Hasmonean fratricidal war

A conflict between the brothers Aristobulus II and John Hyrcanus II from the Hasmonean family about the succession to the throne in Judea is called Hasmonean Fraternal War . The war began with the illness of Queen Salome Alexandra in 67 BC. And essentially ended with the reorganization of Judea by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in 63 BC. Attempts by the descendants of Aristobulus to assert their claims to the kingship in Judea continued until the execution of Antigonus , son of Aristobulus in 37 BC. Chr.

Although historiography has not even given a common name to it, it was this dispute that lasted for a total of 30 years with repeated uprisings and with the reorganization of Judea by Pompey in 63 BC. Brought the end of a halfway independent Jewish statehood with it.

prehistory

The war started in 67 BC. BC Queen Alexandra was seriously ill and her son and high priest Johannes Hyrkanos took over the reign. The conflict that shaped the political landscape, not only during their government, but also during the government of their predecessor and husband Alexander Jannaios , was the struggle between two religious parties, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, for political power and cultural dominance.

While Alexander Jannaios had preferred the Sadducees, a political turning point had taken place under Alexandra. Exiled Pharisees were allowed to return and the Pharisee party ruled the council ( Synhedrion ). As has often been the case, the Pharisees had gone from being persecuted to being persecutors and, in particular, plagued the now defeated Sadducees with accusations and death sentences through strict interpretation of the (Pharisaic) religious law, until they pleaded for protection from Queen Alexandra. Alexandra created a certain balance of the political balance of power by handing over a large part of the border fortresses to the control of the Sadducees.

Civil war

This decision turned out to be fatal. Alexandra fell ill and her ambitious son Aristobulus II , who was already inclined to the Sadducee party , first brought the fortress Agaba and within a short time 21 other fortresses under Sadducee control into his hands, which in fact started the uprising. His wife and children, whom he had left behind in Jerusalem , were imprisoned in the fortress of Baris (later Antonia Castle) (Ant. XIII.422ff; Bell. I.177f).

Alexandra had chosen her other son Hyrcanus as his successor. When her husband died, she had taken over the government, but for cultic reasons could not, like her deceased husband, unite the offices of high priest and king. Her son Hyrcanus therefore became high priest, who as her successor would have restored the personal union of high priest and king.

Hyrcanus was the legitimate king, but when it came to power, his brother Aristobulus had the advantage. Not only did he have the support of the Sadducee party, but he also managed to recruit mercenaries. When the armies met at Jericho , the soldiers of Hyrcanus fled or ran over to Aristobulus. Hyrcanus then withdrew to Jerusalem, where he still had Aristobulus' family in custody. However, the situation seemed so hopeless for him that he agreed to renounce his claim to the throne and retire into private life (it is not clear from the description given by Josephus whether he was also entitled to the office of high priest was willing to give up). This agreement between the two brothers is oathed primarily by the people in the temple.

At this point Antipater , strategist of Idumea and advisor to Hyrcanus, seems to have advised Hyrcanus not to give up his claim, but rather to flee Jerusalem and seek the help of the Nabataean king Aretas III. to look for, who was related to Antipater through family ties. Aretas also granted aid after Hyrcanus had promised him the return of the Nabatean cities conquered by Alexander Jannaios, and went with an army of 50,000 men against Aristobulus and defeated him, whereupon Aristobulus fled to Jerusalem and was besieged by Aretas there.

The tide turned when Scaurus , a general of Pompey, intervened in the conflict and, after carefully weighing the bribes offered by both brothers, forced Aretas to lift the siege. After Aretas and Scaurus have withdrawn, Aristobulus gathers an army again and succeeds in defeating the forces of Hyrcanus at Papyron. Hyrcanus and Antipater find asylum in Petra , the capital of the Nabataeans.

Reorganization of Syria by Pompey and the consequences

Since the regulation of the situation by Scaurus was apparently not suitable to bring about permanent peace in Judea, Pompey called the representatives of the two parties to himself about a year later (64/63 BC). Antipater appears there as a representative of Hyrcanus, as a representative of Aristobulus Nicodemus appears, who accuses Scaurus and Gabinius of corruption, which neither these two supporters of Pompeius nor, presumably, Pompey himself supports in the Aristobulus case. Pompey does not decide at first, but marches to Damascus in the spring, where three parties appear before him on the Judean question, namely a third party in addition to the representatives of the two brothers. As a representative of the Jewish people, this party wished not to be ruled by kings at all, but rather by a high priest in accordance with old custom.

Perhaps due to legal considerations, perhaps also motivated by the undiplomatic and arrogant nature of Aristobulus, Pompey finally decided in favor of Hyrcanus. As a result, there were disputes between Pompey and Aristobulus, who once seemed to give in to Pompey's demands, then again made preparations for military resistance. Eventually Aristobulus was imprisoned, but his followers in Jerusalem continued to resist and eventually holed up in the temple after followers of Hyrcanus let the Romans into the city. After a three-month siege, the Romans managed to storm the temple. Not only the numerous sacrifices among the priests, but above all the fact that Pompey entered the Holy of Holies caused great (and lasting) outrage among the Jews. It is not clear why Pompey found such a deliberate violation of religious sentiments useful. It can be assumed that it was a well-considered act with the aim of symbolically demonstrating Rome's claim to rule in the region (for example, how on another occasion the Romans symbolically captured the gods of a conquered city). In any case, the imperial claim was evident not only in symbolic acts, but above all in the reorganization of Syria and especially Judea in 63 BC. BC Pompey decreed the following:

Hyrcanus was confirmed in his office as high priest, but not as king of the Jews. He is responsible to the governor of the province of Syria . Marcus Aemilius Scaurus the Younger becomes the first of these legates .
The areas and cities conquered by the Hasmoneans outside the Jewish core area were given back or freed again. this includes in particular a number of cities with predominantly Greek populations.
Judea became tributary.
Aristobulus was sent to Rome with his family.
Antipater became administrator with a Roman mandate. He proved to be extremely useful to the Romans in this function, which is why he retained his position even when Gabinius stripped Hyrcanus (who was a legate in Syria from 57-54 BC) of all political power.

Revolts of Aristobulus and his sons

On the way to Rome, Alexander, Aristobulus' son, had managed to escape. He returned in 57 BC. Back to Judea, gathered a considerable army (according to Josephus 10,000 men and 1,500 horsemen) and made himself de facto lord of the land. In addition, he began not only to renew the fortifications of Jerusalem that Pompey had razed, but also fortified other places, including Alexandrium near Koreae (a mountain fortress to which his father had already gone on the flight from Pompey), Hyrcania and Machaerus . After his army was defeated by the troops of Mark Antony, who had been sent ahead by Gabinius with part of the Syrian army , he retired to Alexandrium, where he was besieged by Gabinius and Mark Antony. The army of Antonius also included Jewish auxiliaries under Antipater, Malichus and Pitholaos. Malichus was later the instigator of the murder of Antipater, Pitholaos was executed by Cassius on the advice of Antipater. Finally Alexander had to surrender. At his mother's request, he was spared, but the fortresses were razed.

Gabinius has the cities ravaged by war rebuilt. In addition, by his decree Judea is divided into five districts ( Jerusalem , Gadara , Amathous , Jericho and Sepphoris ). These districts are ruled by aristocratic councils of elders ( Synhedrion ), with which the kingship of the Hasmoneans also formally came to an end. Hyrcanus remains high priest.

Scarcely had Alexander's revolt ended and the walls of Alexandrium torn down when his father Aristobulus began a new revolt. He and his son Antigonus had managed to flee Rome. They gather an army of (poorly armed) insurgents, which Pitholaos also joins, and construction is going on again in Alexandrium and Machaerus. But again they are defeated in the battle against Gabinius. They flee to Machaerus, but after a short siege they have to surrender and are brought to Rome in chains.

The following year (55 BC) Alexander succeeded again in sparking an uprising in Judea. This time the Antipater sent by Gabinius was able to persuade a considerable number of the rebels to lay down their arms. Alexander and 30,000 followers refused to give up and were defeated by Gabinius on Mount Tabor (Jos. Ant. XIV, 102).

Main stakeholders

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The main source for the period in question is Josephus with his two books, the first De bello Judaico ("On the Jewish War") and the later Antiquitates Judaicae ("Jewish antiquities"). Both are quoted here after Niese's section count. Both works can be found online (Greek / English) on the PACE website [1] .

In the Appian's report on Pompey's war against Mithridates [2] and the book on the Syrian wars ( Syriaca ) [3] , Jewish affairs are only mentioned in passing.

In book XXXVII of the Roman history of Cassius Dio [4] the dispute is summarized, but the siege of Jerusalem by Pompey is discussed in more detail.