. And when it was
come to a battle, the left wing of Demetrius put those who opposed them
to flight, and pursued them a great way, and slew many of them, and spoiled
their camp; but the right wing, where Demetrius happened to be, was beaten;
and as for all the rest, they ran away. But Demetrius fought courageously,
and slew a great many of the enemy; but as he was in the pursuit of the
rest, his horse carried him into a deep bog, where it was hard to get
out, and there it happened, that upon his horse's falling down, he could
not escape being killed; for when his enemies saw what had befallen him,
they returned back, and encompassed Demetrius round, and they all threw
their darts at him; but he, being now on foot, fought bravely. But at
length he received so many wounds, that he was not able to bear up any
longer, but fell. And this is the end that Demetrius came to, when he
had reigned eleven years, (4) as we have elsewhere related.
CHAPTER 3.
THE FRIENDSHIP THAT WAS BETWEEN
ONIAS AND PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR; AND HOW ONIAS BUILT A TEMPLE IN EGYPT LIKE
TO THAT AT JERUSALEM.
1. BUT then the son of Onias
the high priest, who was of the same name with his father, and who fled
to king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, lived now at Alexandria, as
we have said already. When this Onias saw that Judea was oppressed by
the Macedonians and their kings, out of a desire to purchase to himself
a memorial and eternal fame he resolved to send to king Ptolemy and queen
Cleopatra, to ask leave of them that he might build a temple in Egypt
like to that at Jerusalem, and might ordain Levites and priests out of
their own stock. The chief reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that
he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived above six hundred years before,
and foretold that there certainly was to be a temple built to Almighty
God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. Onias was elevated with this prediction,
and wrote the following epistle to Ptolemy and Cleopatra: "Having done
many and great things for you in the affairs of the war, by the assistance
of God, and that in Celesyria and Phoenicia, I came at length with the
Jews to Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation, where I found
that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner,
and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which
happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples,
and the difference of opinions about Divine worship. Now I found a very
fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this
place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred
animals; I desire therefore that you will grant me leave to purge this
holy place, which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, and to build
there a temple to Almighty God, after the pattern of that in Jerusalem,
and of the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit of thyself, and
thy wife and children, that those Jews which dwell in Egypt may have a
place whither they may come and meet together in mutual harmony one with
another, and he subservient to thy advantages; for the prophet Isaiah
foretold that “there should be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God; (5)
and many other such things did he prophesy relating to that place."
2. And this was what Onias
wrote to king Ptolemy. Now any one may observe his piety, and that of
his sister and wife Cleopatra, by that epistle which they wrote in answer
to it; for they laid the blame and the transgression of the law upon the
head of Onias. And this was their reply: "King Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra
to Onias, send greeting. We have read thy petition, wherein thou desirest
leave to be given thee to purge that temple which is fallen down at Leontopolis,
in the Nomus of Heliopolis, and which is named from the country Bubastis;
on which account we cannot but wonder that it should be pleasing to God
to have a temple erected in a place so unclean, and so full of sacred
animals. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet foretold this long
ago, we give thee leave to do it, if it may be done according to your
law, and so that we may not appear to have at all offended God herein."
3. So Onias took the place,
and built a temple, and an altar to God, like indeed to that in Jerusalem,
but smaller and poorer. I do not think it proper for me now to describe
its dimensions or its vessels, which have been already described in my
seventh book of the Wars of the Jews. However, Onias found other Jews
like to himself, together with priests and Levites, that there performed
Divine service. But we have said enough about this temple.
4. Now it came to pass that
the Alexandrian Jews, and those Samaritans who paid their worship to the
temple that was built in the days of Alexander at Mount Gerizzim, did
now make a sedition one against another, and disputed about their temples
before Ptolemy himself; the Jews saying that, according to the laws of
Moses, the temple was to be built at Jerusalem; and the Samaritans saying
that it was to be built at Gerizzim. They desired therefore the king to
sit with his friends, and hear the debates about these matters, and punish
those with death who were baffled. Now Sabbeus and Theodosius managed
the argument for the Samaritans, and Andronicus, the son of Messalamus,
for the people of Jerusalem; and they took an oath by God and the king
to make their demonstrations according to the law; and they desired of
Ptolemy, that whomsoever he should find that transgressed what they had
sworn to, he would put him to death. Accordingly, the king took several
of his friends into the council, and sat down, in order to hear what the
pleaders said. Now the Jews that were at Alexandria were in great concern
for those men, whose lot it was to contend for the temple at Jerusalem;
for they took it very ill that any should take away the reputation of
that temple, which was so ancient and so celebrated all over the habitable
earth. Now when Sabbeus and Tlteodosius had given leave to Andronicus
to speak first, he began to demonstrate out of the law, and out of the
successions of the high priests, how they every one in succession from
his father had received that dignity, and ruled over the temple; and how
all the kings of Asia had honored that temple with their donations, and
with the most splendid gifts dedicated thereto. But as for that at Gerizzm,
he made no account of it, and regarded it as if it had never had a being.
By this speech, and other arguments, Andronicus persuaded the king to
determine that the temple at Jerusalem was built according to the laws
of Moses, (6) and to put Sabbeus and Theodosius to death. And these were
the events that befell the Jews at Alexandria in the days of Ptolemy Philometor.
CHAPTER 4.
HOW ALEXANDER HONORED JONATHAN
AFTER AN EXTRAORDINARY MANNER; AND HOW DEMETRIUS, THE SON OF DEMETRIUS,
OVERCAME ALEXANDER AND MADE A LEAGUE OF FRIENDSHIP WITH JONATHAN.
1. DEMETRIUS being thus slain
in battle, as we have above related, Alexander took the kingdom of Syria;
and wrote to Ptolemy Philometor, and desired his daughter in marriage;
and said it was but just that he should be joined an affinity to one that
had now received the principality of his forefathers, and had been promoted
to it by God's providence, and had conquered Demetrius, and that was on
other accounts not unworthy of being related to him. Ptolemy received
this proposal of marriage gladly; and wrote him an answer, saluting him
on account of his having received the principality of his forefathers;
and promising him that he would give him his daughter in marriage; and
assured him that he was coming to meet him at Ptolemais, and desired that
he would there meet him, for that he would accompany her from Egypt so
far, and would there marry his child to him. When Ptolemy had written
thus, he came suddenly to Ptolemais, and brought his daughter Cleopatra
along with him; and as he found Alexander there before him, as he desired
him to come, he gave him his child in marriage, and for her portion gave
her as much silver and gold as became such a king to give.
2. When the wedding was over,
Alexander wrote to Jonathan the high priest, and desired him to come to
Ptolemais. So when he came to these kings, and had made them magnificent
presents, he was honored by them both. Alexander compelled him also to
put off his own garment, and to take a purple garment, and made him sit
with him in his throne; and commanded his captains that they should go
with him into the middle of the city, and proclaim, that it was not permitted
to any one to speak against him, or to give him any disturbance. And when
the captains had thus done, those that were prepared to accuse Jonathan,
and who bore him ill-will, when they saw the honor that was done him by
proclamation, and that by the king's order, ran away, and were afraid
lest some mischief should befall them. Nay, king Alexander was so very
kind to Jonathan, that he set him down as the principal of his friends.
3. But then, upon the hundred
and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, came from Crete
with a great number of mercenary soldiers, which Lasthenes, the Cretian,
brought him, and sailed to Cilicia. This thing cast Alexander into great
concern and disorder when he heard it; so he made haste immediately out
of Phoenicia, and came to Antioch, that he might put matters in a safe
posture there before Demetrius should come. He also left Apollonius Daus
(7) governor of Celesyria, who coming to Jamnia with a great army, sent
to Jonathan the high priest, and told him that it was not right that he
alone should live at rest, and with authority, and not be subject to the
king; that this thing had made him a reproach among all men, that he had
not yet made him subject to the king. "Do not thou therefore deceive thyself,
and sit still among the mountains, and pretend to have forces with thee;
but if thou hast any dependence on thy strength, come down into the plain,
and let our armies be compared together, and the event of the battle will
demonstrate which of us is the most courageous. However, take notice,
that the most valiant men of every city are in my army, and that these
are the very men who have always beaten thy progenitors; but let us have
the battle in such a place of the country where we may fight with weapons,
and not with stones, and where there may be no place whither those that
are beaten may fly."
4. With this Jonathan was irritated;
and choosing himself out ten thousand of his soldiers, he went out of
Jerusalem in haste, with his brother Simon, and came to Joppa, and pitched
his camp on the outside of the city, because the people of Joppa had shut
their gates against him, for they had a garrison in the city put there
by Apollonius. But when Jonathan was preparing to besiege them, they were
afraid he would take them by force, and so they opened the gates to him.
But Apollonius, when he heard that Joppa was taken by Jonathan, took three
thousand horsemen, and eight thousand footmen and came to Ashdod; and
removing thence, he made his journey silently and slowly, and going up
to Joppa, he made as if he was retiring from the place, and so drew Jonathan
into the plain, as valuing himself highly upon his horsemen, and having
his hopes of victory principally in them. However, Jonathan sallied out,
and pursued Apollonius to Ashdod; but as soon as Apollonius perceived
that his enemy was in the plain, he came back and gave him battle. But
Apollonius had laid a thousand horsemen in ambush in a valley, that they
might be seen by their enemies as behind them; which when Jonathan perceived,
he was under no consternation, but ordering his army to stand in a square
battle-array, he gave them a charge to fall on the enemy on both sides,
and set them to face those that attacked them both before and behind;
and while the fight lasted till the evening, he gave part of his forces
to his brother Simon, and ordered him to attack the enemies; but for himself,
he charged those that were with him to cover themselves with their armor,
and receive the darts of the horsemen, who did as they were commanded;
so that the enemy's horsemen, while they threw their darts till they had
no more left, did them no harm, for the darts that were thrown did not
enter into their bodies, being thrown upon the shields that were united
and conjoined together, the closeness of which easily overcame the force
of the darts, and they flew about without any effect. But when the enemy
grew remiss in throwing their darts from morning till late at night, Simon
perceived their weariness, and fell upon the body of men before him; and
because his soldiers showed great alacrity, he put the enemy to flight.
And when the horsemen saw that the footmen ran away, neither did they
stay themselves, but they being very weary, by the duration of the fight
till the evening, and their hope from the footmen being quite gone, they
basely ran away, and in great confusion also, till they were separated
one from another, and scattered over all the plain. Upon which Jonathan
pursued them as far as Ashdod, and slew a great many of them, and compelled
the rest, in despair of escaping, to fly to the temple of Dagon, which
was at Ashdod; but Jonathan took the city on the first onset, and burnt
it, and the villages about it; nor did he abstain from the temple of Dagon
itself, but burnt it also, and destroyed those that had fled to it. Now
the entire multitude of the enemies that fell in the battle, and were
consumed in the temple, were eight thousand. When Jonathan therefore had
overcome so great an army, he removed from Ashdod, and came to Askelon;
and when he had pitched his camp without the city, the people of Askelon
came out and met him, bringing him hospitable presents, and honoring him;
so he accepted of their kind intentions, and returned thence to Jerusalem
with a great deal of prey, which he brought thence when he conquered his
enemies. But when Alexander heard that Apollonius, the general of his
army, was beaten, he pretended to be glad of it, because he had fought
with Jonathan his friend and ally against his directions. Accordingly,
he sent to Jonathan, and gave testimony to his worth; and gave him honorary
rewards, as a golden button, (8) which it is the custom to give the king's
kinsmen, and allowed him Ekron and its toparchy for his own inheritance.
5. About this time it was that
king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, led an army, part by the sea,
and part by land, and came to Syria, to the assistance of Alexander, who
was his son-in-law; and accordingly all the cities received him willingly,
as Alexander had commanded them to do, and conducted him as far as Ashdod;
where they all made loud complaints about the temple of Dagon, which was
burnt, and accused Jonathan of having laid it waste, and destroyed the
country adjoining with fire, and slain a great number of them. Ptolemy
heard these accusations, but said nothing. Jonathan also went to meet
Ptolemy as far as Joppa, and obtained from him hospitable presents, and
those glorious in their kinds, with all the marks of honor; and when he
had conducted him as far as the river called Eleutherus, he returned again
to Jerusalem.
6. But as Ptolemy was at Ptolemais,
he was very near to a most unexpected destruction; for a treacherous design
was laid for his life by Alexander, by the means of Ammonius, who was
his friend; and as the treachery was very plain, Ptolemy wrote to Alexander,
and required of him that he should bring Ammonius to condign punishment,
informing him what snares had been laid for him by Ammonius, and desiring
that he might he accordingly punished for it. But when Alexander did not
comply with his demands, he perceived that it was he himself who laid
the design, and was very angry at him. Alexander had also formerly been
on very ill terms with the people of Antioch, for they had suffered very
much by his means; yet did Ammonius at length undergo the punishment his
insolent crimes had deserved, for he was killed in an opprobrious manner,
like a woman, while he endeavored to conceal himself in a feminine habit,
as we have elsewhere related.
7. Hereupon Ptolemy blamed
himself for having given his daughter in marriage to Alexander, and for
the league he had made with him to assist him against Demetrius; so he
dissolved his relation to him, and took his daughter away from him, and
immediately sent to Demetrius, and offered to make a league of mutual
assistance and friendship with him, and agreed with him to give him his
daughter in marriage, and to restore him to the principality of his fathers.
Demetrius was well pleased with this embassage, and accepted of his assistance,
and of the marriage of his daughter. But Ptolemy had still one more hard
task to do, and that was to persuade the people of Antioch to receive
Demetrius, because they were greatly displeased at him, on account of
the injuries his father Demetrius had done them; yet did he bring this
about; for as the people of Antioch hated Alexander on Ammonius's account,
as we have shown already, they were easily prevailed with to cast him
out of Antioch; who, thus expelled out of Antioch, came into Cilicia.
Ptolemy came then to Antioch, and was made king by its inhabitants, and
by the army; so that he was forced to put on two diadems, the one of Asia,
the other of Egypt: but being naturally a good and a righteous man, and
not desirous of what belonged to others, and besides these dispositions,
being also a wise man in reasoning about futurities, he determined to
avoid the envy of the Romans; so he called the people of Antioch together
to an assembly, and persuaded them to receive Demetrius; and assured them
that he would not be mindful of what they did to his father in case he
should he now obliged by them; and he undertook that he would himself
be a good monitor and governor to him, and promised that he would not
permit him to attempt any bad actions; but that, for his own part, he
was contented with the kingdom of Egypt. By which discourse he persuaded
the people of Antioch to receive Demetrius.
8. But now Alexander made haste
with a numerous and great army, and came out of Cilicia into Syria, and
burnt the country belonging to Antioch, and pillaged it; whereupon Ptolemy,
and his son-in-law Demetrius, brought their army against him, (for he
had already given him his daughter in marriage,) and beat Alexander, and
put him to flight; and accordingly he fled into Arabia. Now it happened
in the time of the battle that Ptolemy' horse, upon hearing the noise
of an elephant, cast him off his back, and threw him on the ground; upon
the sight of which accident, his enemies fell upon him, and gave him many
wounds upon his head, and brought him into danger of death; for when his
guards caught him up, he was so very ill, that for four days' time he
was not able either to understand or to speak. However, Zabdiel, a prince
among the Arabians, cut off Alexander's head, and sent it to Ptolemy,
who recovering of his wounds, and returning to his understanding, on the
fifth day, heard at once a most agreeable hearing, and saw a most agreeable
sight, which were the death and the head of Alexander; yet a little after
this his joy for the death of Alexander, with which he was so greatly
satisfied, he also departed this life. Now Alexander, who was called Balas,
reigned over Asia five years, as we have elsewhere related.
9. But when Demetrius, who
was styled Nicator, (9) had taken the kingdom, he was so wicked as to
treat Ptolemy's soldiers very hardly, neither remembering the league of
mutual assistance that was between them, nor that he was his son-in-law
and kinsman, by Cleopatra's marriage to him; so the soldiers fled from
his wicked treatment to Alexandria; but Demetrius kept his elephants.
But Jonathan the high priest levied an army out of all Judea, and attacked
the citadel at Jerusalem, and besieged it. It was held by a garrison of
Macedonians, and by some of those wicked men who had deserted the customs
of their forefathers. These men at first despised the attempts of Jonathan
for taking the place, as depending on its strength; but some of those
wicked men went out by night, and came to Demetrius, and informed him
that the citadel was besieged; who was irritated with what he heard, and
took his army, and came from Antioch, against Jonathan. And when he was
at Antioch, he wrote to him, and commanded him to come to him quickly
to Ptolemais: upon which Jonathan did not intermit the siege of the citadel,
but took with him the elders of the people, and the priests, and carried
with him gold, and silver, and garments, and a great number of presents
of friendship, and came to Demetrius, and presented him with them, and
thereby pacified the king's anger. So he was honored by him, and received
from him the confirmation of his high priesthood, as he had possessed
it by the grants of the kings his predecessors. And when the Jewish deserters
accused him, Demetrius was so far from giving credit to them, that when
he petitioned him that he would demand no more than three hundred talents
for the tribute of all Judea, and the three toparchies of Samaria, and
Perea, and Galilee, he complied with the proposal, and gave him a letter
confirming all those grants; whose contents were as follows: "King Demetrius
to Jonathan his brother, and to the nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting.
We have sent you a copy of that epistle which we have written to Lasthones
our kinsman, that you may know its contents. “King Demetrus to Lasthenes
our father, sendeth greeting. I have determined to return thanks, and
to show favor to the nation of the Jews, which hath observed the rules
of justice in our concerns. Accordingly, I remit to them the three prefectures,
Apherims, and Lydda, and Ramatha, which have been added to Judea out of
Samaria, with their appurtenances; as also what the kings my predecessors
received from those that offered sacrifices in Jerusalem, and what are
due from the fruits of the earth, and of the trees, and what else belongs
to us; with the salt-pits, and the crowns that used to be presented to
us. Nor shall they be compelled to pay any of those taxes from this time
to all futurity. Take care therefore that a copy of this epistle be taken,
and given to Jonathan, and be set up in an eminent place of their holy
temple.'" And these were the contents of this writing. And now when Demetrius
saw that there was peace every where, and that there was no danger, nor
fear of war, he disbanded the greatest part of his army, and diminished
their pay, and even retained in pay no others than such foreigners as
came up with him from Crete, and from the other islands. However, this
procured him ill-will and hatred from the soldiers; on whom he bestowed
nothing from this time, while the kings before him used to pay them in
time of peace as they did before, that they might have their good-will,
and that they might be very ready to undergo the difficulties of war,
if any occasion should require it.
CHAPTER 5.
HOW TRYPHO AFTER HE HAD BEATEN
DEMETRIUS DELIVERED THE KINGDOM TO ANTIOCHUS THE SON OF ALEXANDER, AND
GAINED JONATHAN FOR HIS ASSISTANT; AND CONCERNING THE ACTIONS AND EMBASSIES
OF JONATHAN.
1. NOW there was a certain
commander of Alexander's forces, an Apanemian by birth, whose name was
Diodotus, and was also called Trypho, took notice the ill-will of the
soldiers bare to Demetrius, and went to Malchus the Arabian, who brought
up Antiochus, the son of Alexander, and told him what ill-will the army
bare Demetrius, and persuaded him to give him Antiochus, because he would
make him king, and recover to him the kingdom of his father. Malchus at
the first opposed him in this attempt, because he could not believe him;
but when Trypho lay hard at him for a long time, he over-persuaded him
to comply with Trypho's intentions and entreaties. And this was the state
Trypho was now in.
2. But Jonathan the high priest,
being desirous to get clear of those that were in the citadel of Jerusalem,
and of the Jewish deserters, and wicked men, as well as of those in all
the garrisons in the country, sent presents and ambassadors to Demetrius,
and entreated him to take away his soldiers out of the strong holds of
Judea. Demetrius made answer, that after the war, which he was now deeply
engaged in, was over, he would not only grant him that, but greater things
than that also; and he desired he would send him some assistance, and
informed him that his army had deserted him. So Jonathan chose out three
thousand of his soldiers, and sent them to Demetrius.
3. Now the people of Antioch
hated Demetrius, both on account of what mischief he had himself done
them, and because they were his enemies also on account of his father
Demetrius, who had greatly abused them; so they watched some opportunity
which they might lay hold on to fall upon him. And when they were informed
of the assistance that was coming to Demetrius from Jonathan, and considered
at the same time that he would raise a numerous army, unless they prevented
him, and seized upon him, they took their weapons immediately, and encompassed
his palace in the way of a siege, and seizing upon all the ways of getting
out, they sought to subdue their king. And when he saw that the people
of Antioch were become his bitter enemies and that they were thus in arms,
he took the mercenary soldiers which he had with them, and those Jews
who were sent by Jonathan, and assaulted the Antiochians; but he was overpowered
by them, for they were many ten thousands, and was beaten. But when the
Jews saw that the Antiochians were superior, they went up to the top of
the palace, and shot at them from thence; and because they were so remote
from them by their height, that they suffered nothing on their side, but
did great execution on the others, as fighting from such an elevation,
they drove them out of the adjoining houses, and immediately set them
on fire, whereupon the flame spread itself over the whole city, and burnt
it all down. This happened by reason of the closeness of the houses, and
because they were generally built of wood. So the Antioehians, when they
were not able to help themselves, nor to stop the fire, were put to flight.
And as the Jews leaped from the top of one house to the top of another,
and pursued them after that manner, it thence happened that the pursuit
was so very surprising. But when the king saw that the Antiochians were
were busy in saving their children and their wives, and so did not fight
any longer, he fell upon them in the narrow passages, and fought them,
and slew a great many of them, till at last they were forced to throw
down their arms, and to deliver themselves up to Demetrius. So he forgave
them this their insolent behavior, and put an end to the sedition; and
when he had given rewards to the Jews out of the rich spoils he had gotten,
and had returned them thanks, as the cause of his victory, he sent them
away to Jerusalem to Jonathan, with an ample testimony of the assistance
they had afforded him. Yet did he prove an ill man to Jonathan afterward,
and broke the promises he had made; and he threatened that he would make
war upon him, unless he would pay all that tribute which the Jewish nation
owed to the first kings [of Syria]. And this he had done, if Trypho had
not hindered him, and diverted his preparations against Jonathan to a
concern for his own preservation; for he now returned out of Arabia into
Syria, with the child Antiochus, for he was yet in age but a youth, and
put the diadem on his head; and as the whole forces that had left Demetrius,
because they had no pay, came to his assistance, he made war upon Demetrius,
and joining battle with him, overcame him in the fight, and took from
him both his elephants and the city Antioch.
4. Demetrius, upon this defeat,
retired into Cilicia; but the child Antiochus sent ambassadors and an
epistle to Jonathan, and made him his friend and confederate, and confirmed
to him the high priesthood, and yielded up to him the four prefectures
which had been added to Judea. Moreover, he sent him vessels and cups
of gold, and a purple garment, and gave him leave to use them. He also
presented him with a golden button, and styled him one of his principal
friends, and appointed his brother Simon to be the general over the forces,
from the Ladder of Tyre unto Egypt. So Jonathan was so pleased with these
grants made him by Antiochus, that he sent ambassadors to him and to Trypho,
and professed himself to be their friend and confederate, and said he
would join with him in a war against Demetrius, informing him that he
had made no proper returns for the kindness he had done him; for that
when he had received many marks of kindness from him, when he stood in
great need of them, he, for such good turns, had requited him with further
injuries.
5. So Antiochus gave Jonathan
leave to raise himself a numerous army out of Syria and Phoenicia and
to make war against Demetrius's generals; whereupon he went in haste to
the several cities which received him splendidly indeed, but put no forces
into his hands. And when he was come from thence to Askelon, the inhabitants
of Askelon came and brought him presents, and met him in a splendid manner.
He exhorted them, and every one of the cities of Celesyria, to forsake
Demetrius, and to join with Antiochus; and, in assisting him, to endeavor
to punish Demetrius for what offenses he had been guilty of against themselves;
and told them there were many reasons for that their procedure, if they
had a mind so to do. And when he had persuaded those cities to promise
their assistance to Antiochus, he came to Gaza, in order to induce them
also to be friends to Antiochus; but he found the inhabitants of Gaza
much more alienated from him than he expected, for they had shut their
gates against him; and although they had deserted Demetrius, they had
not resolved to join themselves to Antiochus. This provoked Jonathan to
besiege them, and to harass their country; for as he set a part of his
army round about Gaza itself, so with the rest he overran their land,
and spoiled it, and burnt what was in it. When the of Gaza saw themselves
in this state of affliction, and that no assistance came to them from
Demetrius, that what distressed them was at hand, but what should profit
them was still at a great distance, and it was uncertain whether it would
come at all or not, they thought it would he prudent conduct to leave
off any longer continuance with them, and to cultivate friendship with
the other; so they sent to Jonathan, and professed they would be his friends,
and afford him assistance: for such is the temper of men, that before
they have had the trial of great afflictions, they do not understand what
is for their advantage; but when they find themselves under such afflictions,
they then change their minds, and what it had been better for them to
have done before they had been at all damaged, they choose to do, but
not till after they have suffered such damages. However, he made a league
of friendship with them, and took from them hostages for their performance
of it, and sent these hostages to Jerusalem, while he went himself over
all the country, as far as Damascus.
6. But when he heard that the
generals of Demetrius's forces were come to the city Cadesh with a numerous
army, (the place lies between the land of the Tyrians and Galilee,)for
they supposed they should hereby draw him out of Syria, in order to preserve
Galilee, and that he would not overlook the Galileans, who were his own
people, when war was made upon them, he went to meet them, having left
Simon in Judea, who raised as great an army as he was able out of the
country, and then sat down before Bethsura, and besieged it, that being
the strongest place in all Judea; and a garrison of Demetrius's kept it,
as we have already related. But as Simon was raising banks, and bringing
his engines of war against Bethsura, and was very earnest about the siege
of it, the garrison was afraid lest the place should be taken of Simon
by force, and they put to the sword; so they sent to Simon, and desired
the security of his oath, that they should come to no harm from him, and
that they would leave the place, and go away to Demetrius. Accordingly
he gave them his oath, and ejected them out of the city, and he put therein
a garrison of his own.
7. But Jonathan removed out
of Galilee, and from the waters which are called Gennesar, for there he
was before encamped, and came into the plain that is called Asor, without
knowing that the enemy was there. When therefore Demetrius's men knew
a day beforehand that Jonathan was coming against them, they laid an ambush
in the mountain, who were to assault him on the sudden, while they themselves
met him with an army in the plain; which army, when Jonathan saw ready
to engage him, he also got ready his own soldiers for the battle as well
as he was able; but those that were laid in ambush by Demetrius's generals
being behind them, the Jews were afraid lest they should be caught in
the midst between two bodies, and perish; so they ran away in haste, and
indeed all the rest left Jonathan; but a few there were, in number about
fifty, who staid with him, and with them Mattathias, the son of Absalom,
and Judas, the son of Chapseus, who were commanders of the whole army.
These marched boldly, and like men desperate, against the enemy, and so
pushed them, that by their courage they daunted them, and with their weapons
in their hands they put them to flight. And when those soldiers of Jonathan
that had retired saw the enemy giving way, they got together after their
flight, and pursued them with great violence; and this did they as far
as Cadesh, where the camp of the enemy lay.
8. Jonathan having thus gotten
a glorious victory, and slain two thousand of the enemy, returned to Jerusalem.
So when he saw that all his affairs prospered according to his mind, by
the providence of God, he sent ambassadors to the Romans, being desirous
of renewing that friendship which their nation had with them formerly.
He enjoined the same ambassadors, that, as they came back, they should
go to the Spartans, and put them in mind of their friendship and kindred.
So when the ambassadors came to Rome, they went into their senate, and
said what they were commanded by Jonathan the high priest to say, how
he had sent them to confirm their friendship. The senate then confirmed
what had been formerly decreed concerning their friendship with the Jews,
and gave them letters to carry to all the kings of Asia and Europe, and
to the governors of the cities, that they might safely conduct them to
their own country. Accordingly, as they returned, they came to Sparta,
and delivered the epistle which they had received of Jonathan to them;
a copy of which here follows: "Jonathan the high priest of the Jewish
nation, and the senate, and body of the people of the Jews, to the ephori,
and senate, and people of the Lacedemonians, send greeting. If you be
well, and both your public and private affairs be agreeable to your mind,
it is according to our wishes. We are well also. When in former times
an epistle was brought to Onias, who was then our high priest, from Areus,
who at that time was your king, by Demoteles, concerning the kindred that
was between us and you, a copy of which is here subjoined, we both joyfully
received the epistle, and were well pleased with Demoteles and Areus,
although we did not need such a demonstration, because we were satisfied
about it from the sacred writings (10) yet did not we think fit first
to begin the claim of this relation to you, lest we should seem too early
in taking to ourselves the glory which is now given us by you. It is a
long time since this relation of ours to you hath been renewed; and when
we, upon holy and festival days, offer sacrifices to God, we pray to him
for your preservation and victory. As to ourselves, although we have had
many wars that have compassed us around, by reason of the covetousness
of our neighbors, yet did not we determine to be troublesome either to
you, or to others that were related to us; but since we have now overcome
our enemies, and have occasion to send Numenius the son of Antiochus,
and Antipater the son of Jason, who are both honorable men belonging to
our senate, to the Romans, we gave them this epistle to you also, that
they might renew that friendship which is between us. You will therefore
do well yourselves to write to us, and send us an account of what you
stand in need of from us, since we are in all things disposed to act according
to your desires." So the Lacedemonians received the ambassadors kindly,
and made a decree for friendship and mutual assistance, and sent it to
them.
9. At this time there were
three sects among the Jews, who had different opinions concerning human
actions; the one was called the sect of the Pharisees, another the sect
of the Sadducees, and the other the sect of the Essens. Now for the Pharisees,
(11) they say that some actions, but not all, are the work of fate, and
some of them are in our own power, and that they are liable to fate, but
are not caused by fate. But the sect of the Essens affirm, that fate governs
all things, and that nothing befalls men but what is according to its
determination. And for the Sadducees, they take away fate, and say there
is no such thing, and that the events of human affairs are not at its
disposal; but they suppose that all our actions are in our own power,
so that we are ourselves the causes of what is good, and receive what
is evil from our own folly. However, I have given a more exact account
of these opinions in the second book of the Jewish War.
10. But now the generals of
Demetrius being willing to recover the defeat they had had, gathered a
greater army together than they had before, and came against Jonathan;
but as soon as he was informed of their coming, he went suddenly to meet
them, to the country of Hamoth, for he resolved to give them no opportunity
of coming into Judea; so he pitched his camp at fifty furlongs' distance
from the enemy, and sent out spies to take a view of their camp, and after
what manner they were encamped. When his spies had given him full information,
and had seized upon some of them by night, who told him the enemy would
soon attack him, he, thus apprized beforehand, provided for his security,
and placed watchmen beyond his camp, and kept all his forces armed all
night; and he gave them a charge to be of good courage, and to have their
minds prepared to fight in the night time, if they should be obliged so
to do, lest their enemy's designs should seem concealed from them. But
when Demetrius's commanders were informed that Jonathan knew what they
intended, their counsels were disordered, and it alarmed them to find
that the enemy had discovered those their intentions; nor did they expect
to overcome them any other way, now they had failed in the snares they
had laid for them; for should they hazard an open battle, they did not
think they should be a match for Jonathan's army, so they resolved to
fly; and having lighted many fires, that when the enemy saw them they
might suppose they were there still, they retired. When Jonathan came
to give them battle in the morning in their camp, and found it deserted,
and understood they were fled, he pursued them; yet he could not overtake
them, for they had already passed over the river Eleutherus, and were
out of danger. So when Jonathan was returned thence, he went into Arabia,
and fought against the Nabateans, and drove away a great deal of their
prey, and took [many] captives, and came to Damascus, and there sold off
what he had taken. About the same time it was that Simon his brother went
over all Judea and Palestine, as far as Askelon, and fortified the strong
holds; and when he had made them very strong, both in the edifices erected,
and in the garrisons placed in them, he came to Joppa; and when he had
taken it, he brought a great garrison into it, for he heard that the people
of Joppa were disposed to deliver up the city to Demetrius's generals.
11. When Simon and Jonathan
had finished these affairs, they returned to Jerusalem, where Jonathan
gathered all the people together, and took counsel to restore the walls
of Jerusalem, and to rebuild the wall that encompassed the temple, which
had been thrown down, and to make the places adjoining stronger by very
high towers; and besides that, to build another wall in the midst of the
city, in order to exclude the market-place from the garrison, which was
in the citadel, and by that means to hinder them from any plenty of provisions;
and moreover, to make the fortresses that were in the country much stronger
and more defensible than they were before. And when these things were
approved of by the multitude, as rightly proposed, Jonathan himself took
care of the building that belonged to the city, and sent Simon away to
make the fortresses in the country more secure than formerly. But Demetrius
passed over [Euphrates], and came into Mesopotamia, as desirous to retain
that country still, as well as Babylon; and when he should have obtained
the dominion of the upper provinces, to lay a foundation for recovering
his entire kingdom; for those Greeks and Macedonians who dwelt there frequently
sent ambassadors to him, and promised, that if he would come to them,
they would deliver themselves up to him, and assist him in fighting against
Arsaces, (12) the king of the Parthians. So he was elevated with these
hopes, and came hastily to them, as having resolved, that if he had once
overthrown the Parthians, and gotten an army of his own, he would make
war against Trypho, and eject him out of Syria; and the people of that
country received him with great alacrity. So he raised forces, with which
he fought against Arsaces, and lost all his army, and was himself taken
alive, as we have elsewhere related.
CHAPTER 6.
HOW JONATHAN WAS SLAIN BY TREACHERY;
AND HOW THEREUPON THE JEWS MADE SIMON THEIR GENERAL AND HIGH PRIEST: WHAT
COURAGEOUS ACTIONS HE ALSO PERFORMED ESPECIALLY AGAINST TRYPHO.
1. NOW when Trypho knew what
had befallen Demetrius, he was no longer firm to Antiochus, but contrived
by subtlety to kill him, and then take possession of his kingdom; but
the fear that he was in of Jonathan was an obstacle to this his design,
for Jonathan was a friend to Antiochus, for which cause he resolved first
to take Jonathan out of the way, and then to set about his design relating
to Antiochus; but he judging it best to take him off by deceit and treachery,
came from Antioch to Bethshan, which by the Greeks is called Scythopolis,
at which place Jonathan met him with forty thousand chosen men, for he
thought that he came to fight him; but when he perceived that Jonathan
was ready to fight, he attempted to gain him by presents and kind treatment,
and gave order to his captains to obey him, and by these means was desirous
to give assurance of his good-will, and to take away all suspicions out
of his mind, that so he might make him careless and inconsiderate, and
might take him when he was unguarded. He also advised him to dismiss his
army, because there was no occasion for bringing it with him when there
was no war, but all was in peace. However, he desired him to retain a
few about him, and go with him to Ptolemais, for that he would deliver
the city up to him, and would bring all the fortresses that were in the
country under his dominion; and he told him that he came with those very
designs.
2. Yet did not Jonathan suspect
any thing at all by this his management, but believed that Trypho gave
him this advice out of kindness, and with a sincere design. Accordingly,
he dismissed his army, and retained no more than three thousand of them
with him, and left two thousand in Galilee; and he himself, with one thousand,
came with Trypho to Ptolemais. But when the people of Ptolemais had shut
their gates, as it had been commanded by Trypho to do, he took Jonathan
alive, and slew all that were with him. He also sent soldiers against
those two thousand that were left in Galilee, in order to destroy them;
but those men having heard the report of what had happened to Jonathan,
they prevented the execution; and before those that were sent by Trypho
came, they covered themselves with their armor, and went away out of the
country. Now when those that were sent against them saw that they were
ready to fight for their lives, they gave them no disturbance, but returned
back to Trypho.
3. But when the people of Jerusalem
heard that Jonathan was taken, and that the soldiers who were with him
were destroyed, they deplored his sad fate; and there was earnest inquiry
made about him by every body, and a great and just fear fell upon them,
and made them sad, lest, now they were deprived of the courage and conduct
of Jonathan, the nations about them should bear them ill-will; and as
they were before quiet on account of Jonathan they should now rise up
against them, and by making war with them, should force them into the
utmost dangers. And indeed what they suspected really befell them; for
when those nations heard of the death of Jonathan, they began to make
war with the Jews as now destitute of a governor and Trypho himself got
an army together, and had intention to go up to Judea, and make war against
its inhabitants. But when Simon saw that the people of Jerusalem were
terrified at the circumstances they were in, he desired to make a speech
to them, and thereby to render them more resolute in opposing Trypho when
he should come against them. He then called the people together into the
temple, and thence began thus to encourage them: "O my countrymen, you
are not ignorant that our father, myself, and my brethren, have ventured
to hazard our lives, and that willingly, for the recovery of your liberty;
since I have therefore such plenty of examples before me, and we of our
family have determined with ourselves to die for our laws, and our Divine
worship, there shall no terror be so great as to banish this resolution
from our souls, nor to introduce in its place a love of life, and a contempt
of glory. Do you therefore follow me with alacrity whithersoever I shall
lead you, as not destitute of such a captain as is willing to suffer,
and to do the greatest things for you; for neither am I better than my
brethren that I should be sparing of my own life, nor so far worse than
they as to avoid and refuse what they thought the most honorable of all
things, — I mean, to undergo death for your laws, and for that worship
of God which is peculiar to you; I will therefore give such proper demonstrations
as will show that I am their own brother; and I am so bold as to expect
that I shall avenge their blood upon our enemies, and deliver you all
with your wives and children from the injuries they intend against you,
and, with God's assistance, to preserve your temple from destruction by
them; for I see that these nations have you in contempt, as being without
a governor, and that they thence are encouraged to make war against you."
4. By this speech of Simon
he inspired the multitude with courage; and as they had been before dispirited
through fear, they were now raised to a good hope of better things, insomuch
that the whole multitude of the people cried out all at once that Simon
should be their leader; and that instead of Judas and Jonathan his brethren,
he should have the government over them; and they promised that they would
readily obey him in whatsoever he should command them. So he got together
immediately all his own soldiers that were fit for war, and made haste
in rebuilding the walls of the city, and strengthening them by very high
and strong towers, and sent a friend of his, one Jonathan, the son of
Absalom, to Joppa, and gave him order to eject the inhabitants out of
the city, for he was afraid lest they should deliver up the city to Trypho;
but he himself staid to secure Jerusalem.
5. But Trypho removed from
Ptoeinais with a great army, and came into Judea, and brought Jonathan
with him in bonds. Simon also met him with his army at the city Adida,
which is upon a hill, and beneath it lie the plains of Judea. And when
Trypho knew that Simon was by the Jews made their governor, he sent to
him, and would have imposed upon him by deceit and trencher, and desired,
if he would have his brother Jonathan released, that he would send him
a hundred talents of silver, and two of Jonathan's sons as hostages, that
when he shall be released, he may not make Judea revolt from the king;
for that at present he was kept in bonds on account of the money he had
borrowed of the king, and now owed it to him. But Simon was aware of the
craft of Trypho; and although he knew that if he gave him the money he
should lose it, and that Trypho would not set his brother free and withal
should deliver the sons of Jonathan to the enemy, yet because he was afraid
that he should have a calumny raised against him among the multitude as
the cause of his brother's death, if he neither gave the money, nor sent
Jonathan's sons, he gathered his army together, and told them what offers
Trypho had made; and added this, that the offers were ensnaring and treacherous,
and yet that it was more eligible to send the money and Jonathan's sons,
than to be liable to the imputation of not complying with Trypho's offers,
and thereby refusing to save his brother. Accordingly, Simon sent the
sons of Jonathan and the money; but when Trypho had received them, he
did not keep his promise, nor set Jonathan free, but took his army, and
went about all the country, and resolved to go afterward to Jerusalem
by the way of Idumea, while Simon went over against him with his army,
and all along pitched his own camp over against his.
6. But when those that were
in the citadel had sent to Trypho, and besought him to make haste and
come to them, and to send them provisions, he prepared his cavalry as
though he would be at Jerusalem that very night; but so great a quantity
of snow fell in the night, that it covered the roads, and made them so
deep, that there was no passing, especially for the cavalry. This hindered
him from coming to Jerusalem; whereupon Trypho removed thence, and came
into Celesyria, and falling vehemently upon the land of Gilead, he slew
Jonathan there; and when he had given order for his burial, he returned
himself to Antioch. However, Simon sent some to the city Basca to bring
away his brother's bones, and buried them in their own city Modin; and
all the people made great lamentation over him. Simon also erected a very
large monument for his father and his brethren, of white and polished
stone, and raised it a great height, and so as to be seen a long way off,
and made cloisters about it, and set up pillars, which were of one stone
apiece; a work it was wonderful to see. Moreover, he built seven pyramids
also for his parents and his brethren, one for each of them, which were
made very surprising, both for their largeness and beauty, and which have
been preserved to this day; and we know that it was Simon who bestowed
so much zeal about the burial of Jonathan, and the building of these monuments
for his relations. Now Jonathan died when he had been high priest four
years (13) and had been also the governor of his nation. And these were
the circumstances that concerned his death.
7. But Simon, who was made
high priest by the multitude, on the very first year of his high priesthood
set his people free from their slavery under the Macedonians, and permitted
them to pay tribute to them no longer; which liberty and freedom from
tribute they obtained after a hundred and seventy years (14) of the kingdom
of the Assyrians, which was after Seleucus, who was called Nicator, got
the dominion over Syria. Now the affection of the multitude towards Simon
was so great, that in their contracts one with another, and in their public
records, they wrote, “in the first year of Simon the benefactor and ethnarch
of the Jews;" for under him they were very happy, and overcame the enemies
that were round about them; for Simon overthrew the city Gazara, and Joppa,
and Jamhis. He also took the citadel of Jerusalem by siege, and cast it
down to the ground, that it might not be any more a place of refuge to
their enemies when they took it, to do them a mischief, as it had been
till now. And when he had done this, he thought it their best way, and
most for their advantage, to level the very mountain itself upon which
the citadel happened to stand, that so the temple might be higher than
it. And indeed, when he had called the multitude to an assembly, he persuaded
them to have it so demolished, and this by putting them in mind what miseries
they had suffered by its garrison and the Jewish deserters, and what miseries
they might hereafter suffer in case any foreigner should obtain the kingdom,
and put a garrison into that citadel. This speech induced the multitude
to a compliance, because he exhorted them to do nothing but what was for
their own good: so they all set themselves to the work, and leveled the
mountain, and in that work spent both day and night without any intermission,
which cost them three whole years before it was removed, and brought to
an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city. After which the
temple was the highest of all the buildings, now the citadel, as well
as the mountain whereon it stood, were demolished. And these actions were
thus performed under Simon.
CHAPTER 7.
HOW SIMON CONFEDERATED HIMSELF
WITH ANTIOCHUS PIUS, AND MADE WAR AGAINST TRYPHO, AND A LITTLE AFTERWARD,
AGAINST CENDEBEUS, THE GENERAL OF ANTIOCHUS'S ARMY; AS ALSO HOW SIMON
WAS MURDERED BY HIS SON-IN-LAW PTOLEMY, AND THAT BY TREACHERY.
1. (15) Now a little while
after Demetrius had been carried into captivity, Trypho his governor destroyed
Antiochus, (16) the son of Alexander, who was also called The God, (17)
and this when he had reigned four years, though he gave it out that he
died under the hands of the surgeons. He then sent his friends, and those
that were most intimate with him, to the soldiers, and promised that he
would give them a great deal of money if they would make him king. He
intimated to them that Demetrius was made a captive by the Parthians;
and that Demetrius's brother Atitiochus, if he came to be king, would
do them a great deal of mischief, in way of revenge for their revolting
from his brother. So the soldiers, in expectation of the wealth they should
get by bestowing the kingdom on Trypho, made him their ruler. However,
when Trypho had gained the management of affairs, he demonstrated his
disposition to be wicked; for while he was a private person, he cultivated
familiarity with the multitude, and pretended to great moderation, and
so drew them on artfully to whatsoever he pleased; but when he had once
taken the kingdom, he laid aside any further dissimulation, and was the
true Trypho; which behavior made his enemies superior to him; for the
soldiery hated him, and revolted from him to Cleopatra, the wife of Demetrius,
who was then shut up in Seleucia with her children. But as Antiochus,
the brother of Demetrius who was called Soter, was not admitted by any
of the cities on account of Trypho, Cleopatra sent to him, and invited
him to marry her, and to take the kingdom. The reasons why she made this
invitation were these: That her friends persuaded her to it, and that
she was afraid for herself, in case some of the people of Seleucia should
deliver up the city to Trypho.
2. As Antlochuswas now come
to Seleucia, and his forces increased every day, he marched to fight Trypho;
and having beaten him in the battle, he ejected him out of the Upper Syria
into Phoenicia, and pursued him thither, and besieged him in Dora which
was a fortress hard to be taken, whither he had fled. He also sent ambassadors
to Simon the Jewish high priest, about a league of friendship and mutual
assistance; who readily accepted of the invitation, and sent to Antiochus
great sums of money and provisions for those that besieged Dora, and thereby
supplied them very plentifully, so that for a little while he was looked
upon as one of his most intimate friends; but still Trypho fled from Dora
to Apamia, where he was taken during the siege, and put to death, when
he had reigned three years.
3. However, Antiochus forgot
the kind assistance that Simon had afforded him in his necessity, by reason
of his covetous and wicked disposition, and committed an army of soldiers
to his friend Cendebeus, and sent him at once to ravage Judea, and to
seize Simon. When Simon heard of Antiochus's breaking his league with
him, although he were now in years, yet, provoked with the unjust treatment
he had met with from Antiochus, and taking a resolution brisker than his
age could well bear, he went like a young man to act as general of his
army. He also sent his sons before among the most hardy of his soldiers,
and he himself marched on with his army another way, and laid many of
his men in ambushes in the narrow valleys between the mountains; nor did
he fail of success in any one of his attempts, but was too hard for his
enemies in every one of them. So he led the rest of his life in peace,
and did also himself make a league with the Romans.
4. Now he was
the ruler of the Jews in all eight years; but at a feast came to his end.
It was caused by the treachery of his son-in-law Ptolemy, who caught also
his wife, and two of his sons, and kept them in bonds. He also sent some
to kill John the third son, whose name was Hyrcanus; but the young man
perceiving them coming, he avoided the danger he was in from them, (18)
and made haste into the city [Jerusalem], as relying on the good-will
of the multitude, because of the benefits they had received from his father,
and because of the hatred the same multitude bare to Ptolemy; so that
when Ptolemy was endeavoring to enter the city by another gate, they drove
him away, as having already admitted Hyrcanus.
CHAPTER 8.
HYRCANUS RECEIVES THE HIGH
PRIESTHOOD, AND EJECTS PTOLEMY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. ANTIOCHUS MAKES WAR
AGAINST HYRCANUS AND AFTERWARDS MAKES A LEAGUE WITH HIM.
1. SO Ptolemy retired to one
of the fortresses that was above Jericho, which was called Dagon. But
Hyrcanus having taken the high priesthood that had been his father's before,
and in the first place propitiated God by sacrifices, he then made an
expedition against Ptolemy; and when he made his attacks upon the place,
in other points he was too hard for him, but was rendered weaker than
he, by the commiseration he had for his mother and brethren, and by that
only; for Ptolemy brought them upon the wall, and tormented them in the
sight of all, and threatened that he would throw them down headlong, unless
Hyrcanus would leave off the siege. And as he thought that so far as he
relaxed as to the siege and taking of the place, so much favor did he
show to those that were dearest to him by preventing their misery, his
zeal about it was cooled. However, his mother spread out her hands, and
begged of him that he would not grow remiss on her account, but indulge
his indignation so much the more, and that he would do his utmost to take
the place quickly, in order to get their enemy under his power, and then
to avenge upon him what he had done to those that were dearest to himself;
for that death would be to her sweet, though with torment, if that enemy
of theirs might but be brought to punishment for his wicked dealings to
them. Now when his mother said so, he resolved to take the fortress immediately;
but when he saw her beaten, and torn to pieces, his courage failed him,
and he could not but sympathize with what his mother suffered, and was
thereby overcome. And as the siege was drawn out into length by this means,
that year on which the Jews used to rest came on; for the Jews observe
this rest every seventh year, as they do every seventh day; so that Ptolemy
being for this cause released from the war, (19) he slew the brethren
of Hyrcanus, and his mother; and when he had so done, he fled to Zeno,
who was called Cotylas, who was then the tyrant of the city Philadelphia.
2. But Antiochus, being very
uneasy at the miseries that Simon had brought upon him, he invaded Judea
in the fourth years' of his reign, and the first year of the principality
of Hyrcanus, in the hundred and sixty-second olympiad. (20) And when he
had burnt the country, he shut up Hyrcanus in the city, which he encompassed
round with seven encampments; but did just nothing at the first, because
of the strength of the walls, and because of the valor of the besieged,
although they were once in want of water, which yet they were delivered
from by a large shower of rain, which fell at the setting of the Pleiades
(21) However, about the north part of the wall, where it happened the
city was upon a level with the outward ground, the king raised a hundred
towers of three stories high, and placed bodies of soldiers upon them;
and as he made his attacks every day, he cut a double ditch, deep and
broad, and confined the inhabitants within it as within a wall; but the
besieged contrived to make frequent sallies out; and if the enemy were
not any where upon their guard, they fell upon them, and did them a great
deal of mischief; and if they perceived them, they then retired into the
city with ease. But because Hyrcanus discerned the inconvenience of so
great a number of men in the city, while the provisions were the sooner
spent by them, and yet, as is natural to suppose, those great numbers
did nothing, he separated the useless part, and excluded them out of the
city, and retained that part only which were in the flower of their age,
and fit for war. However, Antiochus would not let those that were excluded
go away, who therefore wandering about between the wails, and consuming
away by famine, died miserably; but when the feast of tabernacles was
at hand, those that were within commiserated their condition, and received
them in again. And when Hyrcanus sent to Antiochus, and desired there
might be a truce for seven days, because of the festival, be gave way
to this piety towards God, and made that truce accordingly. And besides
that, he sent in a magnificent sacrifice, bulls with their horns gilded,
with all sorts of sweet spices, and with cups of gold and silver. So those
that were at the gates received the sacrifices from those that brought
them, and led them to the temple, Antiochus the mean while feasting his
army, which was a quite different conduct from Antiochus Epiphanes, who,
when he had taken the city, offered swine upon the altar, and sprinkled
the temple with the broth of their flesh, in order to violate the laws
of the Jews, and the religion they derived from their forefathers; for
which reason our nation made war with him, and would never be reconciled
to him; but for this Antiochus, all men called him Antiochus the Pious,
for the great zeal he had about religion.
3. Accordingly, Hyrcanus took
this moderation of his kindly; and when he understood how religious he
was towards the Deity, he sent an embassage to him, and desired that he
would restore the settlements they received from their forefathers. So
he rejected the counsel of those that would have him utterly destroy the
nation, (23) by reason of their way of living, which was to others unsociable,
and did not regard what they said. But being persuaded that all they did
was out of a religious mind, he answered the ambassadors, that if the
besieged would deliver up their arms, and pay tribute for Joppa, and the
other cities which bordered upon Judea, and admit a garrison of his, on
these terms he would make war against them no longer. But the Jews, although
they were content with the other conditions, did not agree to admit the
garrison, because they could not associate with other people, nor converse
with them; yet were they willing, instead of the admission of the garrison,
to give him hostages, and five hundred talents of silver; of which they
paid down three hundred, and sent the hostages immediately, which king
Antiochus accepted. One of those hostages was Hyrcanus's brother. But
still he broke down the fortifications that encompassed the city. And
upon these conditions Antiochus broke up the siege, and departed.
4. But Hyrcanus opened the
sepulcher of David, who excelled all other kings in riches, and took out
of it three thousand talents. He was also the first of the Jews that,
relying on this wealth, maintained foreign troops. There was also a league
of friendship and mutual assistance made between them; upon which Hyrcanus
admitted him into the city, and furnished him with whatsoever his army
wanted in great plenty, and with great generosity, and marched along with
him when he made an expedition against the Parthians; of which Nicolaus
of Damascus is a witness for us; who in his history writes thus: "When
Antiochus had erected a trophy at the river Lycus, upon his conquest of
Indates, the general of the Parthians, he staid there two days. It was
at the desire of Lyrcanus the Jew, because it was such a festival derived
to them from their forefathers, whereon the law of the Jews did not allow
them to travel." And truly he did not speak falsely in saying so; for
that festival, which we call Pentecost, did then fall out to be the next
day to the Sabbath. Nor is it lawful for us to journey, either on the
Sabbath day, or on a festival day (24) But when Antiochus joined battle
with Arsaces, the king of Parthin, he lost a great part of his army, and
was himself slain; and his brother Demetrius succeeded in the kingdom
of Syria, by the permission of Arsaces, who freed him from his captivity
at the same time that Antiochus attacked Parthin, as we have formerly
related elsewhere.
CHAPTER 9.
HOW, AFTER THE DEATH OF ANTIOCHUS,
HYRCANUS MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST SYRIA, AND MADE A LEAGUE WITH THE
ROMANS. CONCERNING THE DEATH OF KING DEMETRIUS AND ALEXANDER.
1. BUT when Hyrcanus heard
of the death of Antiochus, he presently made an expedition against the
cities of Syria, hoping to find them destitute of fighting men, and of
such as were able to defend them. However, it was not till the sixth month
that he took Medaba, and that not without the greatest distress of his
army. After this he took Samega, and the neighboring places; and besides
these, Shechem and Gerizzim, and the nation of the Cutheans, who dwelt
at the temple which resembled that temple which was at Jerusalem, and
which Alexander permitted Sanballat, the general of his army, to build
for the sake of Manasseh, who was son-in-law to Jaddua the high priest,
as we have formerly related; which temple was now deserted two hundred
years after it was built. Hyrcanus took also Dora and Marissa, cities
of Idumea, and subdued all the Idumeans; and permitted them to stay in
that country, if they would circumcise their genitals, and make use of
the laws of the Jews; and they were so desirous of living in the country
of their forefathers, that they submitted to the use of circumcision,
(25) and of the rest of the Jewish ways of living; at which time therefore
this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews.
2. But Hyrcanus the high priest
was desirous to renew that league of friendship they had with the Romans.
Accordingly, he sent an embassage to them; and when the senate had received
their epistle, they made a league of friendship with them, after the manner
following: "Fanius, the son of Marcus, the praetor, gathered the senate
together on the eighth day before the Ides of February, in the senate-house,
when Lucius Manlius, the son of Lucius, of the Mentine tribe, and Caius
Sempronius, the son of Caius, of the Falernian tribe, were present. The
occasion was, that the ambassadors sent by the people of the Jews (26)
Simon, the son of Dositheus, and Apollonius, the son of Alexander, and
Diodorus, the son of Jason, who were good and virtuous men, had somewhat
to propose about that league of friendship and mutual assistance which
subsisted between them and the Romans, and about other public affairs,
who desired that Joppa, and the havens, and Gazara, and the springs [of
Jordan], and the several other cities and countries of theirs, which Antiochus
had taken from them in the war, contrary to the decree of the senate,
might be restored to them; and that it might not be lawful for the king's
troops to pass through their country, and the countries of those that
are subject to them; and that what attempts Antiochus had made during
that war, without the decree of the senate, might be made void; and that
they would send ambassadors, who should take care that restitution be
made them of what Antiochus had taken from them, and that they should
make an estimate of the country that had been laid waste in the war; and
that they would grant them letters of protection to the kings and free
people, in order to their quiet return home. It was therefore decreed,
as to these points, to renew their league of friendship and mutual assistance
with these good men, and who were sent by a good and a friendly people."
But as to the letters desired, their answer was, that the senate would
consult about that matter when their own affairs would give them leave;
and that they would endeavor, for the time to come, that no like injury
should be done to them; and that their praetor Fanius should give them
money out of the public treasury to bear their expenses home. And thus
did Fanius dismiss the Jewish ambassadors, and gave them money out of
the public treasury; and gave the decree of the senate to those that were
to conduct them, and to take care that they should return home in safety.
3. And thus stood the affairs
of Hyrcanus the high priest. But as for king Demetrius, who had a mind
to make war against Hyrcanus, there was no opportunity nor room for it,
while both the Syrians and the soldiers bare ill-will to him, because
he was an ill man. But when they had sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, who
was called Physcon, that he would send them one of the family at Seleueus,
in order to take the kingdom, and he had sent them Alexander, who was
called Zebina, with an army, and there had been a battle between them,
Demetrius was beaten in the fight, and fled to Cleopatra his wife, to
Ptolemais; but his wife would not receive him. He went thence to Tyre,
and was there caught; and when he had suffered much from his enemies before
his death, he was slain by them. So Alexander took the kingdom, and made
a league with Hyrcanus, who yet, when he afterward fought with Antiochus
the son of Demetrius, who was called Grypus, was also beaten in the fight,
and slain.
CHAPTER 10.
HOW UPON THE QUARREL BETWEEN
ANTIOCHUS GRYPUS AND ANTIOCHUS CYZICENUS ABOUT THE KINGDOM HYRCANUS TOOK
SAMARIA, AND UTTERLY DEMOLISHED IT; AND HOW HYRCAUS JOINED HIMSELF TO
THE SECT OF THE SADDUCEES, AND LEFT THAT OF THE PHARISEES.
1. WHEN Antiochus had taken
the kingdom, he was afraid to make war against Judea, because he heard
that his brother by the same mother, who was also called Antiochus, was
raising an army against him out of Cyzicum; so he staid in his own land,
and resolved to prepare himself for the attack he expected from his brother,
who was called Cyzicenus, because he had been brought up in that city.
He was the son of Antiochus that was called Soter, who died in Parthia.
He was the brother of Demetrius, the father of Grypus; for it had so happened,
that one and the same Cleopatra was married to two who were brethren,
as we have related elsewhere. But Antiochus Cyzicenus coming into Syria,
continued many years at war with his brother. Now Hyrcanus lived all this
while in peace; for after the death of Antlochus, he revolted from the
Macedonians, (27) nor did he any longer pay them the least regard, either
as their subject or their friend; but his affairs were in a very improving
and flourishing condition in the times of Alexander Zebina, and especially
under these brethren, for the war which they had with one another gave
Hyrcanus the opportunity of enjoying himself in Judea quietly, insomuch
that he got an immense quantity of money. However, when Antiochus
Cyzicenus distressed his land, he then openly showed what he meant. And
when he saw that Antiochus was destitute of Egyptian auxiliaries, and
that both he and his brother were in an ill condition in the struggles
they had one with another, he despised them both.
2. So he made an expedition
against Samaria which was a very strong city; of whose present name Sebaste,
and its rebuilding by Herod, we shall speak at a proper time; but he made
his attack against it, and besieged it with a great deal of pains; for
he was greatly displeased with the Samaritans for the injuries they had
done to the people of Merissa, a colony of the Jews, and confederate with
them, and this in compliance to the kings of Syria. When he had therefore
drawn a ditch, and built a double wall round the city, which was fourscore
furlongs long, he set his sons Antigonus and Arisrobulna over the siege;
which brought the Samaritans to that great distress by famine, that they
were forced to eat what used not to be eaten, and to call for Antiochus
Cyzicenus to help them, who came readily to their assistance, but was
beaten by Aristobulus; and when he was pursued as far as Scythopolis by
the two brethren, he got away. So they returned to Samaria, and shut them
again within the wall, till they were forced to send for the same Antiochus
a second time to help them, who procured about six thousand men from Ptolemy
Lathyrus, which were sent them without his mother's consent, who had then
in a manner turned him out of his government. With these Egyptians Antiochus
did at first overrun and ravage the country of Hyrcanus after the manner
of a robber, for he durst not meet him in the face to fight with him,
as not having an army sufficient for that purpose, but only from this
supposal, that by thus harassing his land he should force Hyrcanus to
raise the siege of Samaria; but because he fell into snares, and lost
many of his soldiers therein, he went away to Tripoli, and committed the
prosecution of the war against the Jews to Callimander and Epicrates.
3. But as to Callimander, he
attacked the enemy too rashly, and was put to flight, and destroyed immediately;
and as to Epicrates, he was such a lover of money, that he openly betrayed
Scythopolis, and other places near it, to the Jews, but was not able to
make them raise the siege of Samaria. And when Hyrcanus had taken that
city, which was not done till after a year's siege, he was not contented
with doing that only, but he demolished it entirely, and brought rivulets
to it to drown it, for he dug such hollows as might let the water run
under it; nay, he took away the very marks that there had ever been such
a city there. Now a very surprising thing is related of this high priest
Hyrcanus, how God came to discourse with him; for they say that on the
very same day on which his sons fought with Antiochus Cyzicenus, he was
alone in the temple, as high priest, offering incense, and heard a voice,
that his sons had just then overcome Antiochus. And this he openly declared
before all the multitude upon his coming out of the temple; and it accordingly
proved true; and in this posture were the affairs of Hyrcanus.
4. Now it happened at this
time, that not only those Jews who were at Jerusalem and in Judea were
in prosperity, but also those of them that were at Alexandria, and in
Egypt and Cyprus; for Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her son
Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, and appointed for her generals Chelcias
and Ananias, the sons of that Onias who built the temple in the prefecture
of Heliopolis, like to that at Jerusalem, as we have elsewhere related.
Cleopatra intrusted these men with her army, and did nothing without their
advice, as Strabo of Cappadocia attests, when he saith thus, "Now the
greater part, both those that came to Cyprus with us, and those that were
sent afterward thither, revolted to Ptolemy immediately; only those that
were called Onias's party, being Jews, continued faithful, because their
countrymen Chelcias and Ananias were in chief favor with the queen." These
are the words of Strabo.
5. However, this prosperous
state of affairs moved the Jews to envy Hyrcanus; but they that were the
worst disposed to him were the Pharisees, (28) who were one of the sects
of the Jews, as we have informed you already. These have so great a power
over the multitude, that when they say any thing against the king, or
against the high priest, they are presently believed. Now Hyrcanus was
a disciple of theirs, and greatly beloved by them. And when he once invited
them to a feast, and entertained them very kindly, when he saw them in
a good humor, he began to say to them, that they knew he was desirous
to be a righteous man, and to do all things whereby he might please God,
which was the profession of the Pharisees also. However, he desired, that
if they observed him offending in any point, and going out of the right
way, they would call him back and correct him. On which occasion they
attested to his being entirely virtuous; with which commendation he was
well pleased. But still there was one of his guests there, whose name
was Eleazar, a man of an ill temper, and delighting in seditious practices.
This man said," Since thou desirest to know the truth, if thou wilt be
righteous in earnest, lay down the high priesthood, and content thyself
with the civil government of the people," And when he desired to know
for what cause he ought to lay down the high priesthood, the other replied,
"We have heard it from old men, that thy mother had been a captive under
the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. (29)" This story was false, and Hyrcanus
was provoked against him; and all the Pharisees had a very great indignation
against him.
6. Now there was one Jonathan,
a very great friend of Hyrcanus's, but of the sect of the Sadducees, whose
notions are quite contrary to those of the Pharisees. He told Hyrcanus
that Eleazar had cast such a reproach upon him, according to the common
sentiments of all the Pharisees, and that this would be made manifest
if he would but ask them the question, What punishment they thought this
man deserved? for that he might depend upon it, that the reproach was
not laid on him with their approbation, if they were for punishing him
as his crime deserved. So the Pharisees made answer, that he deserved
stripes and bonds, but that it did not seem right to punish reproaches
with death. And indeed the Pharisees, even upon other occasions, are not
apt to be severe in punishments. At this gentle sentence, Hyrcanus was
very angry, and thought that this man reproached him by their approbation.
It was this Jonathan who chiefly irritated him, and influenced him so
far, that he made him leave the party of the Pharisees, and abolish the
decrees they had imposed on the people, and to punish those that observed
them. From this source arose that hatred which he and his sons met with
from the multitude: but of these matters we shall speak hereafter. What
I would now explain is this, that the Pharisees have delivered to the
people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which
are not written in the laws of Moses; and for that reason it is that the
Sadducees reject them, and say that we are to esteem those observances
to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe
what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers. And concerning
these things it is that great disputes and differences have arisen among
them, while the Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich, and
have not the populace obsequious to them, but the Pharisees have the multitude
on their side. But about these two sects, and that of the Essens, I have
treated accurately in the second book of Jewish affairs.
7. But when Hyrcanus had put
an end to this sedition, he after that lived happily, and administered
the government in the best manner for thirty-one years, and then died,
(30) leaving behind him five sons. He was esteemed by God worthy of three
of the greatest privileges, — the government of his nation, the dignity
of the high priesthood, and prophecy; for God was with him, and enabled
him to know futurities; and to foretell this in particular, that, as to
his two eldest sons, he foretold that they would not long continue in
the government of public affairs; whose unhappy catastrophe will be worth
our description, that we may thence learn how very much they were inferior
to their father's happiness.
CHAPTER 11.
HOW ARISTOBULUS, WHEN HE HAD
TAKEN THE GOVERNMENT FIRST OF ALL PUT A DIADEM ON HIS HEAD, AND WAS MOST
BARBAROUSLY CRUEL TO HIS MOTHER AND HIS BRETHREN; AND HOW, AFTER HE HAD
SLAIN ANTIGONUS, HE HIMSELF DIED.
1. NOW when their father Hyrcanus
was dead, the eldest son Aristobulus, intending to change the government
into a kingdom, for so he resolved to do, first of all put a diadem on
his head, four hundred eighty and one years and three months after the
people had been delivered from the Babylonish slavery, and were returned
to their own country again. This Aristobulus loved his next brother Antigonus,
and treated him as his equal; but the others he held in bonds. He also
cast his mother into prison, because she disputed the government with
him; for Hyrcanus had left her to be mistress of all. He also proceeded
to that degree of barbarity, as to kill her in prison with hunger; nay,
he was alienated from his brother Antigonus by calumnies, and added him
to the rest whom he slew; yet he seemed to have an affection for him,
and made him above the rest a partner with him in the kingdom. Those calumnies
he at first did not give credit to, partly because he loved him, and so
did not give heed to what was said against him, and partly because he
thought the reproaches were derived from the envy of the relaters. But
when Antigonus was once returned from the army, and that feast was then
at hand when they make tabernacles to [the honor of God,] it happened
that Arlstobulus was fallen sick, and that Antigonus went up most splendidly
adorned, and with his soldiers about him in their armor, to the temple
to celebrate the feast, and to put up many prayers for the recovery of
his brother, when some wicked persons, who had a great mind to raise a
difference between the brethren, made use of this opportunity of the pompous
appearance of Antigonus, and of the great actions which he had done, and
went to the king, and spitefully aggravated the pompous show of his at
the feast, and pretended that all these circumstances were not like those
of a private person; that these actions were indications of an affectation
of royal authority; and that his coming with a strong body of men must
be with an intention to kill him; and that his way of reasoning was this:
That it was a silly thing in him, while it was in his power to reign himself,
to look upon it as a great favor that he was honored with a lower dignity
by his brother.
2. Aristobulus yielded to these
imputations, but took care both that his brother should not suspect him,
and that he himself might not run the hazard of his own safety; so he
ordered his guards to lie in a certain place that was under ground, and
dark; (he himself then lying sick in the tower which was called Antonia;)
and he commanded them, that in case Antigonus came in to him unarmed,
they should not touch any body, but if armed, they should kill him; yet
did he send to Antigonus, and desired that he would come unarmed; but
the queen, and those that joined with her in the plot against Antigonus,
persuaded the messenger to tell him the direct contrary: how his brother
had heard that he had made himself a fine suit of armor for war, and desired
him to come to him in that armor, that he might see how fine it was. So
Antigonus suspecting no treachery, but depending on the good-will of his
brother, came to Aristobulus armed, as he used to be, with his entire
armor, in order to show it to him; but when he was come to a place which
was called Strato's Tower, where the passage happened to be exceeding
dark, the guards slew him; which death of his demonstrates that nothing
is stronger than envy and calumny, and that nothing does more certainly
divide the good-will and natural affections of men than those passions.
But here one may take occasion to wonder at one Judas, who was of the
sect of the Essens, (31) and who never missed the truth in his predictions;
for this man, when he saw Antigonus passing by the temple, cried out to
his companions and friends, who abode with him as his scholars, in order
to learn the art of foretelling things to come?" That it was good for
him to die now, since he had spoken falsely about Antigonus, who is still
alive, and I see him passing by, although he had foretold he should die
at the place called Strato's Tower that very day, while yet the place
is six hundred furlongs off, where he had foretold he should be slain;
and still this day is a great part of it already past, so that he was
in danger of proving a false prophet." As he was saying this, and that
in a melancholy mood, the news came that Antigonus was slain in a place
under ground, which itself was called also Strato's Tower, or of the same
name with that Cesarea which is seated at the sea. This event put the
prophet into a great disorder.
3. But Aristobulus repented
immediately of this slaughter of his brother; on which account his disease
increased upon him, and he was disturbed in his mind, upon the guilt of
such wickedness, insomuch that his entrails were corrupted by his intolerable
pain, and he vomited blood: at which time one of the servants that attended
upon him, and was carrying his blood away, did, by Divine Providence,
as I cannot but suppose, slip down, and shed part of his blood at the
very place where there were spots of Antigonus's blood, there slain, still
remaining; and when there was a cry made by the spectators, as if the
servant had on purpose shed the blood on that place, Aristobulus heard
it, and inquired what the matter was; and as they did not answer him,
he was the more earnest to know what it was, it being natural to men to
suspect that what is thus concealed is very bad: so upon his threatening,
and forcing them by terrors to speak, they at length told him the truth;
whereupon he shed many tears, in that disorder of mind which arose from
his consciousness of what he had done, and gave a deep groan, and said,
"I am not therefore, I perceive, to be concealed from God, in the impious
and horrid crimes I have been guilty of; but a sudden punishment is coming
upon me for the shedding the blood of my relations. And now, O thou most
impudent body of mine, how long wilt thou retain a soul that ought to
die, in order to appease the ghosts of my brother and my mother? Why dost
thou not give it all up at once? And why do I deliver up my blood drop
by drop to those whom I have so wickedly murdered?" In saying which last
words he died, having reigned a year. He was called a lover of the Grecians;
and had conferred many benefits on his own country, and made war against
Iturea, and added a great part of it to Judea, and compelled the inhabitants,
if they would continue in that country, to be circumcised, and to live
according to the Jewish laws. He was naturally a man of candor, and of
great modesty, as Strabo bears witness, in the name of Timagenes; who
says thus: "This man was a person of candor, and very serviceable to the
Jews; for he added a country to them, and obtained a part of the nation
of the Itureans for them, and bound them to them by the bond of the circumcision
of their genitals."
CHAPTER 12.
HOW ALEXANDER WHEN HE HAD TAKEN
THE GOVERNMENT MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST PTOLEMAIS, AND THEN RAISED THE
SIEGE OUT OF FEAR OF PTOLEMY LATHYRUS; AND HOW PTOLEMY MADE WAR AGAINST
HIM, BECAUSE HE HAD SENT TO CLEOPATRA TO PERSUADE HER TO MAKE WAR AGAINST
PTOLEMY, AND YET PRETENDED TO BE IN FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM, WHEN HE BEAT
THE JEWS IN THE BATTLE.
1. WHEN Aristobulus was dead,
his wife Salome, who, by the Greeks, was called Alexandra, let his brethren
out of prison, (for Aristobulus had kept them in bonds, as we have said
already,) and made Alexander Janneus king, who was the superior in age
and in moderation. This child happened to be hated by his father as soon
as he was born, and could never be permitted to come into his father's
sight till he died. (32) The occasion of which hatred is thus reported:
when Hyrcanus chiefly loved the two eldest of his sons, Antigonus and
Aristobutus, God appeared to him in his sleep, of whom he inquired which
of his sons should be his successor. Upon God's representing to him the
countenance of Alexander, he was grieved that he was to be the heir of
all his goods, and suffered him to be brought up in Galilee However, God
did not deceive Hyrcanus; for after the death of Aristobulus, he certainly
took the kingdom; and one of his brethren, who affected the kingdom, he
slew; and the other, who chose to live a private and quiet life, he had
in esteem.
2. When Alexander Janneus had
settled the government in the manner that he judged best, he made an expedition
against Ptolemais; and having overcome the men in battle, he shut them
up in the city, and sat round about it, and besieged it; for of the maritime
cities there remained only Ptolemais and Gaza to be conquered, besides
Strato's Tower and Dora, which were held by the tyrant Zoilus. Now while
Antiochus Philometor, and Antiochus who was called Cyzicenus, were making
war one against another, and destroying one another's armies, the people
of Ptolemais could have no assistance from them; but when they were distressed
with this siege, Zoilus, who possessed Strato's Tower and Dora, and maintained
a legion of soldiers, and, on occasion of the contest between the kings,
affected tyranny himself, came and brought some small assistance to the
people of Ptolemais; nor indeed had the kings such a friendship for them,
as that they should hope for any advantage from them. Both those kings
were in the case of wrestlers, who finding themselves deficient in. strength,
and yet being ashamed to yield, put off the fight by laziness, and by
lying still as long as they can. The only hope they had remaining was
from the kings of Egypt, and from Ptolemy Lathyrus, who now held Cyprus,
and who came to Cyprus when he was driven from the government of Egypt
by Cleopatra his mother. So the people of Ptolemais sent to this Ptolemy
Lathyrus, and desired him to come as a confederate, to deliver them, now
they were in such danger, out of the hands of Alexander. And as the ambassadors
gave him hopes, that if he would pass over into Syria, he would have the
people of Gaza on the side of those of Ptolemais; as also they said, that
Zoilus, and besides these the Sidonians, and many others, would assist
them; so he was elevated at this, and got his fleet ready as soon as possible.
3. But in this interval Demenetus,
one that was of abilities to persuade men to do as he would have them,
and a leader of the populace, made those of Ptolemais change their opinions;
and said to them, that it was better to run the hazard of being subject
to the Jews, than to admit of evident slavery by delivering themselves
up to a master; and besides that, to have not only a war at present, but
to expect a much greater war from Egypt; for that Cleopatra would not
overlook an army raised by Ptolemy for himself out of the neighborhood,
but would come against them with a great army of her own, and this because
she was laboring to eject her son out of Cyprus also; that as for Ptolemy,
if he fail of his hopes, he can still retire to Cyprus, but that they
will be left in the greatest danger possible. Now Ptolemy, although he
had heard of the change that was made in the people of Ptolemais, yet
did he still go on with his voyage, and came to the country called Sycamine,
and there set his army on shore. This army of his, in the whole horse
and foot together, were about thirty thousand, with which he marched near
to Ptolemais, and there pitched his camp. But when the people of Ptolemais
neither received his ambassadors, nor would hear what they had to say,
he was under a very great concern.
4. But when Zoilus and the
people of Gaza came to him, and desired his assistance, because their
country was laid waste by the Jews, and by Alexander, Alexander raised
the siege, for fear of Ptolemy: and when he had drawn off his army into
his own country, he used a stratagem afterwards, by privately inviting
Cleopatra to come against Ptolemy, but publicly pretending to desire a
league of friendship and mutual assistance with him; and promising to
give him four hundred talents of silver, he desired that, by way of requital,
he would take off Zoilus the tyrant, and give his country to the Jews.
And then indeed Ptolemy, with pleasure, made such a league of friendship
with Alexander, and subdued Zoilus; but when he afterwards heard that
he had privily sent to Cleopatra his mother, he broke the league with
him, which yet he had confirmed with an oath, and fell upon him, and besieged
Ptolemais, because it would not receive him. However, leaving his generals,
with some part of his forces, to go on with the siege, he went himself
immediately with the rest to lay Judea waste; and when Alexander understood
this to be Ptolemy's intention, he also got together about fifty thousand
soldiers out of his own country; nay, as some writers have said, eighty
thousand (33) He then took his army, and went to meet Ptolemy; but Ptolemy
fell upon Asochis, a city of Galilee, and took it by force on the sabbath
day, and there he took about ten thousand slaves, and a great deal of
other prey.
5. He then tried to take Sepphoris,
which was a city not far from that which was destroyed, but lost many
of his men; yet did he then go to fight with Alexander; which Alexander
met him at the river Jordan, near a certain place called Saphoth, [not
far from the river Jordan,] and pitched his camp near to the enemy. He
had however eight thousand in the first rank, which he styled Hecatontomachi,
having shields of brass. Those in the first rank of Ptolemy's soldiers
also had shields covered with brass. But Ptolemy's soldiers in other respects
were inferior to those of Alexander, and therefore were more fearful of
running hazards; but Philostephanus, the camp-master, put great courage
into them, and ordered them to pass the river, which was between their
camps. Nor did Alexander think fit to hinder their passage over it; for
he thought, that if the enemy had once gotten the river on their back,
that he should the easier take them prisoners, when they could not flee
out of the battle: in the beginning of which, the acts on both sides,
with their hands, and with their alacrity, were alike, and a great slaughter
was made by both the armies; but Alexander was superior, till Philostephanus
opportunely brought up the auxiliaries, to help those that were giving
way; but as there were no auxiliaries to afford help to that part of the
Jews that gave way, it fell out that they fled, and those near them did
no assist them, but fled along with them. However, Ptolemy's soldiers
acted quite otherwise; for they followed the Jews, and killed them, till
at length those that slew them pursued after them when they had made them
all run away, and slew them so long, that their weapons of iron were blunted,
and their hands quite tired with the slaughter; for the report was, that
thirty thousand men were then slain. Timagenes says they were fifty thousand.
As for the rest, they were part of them taken captives, and the other
part ran away to their own country.
6. After this victory, Ptolemy
overran all the country; and when night came on, he abode in certain villages
of Judea, which when he found full of women and children, he commanded
his soldiers to strangle them, and to cut them in pieces, and then to
cast them into boiling caldrons, and then to devour their limbs as sacrifices.
This commandment was given, that such as fled from the battle, and came
to them, might suppose their enemies were cannibals, and eat men's flesh,
and might on that account be still more terrified at them upon such a
sight. And both Strabo and Nicholaus [of Damascus] affirm, that they used
these people after this manner, as I have already related. Ptolemy also
took Ptolemais by force, as we have declared elsewhere.
CHAPTER 13.
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.
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) 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.
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.
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.
4. About this very time Antiochus,
who was called Grypus, died (35) His death was caused by Heracleon's treachery,
when he had lived forty-five years, and had reigned twenty-nine. (36)
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) 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) 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.
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) 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.
CHAPTER 14.
HOW DEMETRIUS EUCERUS OVERCAME
ALEXANDER AND YET IN A LITTLE TIME RETIRED OUT OF THE COUNTRY FOR FEAR;
AS ALSO HOW ALEXANDER SLEW MANY OF THE JEWS AND THEREBY GOT CLEAR OF HIS
TROUBLES. CONCERNING THE DEATH OF DEMETRIUS.
1. SO Demetrius came with an
army, and took those that invited him, and pitched his camp near the city
Shechem; upon which Alexander, with his six thousand two hundred mercenaries,
and about twenty thousand Jews, who were of his party, went against Demetrius,
who had three thousand horsemen, and forty thousand footmen. Now there
were great endeavors used on both sides, — Demetrius trying to bring off
the mercenaries that were with Alexander, because they were Greeks, and
Alexander trying to bring off the Jews that were with Demetrius. However,
when neither of them could persuade them so to do, they came to a battle,
and Demetrius was the conqueror; in which all Alexander's mercenaries
were killed, when they had given demonstration of their fidelity and courage.
A great number of Demetrius's soldiers were slain also.
2. Now as Alexander fled to
the mountains, six thousand of the Jews hereupon came together [from Demetrius]
to him out of pity at the change of his fortune; upon which Demetrius
was afraid, and retired out of the country; after which the Jews fought
against Alexander, and being beaten, were slain in great numbers in the
several battles which they had; and when he had shut up the most powerful
of them in the city Bethome, he besieged them therein; and when he had
taken the city, and gotten the men into his power, he brought them to
Jerusalem, and did one of the most barbarous actions in the world to them;
for as he was feasting with his concubines, in the sight of all the city,
he ordered about eight hundred of them to be crucified; and while they
were living, he ordered the throats of their children and wives to be
cut before their eyes. This was indeed by way of revenge for the injuries
they had done him; which punishment yet was of an inhuman nature, though
we suppose that he had been never so much distressed, as indeed he had
been, by his wars with them, for he had by their means come to the last
degree of hazard, both of his life and of his kingdom, while they were
not satisfied by themselves only to fight against him, but introduced
foreigners also for the same purpose; nay, at length they reduced him
to that degree of necessity, that he was forced to deliver back to the
king of Arabia the land of Moab and Gilead, which he had subdued, and
the places that were in them, that they might not join with them in the
war against him, as they had done ten thousand other things that tended
to affront and reproach him. However, this barbarity seems to have been
without any necessity, on which account he bare the name of a Thracian
among the Jews (40) whereupon the soldiers that had fought against him,
being about eight thousand in number, ran away by night, and continued
fugitives all the time that Alexander lived; who being now freed from
any further disturbance from them, reigned the rest of his time in the
utmost tranquillity.
3. But when Demetrius was departed
out of Judea, he went to Berea, and besieged his brother Philip, having
with him ten thousand footmen, and a thousand horsemen. However Strato,
the tyrant of Berea, the confederate of Philip, called in Zizon, the ruler
of the Arabian tribes, and Mithridates Sinax, the ruler of the Parthians,
who coming with a great number of forces, and besieging Demetrius in his
encampment, into which they had driven them with their arrows, they compelled
those that were with him by thirst to deliver up themselves. So they took
a great many spoils out of that country, and Demetrius himself, whom they
sent to Mithridates, who was then king of Parthis; but as to those whom
they took captives of the people of Antioch, they restored them to the
Antiochinus without any reward. Now Mithridates, the king of Parthis,
had Demetrius in great honor, till Demetrius ended his life by sickness.
So Philip, presently after the fight was over, came to Antioch, and took
it, and reigned over Syria.
CHAPTER 15.
HOW ANTIOCHUS, WHO WAS CALLED
DIONYSUS, AND AFTER HIM ARETAS MADE EXPEDITIONS INTO JUDEA; AS ALSO HOW
ALEXANDER TOOK MANY CITIES AND THEN RETURNED TO JERUSALEM, AND AFTER A
SICKNESS OF THREE YEARS DIED; AND WHAT COUNSEL HE GAVE TO ALEXANDRA.
1. AFTER this, Antiochus, who
was called Dionysus, (41) and was Philip's brother, aspired to the dominion,
and carne to Damascus, and got the power into his hands, and there he
reigned; but as he was making war against the Arabians, his brother Philip
heard of it, and came to Damascus, where Milesius, who had been left governor
of the citadel, and the Damascens themselves, delivered up the city to
him; yet because Philip was become ungrateful to him, and had bestowed
upon him nothing of that in hopes whereof he had received him into the
city, but had a mind to have it believed that it was rather delivered
up out of fear than by the kindness of Milesius, and because he had not
rewarded him as he ought to have done, he became suspected by him, and
so he was obliged to leave Damascus again; for Milesius caught him marching
out into the Hippodrome, and shut him up in it, and kept Damascus for
Antiochus [Eucerus], who hearing how Philip's affairs stood, came back
out of Arabia. He also came immediately, and made an expedition against
Judea, with eight thousand armed footmen, and eight hundred horsemen.
So Alexander, out of fear of his coming, dug a deep ditch, beginning at
Chabarzaba, which is now called Antipatris, to the sea of Joppa, on which
part only his army could be brought against him. He also raised a wall,
and erected wooden towers, and intermediate redoubts, for one hundred
and fifty furlongs in length, and there expected the coming of Antiochus;
but he soon burnt them all, and made his army pass by that way into Arabia.
The Arabian king [Aretas] at first retreated, but afterward appeared on
the sudden with ten thousand horsemen. Antiochus gave them the meeting,
and fought desperately; and indeed when he had gotten the victory, and
was bringing some auxiliaries to that part of his army that was in distress,
he was slain. When Antiochus was fallen, his army fled to the village
Cana, where the greatest part of them perished by famine.
2. After him (42) Arems reigned
over Celesyria, being called to the government by those that held Damascus,
by reason of the hatred they bare to Ptolemy Menneus. He also made thence
an expedition against Judea, and beat Alexander in battle, near a place
called Adida; yet did he, upon certain conditions agreed on between them,
retire out of Judea.
3. But Alexander marched again
to the city Dios, and took it; and then made an expedition against Essa,
where was the best part of Zeno's treasures, and there he encompassed
the place with three walls; and when he had taken the city by fighting,
he marched to Golan and Seleucia; and when he had taken these cities,
he, besides them, took that valley which is called The Valley of Antiochus,
as also the fortress of Gamala. He also accused Demetrius, who was governor
of those places, of many crimes, and turned him out; and after he had
spent three years in this war, he returned to his own country, when the
Jews joyfully received him upon this his good success.
4. Now at this time the Jews
were in possession of the following cities that had belonged to the Syrians,
and Idumeans, and Phoenicians: At the sea-side, Strato's Tower, Apollonia,
Joppa, Jamhis, Ashdod, Gaza, Anthedon, Raphia, and Rhinocolura; in the
middle of the country, near to Idumea, Adorn, and Marissa; near the country
of Samaria, Mount Carmel, and Mount Tabor, Scythopolis, and Gadara; of
the country of Gaulonitis, Seleucia and Gabala; in the country of Moab,
Heshbon, and Medaba, Lemba, and Oronas, Gelithon, Zorn, the valley of
the Cilices, and Pollo; which last they utterly destroyed, because its
inhabitants would not bear to change their religious rites for those peculiar
to the Jews. (43) The Jews also possessed others of the principal cities
of Syria, which had been destroyed.
5. After this, king Alexander,
although he fell into a distemper by hard drinking, and had a quartan
ague, which held him three years, yet would not leave off going out with
his army, till he was quite spent with the labors he had undergone, and
died in the bounds of Ragaba, a fortress beyond Jordan. But when his queen
saw that he was ready to die, and had no longer any hopes of surviving,
she came to him weeping and lamenting, and bewailed herself and her sons
on the desolate condition they should be left in; and said to him, "To
whom dost thou thus leave me and my children, who are destitute of all
other supports, and this when thou knowest how much ill-will thy nation
bears thee?" But he gave her the following advice: That she need but follow
what he would suggest to her, in order to retain the kingdom securely,
with her children: that she should conceal his death from the soldiers
till she should have taken that place; after this she should go in triumph,
as upon a victory, to Jerusalem, and put some of her authority into the
hands of the Pharisees; for that they would commend her for the honor
she had done them, and would reconcile the nation to her for he told her
they had great authority among the Jews, both to do hurt to such as they
hated, and to bring advantages to those to whom they were friendly disposed;
for that they are then believed best of all by the multitude when they
speak any severe thing against others, though it be only out of envy at
them. And he said that it was by their means that he had incurred the
displeasure of the nation, whom indeed he had injured. "Do thou, therefore,"
said he, "when thou art come to Jerusalem, send for the leading men among
them, and show them my body, and with great appearance of sincerity, give
them leave to use it as they themselves please, whether they will dishonor
the dead body by refusing it burial, as having severely suffered by my
means, or whether in their anger they will offer any other injury to that
body. Promise them also that thou wilt do nothing without them in the
affairs of the kingdom. If thou dost but say this to them, I shall have
the honor of a more glorious Funeral from them than thou couldst have
made for me; and when it is in their power to abuse my dead body, they
will do it no injury at all, and thou wilt rule in safety.” (44) So when
he had given his wife this advice, he died, after he had reigned twenty-seven
years, and lived fifty years within one.
CHAPTER 16.
HOW ALEXANDRA BY GAINING THE
GOOD-WILL OF THE PHARISEES, RETAINED THE KINGDOM NINE YEARS, AND THEN,
HAVING DONE MANY GLORIOUS ACTIONS DIED.
1. SO Alexandra, when she had
taken the fortress, acted as her husband had suggested to her, and spake
to the Pharisees, and put all things into their power, both as to the
dead body, and as to the affairs of the kingdom, and thereby pacified
their anger against Alexander, and made them bear goodwill and friendship
to him; who then came among the multitude, and made speeches to them,
and laid before them the actions of Alexander, and told them that they
had lost a righteous king; and by the commendation they gave him, they
brought them to grieve, and to be in heaviness for him, so that he had
a funeral more splendid than had any of the kings before him. Alexander
left behind him two sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, but committed the
kingdom to Alexandra. Now, as to these two sons, Hyrcanus was indeed unable
to manage public affairs, and delighted rather in a quiet life; but the
younger, Aristobulus, was an active and a bold man; and for this woman
herself, Alexandra, she was loved by the multitude, because she seemed
displeased at the offenses her husband had been guilty of.
2. So she made Hyrcanus high
priest, because he was the elder, but much more because he cared not to
meddle with politics, and permitted the Pharisees to do every thing; to
whom also she ordered the multitude to be obedient. She also restored
again those practices which the Pharisees had introduced, according to
the traditions of their forefathers, and which her father-in-law, Hyrcanus,
had abrogated. So she had indeed the name of the regent, but the Pharisees
had the authority; for it was they who restored such as had been banished,
and set such as were prisoners at liberty, and, to say all at once, they
differed in nothing from lords. However, the queen also took care of the
affairs of the kingdom, and got together a great body of mercenary soldiers,
and increased her own army to such a degree, that she became terrible
to the neighboring tyrants, and took hostages of them: and the country
was entirely at peace, excepting the Pharisees; for they disturbed the
queen, and desired that she would kill those who persuaded Alexander to
slay the eight hundred men; after which they cut the throat of one of
them, Diogenes; and after him they did the same to several, one after
another, till the men that were the most potent came into the palace,
and Aristobulus with them, for he seemed to be displeased at what was
done; and it appeared openly, that if he had an opportunity, he would
not permit his mother to go on so. These put the queen in mind what great
dangers they had gone through, and great things they had done, whereby
they had demonstrated the firmness of their fidelity to their master,
insomuch that they had recieved the greatest marks of favor from him;
and they begged of her, that she would not utterly blast their hopes,
as it now happened, that when they had escaped the hazards that arose
from their [open] enemies, they were to be cut off at home by their [private]
enemies, like brute beasts, without any help whatsoever. They said also,
that if their adversaries would be satisfied with those that had been
slain already, they would take what had been done patiently, on account
of their natural love to their governors; but if they must expect the
same for the future also, they implored of her a dismission from her service;
for they could not bear to think of attempting any method for their deliverance
without her, but would rather die willingly before the palace gate, in
case she would not forgive them. And that it was a great shame, both for
themselves and for the queen, that when they were neglected by her, they
should come under the lash of her husband's enemies; for that Aretas,
the Arabian king, and the monarchs, would give any reward, if they could
get such men as foreign auxiliaries, to whom their very names, before
their voices be heard, may perhaps be terrible; but if they could not
obtain this their second request, and if she had determined to prefer
the Pharisees before them, they still insisted that she would place them
every one in her fortresses; for if some fatal demon hath a constant spite
against Alexander's house, they would be willing to bear their part, and
to live in a private station there.
3. As these men said thus,
and called upon Alexander's ghost for commiseration of those already slain,
and those in danger of it, all the bystanders brake out into tears. But
Aristobulus chiefly made manifest what were his sentiments, and used.
many reproachful expressions to his mother, [saying,] "Nay, indeed, the
case is this, that they have been themselves the authors of their own
calamities, who have permitted a woman who, against reason, was mad with
ambition, to reign over them, when there were sons in the flower of their
age fitter for it." So Alexandra, not knowing what to do with any decency,
committed the fortresses to them, all but Hyrcania, and Alexandrium, and
Macherus, where her principal treasures were. After a little while also,
she sent her son Aristobulus with an army to Damascus against Ptolemy,
who was called Menneus, who was such a bad neighbor to the city; but he
did nothing considerable there, and so returned home.
4. About this time news was
brought that Tigranes, the king of Armenia, had made an irruption into
Syria with five hundred thousand soldiers, (45) and was coming against
Judea. This news, as may well be supposed, terrified the queen and the
nation. Accordingly, they sent him many and very valuable presents, as
also ambassadors, and that as he was besieging Ptolemais; for Selene the
queen, the same that was also called Cleopatra, ruled then over Syria,
who had persuaded the inhabitants to exclude Tigranes. So the Jewish ambassadors
interceded with him, and entreated him that he would determine nothing
that was severe about their queen or nation. He commended them for the
respects they paid him at so great a distance, and gave them good hopes
of his favor. But as soon as Ptolemais was taken, news came to Tigranes,
that Lucullus, in his pursuit of Mithridates, could not light upon him,
who was fled into Iberia, but was laying waste Armenia, and besieging
its cities. Now when Tigranes knew this, he returned home.
5. After this, when the queen
was fallen into a dangerous distemper, Aristobulus resolved to attempt
the seizing of the government; so he stole away secretly by night, with
only one of his servants, and went to the fortresses, wherein his friends,
that were such from the days of his father, were settled; for as he had
been a great while displeased at his mother's conduct, so he was now much
more afraid, lest, upon her death, their whole family should be under
the power of the Pharisees; for he saw the inability of his brother, who
was to succeed in the government; nor was any one conscious of what he
was doing but only his wife, whom he left at Jerusalem with their children.
He first of all came to Agaba, where was Galestes, one of the potent men
before mentioned, and was received by him. When it was day, the queen
perceived that Aristobulus was fled; and for some time she supposed that
his departure was not in order to make any innovation; but when messengers
came one after another with the news that he had secured the first place,
the second place, and all the places, for as soon as one had begun they
all submitted to his disposal, then it was that the queen and the nation
were in the greatest disorder, for they were aware that it would not be
long ere Aristobulus would be able to settle himself firmly in the government.
What they were principally afraid of was this, that he would inflict punishment
upon them for the mad treatment his house had had from them. So they resolved
to take his wife and children into custody, and keep them in the fortress
that was over the temple. (46) Now there was a mighty conflux of people
that came to Aristobulus from all parts, insomuch that he had a kind of
royal attendants about him; for in a little more than fifteen days he
got twenty-two strong places, which gave him the opportunity of raising
an army from Libanus and Trachonitis, and the monarchs; for men are easily
led by the greater number, and easily submit to them. And besides this,
that by affording him their assistance, when he could not expect it, they,
as well as he, should have the advantages that would come by his being
king, because they had been the occasion of his gaining the kingdom. Now
the eiders of the Jews, and Hyrcanus with them, went in unto the queen,
and desired that she would give them her sentiments about the present
posture of affairs, for that Aristobulus was in effect lord of almost
all the kingdom, by possessing of so many strong holds, and that it was
absurd for them to take any counsel by themselves, how ill soever she
were, whilst she was alive, and that the danger would be upon them in
no long time. But she bid them do what they thought proper to be done;
that they had many circumstances in their favor still remaining, a nation
in good heart, an army, and money in their several treasuries; for that
she had small concern about public affairs now, when the strength of her
body already failed her.
6. Now a little while after
she had said this to them, she died, when she had reigned nine years,
and had in all lived seventy-three. A woman she was who showed no signs
of the weakness of her sex, for she was sagacious to the greatest degree
in her ambition of governing; and demonstrated by her doings at once,
that her mind was fit for action, and that sometimes men themselves show
the little understanding they have by the frequent mistakes they make
in point of government; for she always preferred the present to futurity,
and preferred the power of an imperious dominion above all things, and
in comparison of that had no regard to what was good, or what was right.
However, she brought the affairs of her house to such an unfortunate condition,
that she was the occasion of the taking away that authority from it, and
that in no long time afterward, which she had obtained by a vast number
of hazards and misfortunes, and this out of a desire of what does not
belong to a woman, and all by a compliance in her sentiments with those
that bare ill-will to their family, and by leaving the administration
destitute of a proper support of great men; and, indeed, her management
during her administration while she was alive, was such as filled the
palace after her death with calamities and disturbance. However, although
this had been her way of governing, she preserved the nation in peace.
And this is the conclusion of the affairs of, Alexandra.
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