Alexandra (Hasmonean)

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Alexandra († 29 BC ) was a princess from the Hasmonean dynasty . She went down in history as the relentless adversary of Herod the Great . She was the mother of Mariamne and Aristobulus .

Origin and marriage

Alexandra, whose Hebrew name (if any) has not been passed down, came from the Hasmonean royal house of Judea ; her grandmother was Queen Salome Alexandra , her father was her son John Hyrcanus II , mostly simply called Hyrcanus II. Her father and his brother Aristobulus II were in constant dispute over the rule. In between there were only brief "reconciliations". In order to establish a lasting peace, Alexandra was married to her cousin Alexandros († 49 BC), son of Aristobulus II; the peace plan failed, the marriage lasted.

Rise of Herod

The Idumean Antipater had already gained great power in Judea . After his murder (43 BC) his son Herod the Great and his brother Phasael inherited the influential position of their father and Herod was able to 42 BC. His engagement to Alexandra's daughter Mariamne . Through this connection with the Hasmonean dynasty, he wanted to consolidate his powerful but heavily feuded position. He was hated by large parts of the Jewish population and the Parthians were able to use him in 40 BC. When they invade Syria , fall with Jewish support. Phasael was killed while Herod and his family members, including Alexandra and Mariamne, who were still well-meaning to him at the time, managed to escape to Idumea . Herod left his relatives in the fortress Masada and went to Rome to solicit the support of the world power. The triumvirs Octavian and Marcus Antonius appointed him Jewish king and provided him with military aid against the Parthians. So Herod was able to 39 BC The besieged Masada, but only after lengthy further fighting the war in 37 BC. End victoriously with the capture of Jerusalem . His marriage to Mariamne that same year was intended to strengthen his position as a ruler in the influential conservative Jewish circles.

Alexandra's intrigues against Herod

But the marriage with Mariamne did not bring about the reconciliation with his opponents desired by the Jewish king and the Hasmoneans finally lost power. For example, the dynasty had previously provided the high priests. Alexandra therefore raised in the autumn of 37 BC Chr. Claims for their 16-year-old son Aristobulus to this dignity. But Herod ignored their candidate and instead appointed the insignificant Babylonian Jew Ananel as high priest. Alexandra, staying at the court of the Idumean, who showed her better origins above all to Herod's mother Kypros and his sister Salome , was indignant about the dismissal of her son and was now at the latest the enemy of her son-in-law. She complained in a letter about Herod's behavior to her friend, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII. She, in turn, was a bitter opponent of the Jewish king and was supposed to incline her lover, the triumvir Antonius, to Alexandra's demands. Allegedly on the advice of Quintus Dellius , who was a friend of Antonius and was at the court of Herod at the time, Alexandra sent the triumviric pictures of her children Mariamne and Aristobulus, both of which were extraordinarily beautiful and should have aroused Antonius' lust. Her mother hoped to be able to change the balance of power in her favor with a possible liaison. Mariamne had retired as Herod's wife, but Antony had actually shown himself taken with the youthful Aristobulus and summoned him to Alexandria . Herod is said to have justified the prevention of the boy's departure to Antonius by pointing to the possible unrest among the Jews. This story is to be rejected as completely implausible, since Alexandra would hardly have committed such a violation of Jewish law. The historian Christoph Schäfer believes that Antonius wanted to have Aristobulus sent to him in order to have leverage in hand for a possible later intervention in Judea. In any case, the situation was too dangerous for Herod. He kept Aristobulus under his supervision, but now appointed him high priest instead of Ananel (early 36 BC or early 35 BC) and thus brought about an apparent reconciliation with Alexandra.

But Alexandra remained hostile to her son-in-law and Herod also still distrusted her, had her placed under house arrest at court and closely monitored. Nevertheless, Alexandra was able to inform the Egyptian queen that she would be treated like a prisoner. On Cleopatra's advice, the Hasmonean and her son planned to flee to the Ptolemaic queen. To this end, she supposedly wanted to be carried out at night with Aristobulus, hidden in coffins, then go to the sea and travel by ship to Egypt . Informed by betrayal of the plan, Herod prevented his mother-in-law from escaping, but - supposedly out of fear of Cleopatra - did not hold her accountable. In order to get rid of a pretender, however, at the Feast of Tabernacles in 36 or 35 B.C. Chr. Aristobulus secretly drowned by servants.

Alexandra mourned her son very much and was not deceived by Herod's behavior as if he were innocent of the boy's death. She wrote another letter to Cleopatra, accusing Herod of murdering her son. The Ptolemaic queen was happy to support her friend and implored Antonius to make an example. Herod had to be 35 or 34 BC. He was responsible for the murder before Antonius in the Syrian city of Laodikeia , but was able to save his head through clever defense. The triumvir did not want to drop its important ally. Before leaving for Antonius, however, Herod had allegedly given his brother-in-law Joseph, out of love for his wife, the order to kill Mariamne in the event that Antonius had him killed; But this had been betrayed to Alexandra and Mariamne and the two women had concluded from this that Herod was cruel and worried for their lives. Historian Walter Otto rejected this story as a duplicate, but Christoph Schäfer held it to be essentially true; the death warrant was deliberately betrayed to Alexandra and Mariamne in order to deter Hasmonean supporters from unrest.

When, after Octavian's victory over Antony and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium, Herod saw his rule endangered because of his friendship with Antony, he quickly switched sides and decided to pay his respects to the victor in Rhodes . Before leaving, he had the old father of Alexandras, Hyrcanus, executed (early 30 BC). According to the description in his memoirs , Herod gave the reason for the death sentence that Alexandra had planned an overthrow and, at her insistence, Hyrcanus had secretly contacted the enemies of Judea, the Nabataeans . This account is disputed in a second version available to the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus and Herod is accused of the unjust murder of Hyrcanus. The Jewish king probably wanted to prevent his opponents from using the old man as legitimation for a rebellion while he was away. Hyrcanus was probably sacrificed for reasons of state and the accusations against him were invented by Herod. The important role attributed to Alexandra in inciting her father against Herod is also improbable because nothing happened to her then.

After Hyrcanus' execution, Herod left Alexandra and Mariamne in the fortress of Alexandreion under guard, with orders to kill both women if anything happened to him. Obviously he was afraid of the two Hasmonean women who might be mischievous during his absence. Herod then went to Octavian, who pardoned him and confirmed his rule over Judea. In the meantime, however, the fortress commander Sohaemas had revealed to Alexandra and Mariamne that Herod would murder her if he would not return. Accordingly, Mariamne finally estranged her husband Herod.

After his return, Salome continued to incite her brother Herod against his wife, who was now openly dismissive and against whom she intrigued as much as possible. She eventually achieved Mariamne's execution (29 BC). Alexandra, however, who feared for her life, distanced herself from her daughter, pretended to believe in her guilt and described her execution as just. So she could save herself for the time being.

death

After Mariamne's death, Herod mourned his wife so much that he withdrew to the desert, where he became seriously ill. Alexandra took advantage of Herod's absence and illness and tried to seize the two citadels ruling Jerusalem in order to be able to seize power in the event of Herod's death. But the castle commanders did not believe their pretext to take this step only out of concern for the safety and rights of their grandchildren, but informed the king. The latter had Alexandra executed immediately (late 29 or early 28 BC). She died as the last important Hasmonean woman.

swell

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Josephus : Jüdische Antiquities 14, 300; Jewish War 1, 241.
  2. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 14, 351; Jewish War 1, 262.
  3. ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 15, 22-24; Jewish War 1, 437.
  4. ↑ Josephus: Jewish Antiquities 15, 24; 15, 32; 15, 45.
  5. ↑ Josephus: Jewish Antiquities 15, 25-30.
  6. ↑ W. Otto (see lit.), col. 37.
  7. ↑ C. Schäfer (see lit.), p. 169.
  8. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 31-41; Jewish War 1, 437.
  9. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 42-48.
  10. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 49-56; Jewish War 1, 437.
  11. ^ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 58f .; 15, 62f .; Jewish War 7, 300ff.
  12. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 64f .; 15, 74-79.
  13. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 65-70.
  14. ↑ W. Otto, Col. 40; C. Schäfer, p. 171f.
  15. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 164-182; Jewish War 1, 433.
  16. ↑ W. Otto, Col. 49f.
  17. ^ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 185f.
  18. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 202-208.
  19. ^ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 213f .; 15, 218-239, cf. Jewish War 1, 442ff.
  20. ↑ Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 15, 240-251; Jewish War 1, 444.
personal data
SURNAME Alexandra
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Princess from the Hasmonean dynasty
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 29 BC Chr.