At length, however, the side opposed to Jannæus obtained some help from the last-named quarter. Demetrius III. (Eucærus), the ruler of part of Syria, accepted the invitation proffered by the Pharisees, and armies composed, on both sides alike, of Jewish and foreign elements met near Shechem (88 B.C.). Demetrius was on the whole successful after an engagement in which the loss on each side was severe. Jannæus withdrew to the mountain country, and was joined by a number, said to have been 6,000, of deserters from Demetrius. They divined the latter's intentions of annexation, and apparently did not desire, whatever might be Jannæus's faults, that their country should again have experience of the Syrian yoke. Under these circumstances Demetrius hastened homewards, and Jannæus proceeded to seize and punish with great cruelty those who had maintained so prolonged a resistance to his rule. For the rest of his reign the Pharisees were crushed.

Judea now became for a short time the seat of war between the most powerful of the claimants to the Syrian throne, Antiochus XII. (Dionysus) and the Nabatean king, Aretas. The latter, after a victory over Antiochus, vanquished Jannæus, but was persuaded by concessions of territory to withdraw. For the next three years Jannæus's success in arms, and in the consequent acquisition of fresh territory for his country, was such, that when in 81 B.C. he returned to his capital, he was received with enthusiasm by the people who had so long opposed his rule. His health was undermined by a long course of excesses, and while seeking to repress outbreaks of disaffected subjects in 78 B.C. he died at the age of 49 years.

"It was one of the results of the peculiar warfare of the Asmonean princes that Palestine gradually became studded with fortresses or castles apart from the main seats of their

ancient history or civilisation, and commanding the passes in which they entrenched themselves against their enemies. Such had been Modin under Mattathias and Judas, and Masada under Jonathan; such was Hyrcaneum under John Hyrcanus ; such, under Alexander Jannæus, was Macharus beyond the Dead Sea, and Alexandreum in the mountains between Samaria and the Jordan valley, which subsequently became the recognised burial-place of the later princes of the Asmonean family, as Modin earlier had been of the first. But Hyrcanus and Alexander were interred, in regal or pontifical state, in tombs which long bore their names close to the walls of Jerusalem."*

If extent of dominion be a test of prosperity, Jannæus may certainly claim credit for winning a considerable number of cities with their neighbouring territories. Also, in spite of his carelessness in regard to Pharisaic ritual or traditions, he insisted that those whom he conquered should accept Judaism, on the penalty of devastation of territory and large destruction of life. Accordingly he left the kingdom larger than it had been at any time since the Exile.

"This work of conquest however proved at the same time a work of destruction. It did not lead, as once the conquests of Alexander the Great had done, to the furtherance, but to the extinction, of Greek culture. For in this respect Alexander Jannæus was still always a Jew, who subjected the conquered territories, as far as they went, to Jewish modes of thought and manners. If the cities in question would not consent to this, they were laid waste. Such was the fate which befell the great and hitherto prosperous coast towns and the Hellenistic cities on the east of the Jordan. The Romans, Pompey and Gabinius, were the first to rebuild again those ruins, and re-awaken in them a new prosperity."†

* Stanley, Jewish Church, iii. 369.

+ Schürer, op. cit., 1. i. 307.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE REIGN OF ALEXANDRA (78—69 B.C.).

́HEN Alexander was dying, he is said to have advised his wife Alexandra, on whom the sovereignty now devolved, to cultivate the favour of the Pharisees. According to one account,* his words were, "Fear neither the Pharisees nor their opponents, but fear the hypocrites who pretend to be Pharisees, whose deeds are those of Zimri, and who claim a reward like that of Phinehas." Strongly supported by the Pharisees, she succeeded in keeping her kingdom free throughout her reign not only from internal feuds, but to a large extent also from foreign attack. Josephus † speaks of her as "a sagacious woman in the conduct of great affairs, intent always on the gathering of soldiers together, so that she increased the army by one-half, and procured a great body of foreign troops, till her own nation became powerful at home and terrible to foreign potentates."

*

She had two sons, Hyrcanus the elder, an indolent person, who succeeded to the high priesthood, and Aristobulus, energetic and ambitious. The latter she sent upon an expedition against Damascus, which, however, was not fruitful in results. of any kind. Danger also threatened on the part of Tigranes, king of Armenia. Alexandra promptly sent him presents, thereby to procure freedom from attack. These might easily have failed to be effectual, had it not been for the fact of the

* Talmud of Bab., Sota, 226.

+ Wars, i. 5. 2.

gradual advance of the Romans in Tigranes' direction, and his knowledge that the insatiable legions were watching in the rear. "The time was now almost come when the eagles would find their way across the frontiers of Judea itself, and the period of its independence would finally close."*

As regards home administration, Simon ben Shatach, who during the reign of Aristobulus had headed the opposition to that king's Sadducean policy and tastes, was now in full favour with royalty. Hyrcanus, the high priest, was a nonentity, and thus the natural supporter of the Sadducean party was helpless. Josephus remarks of the queen, that "while she governed other people, the Pharisees governed her." "She had indeed the name of regent, but the Pharisees had the authority; for it was they who restored such as were banished, and set such as were prisoners at liberty, and, to say all at once, they differed nothing from lords."‡ Writers of later times on the Pharisean side record the traditions of the glories of this period from the point of view of their party. "Under Simon ben Shatach and Queen Salome rain fell on the eve of the Sabbath, so that the corns of wheat were large as kidneys, the barley corns as large as olives, and the lentils like golden denarii; the scribes gathered such corns and preserved specimens of them in order to shew future generations what sin entails."§

Simon ben Shatach now sought to obtain further support by associating with himself an ecclesiastical officer who, under the title of Nasi (prince), or president of the council, should have the duty of expounding the intricacies of the legal ritual, and deciding knotty points as they might arise. The most fitting person in respect of attainments appeared to be Jehudah

* Moss, op. cit., p. 153.

+ Wars, i. 5. 2.

Ant. xiii. 16. 2.

§ Tal. Bab., Ta'anith, 23a in Derenbourg, Essai sur l'histoire, etc., de la Palestine, p. 111. Paris, 1857.

ben Tabbai, then resident at Alexandria. Accordingly in a message couched in high-flown language he was invited to accept the post, and in conjunction with Simon completed the enforcement of strictness in Jewish observances. There was a dispute in later times as to which held the higher office. "Wise men say Jehudah ben Tabbai was vice-president (Ab-beth-din) and Simon ben Shatach was prince-president (Nasi). Who is the author of that teaching? For the converse would appear to be the case; because our Rabbis have taught thus, viz., that Rabbi Jehudah ben Tabbai said, May I see the consolation of Israel, if I have not slain a false witness so as to oppose the Sadducees, when they say, False witnesses are not put to death, unless the condemned person shall have been put to death.† Simon ben Shatach said to him, May I see the consolation of Israel, if thou hast not shed innocent blood; for behold, wise men have said, False witnesses are not to be put to death, until they are both proved to be false, and they are not beaten, until they are both proved to be false, and they do not refund money, until they are both proved to be false. Forthwith Jehudah ben Tabbai undertook that he would not teach doctrine (Halachah) except in the presence of Simon ben Shatach." This, with the further discussion which thereupon ensues as to the exact meaning of Jehudah ben Tabbai's "undertaking" gives us a glimpse at once of the nature of the discussion, in which he was called on to take a prominent part, and of the style of a

* Meaning the reverse, May I not see, etc. For the euphemism comp. 1 Sam. 20. 16 and 25. 22. See also Rashi's interpretation of Exod. 1. 10, viz., " drive us out of the land."

+ See p. 1. The Pharisees and Sadducees were agreed that both witnesses must be proved guilty of perjury, before either of them could be visited with the punishment due to the person whom they accused, had he been guilty. On the other hand, the Pharisees asserted, and the Sadducees denied, that this punishment ought to be inflicted on them, in case it had not yet been inflicted on the person wrongfully sentenced by their means.

Talmud of Bab., Chagigah, 166.