Tryphon, in order to secure his usurped dominion, determined, if possible to obtain the patronage and protection of the Romans. For this purpose he sent them a magnificent embassy, with a golden statue of Victory, of ten thousand pieces of gold in weight. The Romans, whose policy was not inferior to their power, very cordially accepted the present; but, instead of acknowledging the authority of Tryphon, they caused the name of Antiochus, whom he had murdered, to be inscribed on the statue, as if it had come from him. The ambassadors sent by Simon, met with a very different reception from the senate, who treated them with the utmost respect, confirming to Simon, in his own person, the leagues which had been made with his predecessors. I should have informed you, that after the death of Jonathan, a considerable change took place in the affairs of the Jewish nation. But the limits of my paper remind me that it is time to conclude. I shall therefore defer entering upon that subject till my next. In the mean time, I remain,

LETTER VIII.

Your's, &c.

MY DEAR GEORGE,

AGREEABLE to my promise in the close of the last letter, I proceed to inform you of the change which took place in the affairs of the Jewish nation, upon the death of Jonathan.

In a great assembly of the priests, the elders, and the people at Jerusalem, Simon was chosen general, with the title of sovereign, as well as that of highpriest: they declared this double power, civil and sacerdotal, hereditary in his family. After his death, both dignities descended to his posterity. He was so beloved by the people, that, in their private contracts and public letters, they dated from the first year of Simon, the benefactor and governor of the Jewish nation.

Demetrius, who had remained all this time in a state of inactivity and sloth, began now to be roused from his lethargy; and, as several nations of the east being weary of the Parthian yoke, to which they were then subject, promised to revolt to him, and facilitate the subjection of their country, he undertook the expedition, thinking that, with the accession of power which this would give him, he should be better able to contend with Tryphon. But he was disappointed in his views; for, after having defeated the Parthians in several engagements, he was at length circumvented by treachery, and fell into an ambuscade, which his enemies had drawn him into, under pretence of treating with him; by which his whole army was cut to pieces, and himself taken prisoner.

During the prevalence of these commotions, the Jews enjoyed a short interval of peace and quiet, which Simon improved to their advantage. For he not only fortified the cities of Judea, but besieged and took that strong fort, built by Apollonius in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, which for so many years had proved a grievous annoyance to

the Jews. It stood on Mount Acra, a rising ground directly opposite to the mountain on which the temple was built, and rather higher than that mountain. Notwithstanding all the attempts of Judas and Jonathan, they were never able to drive out the garrison: but Simon shut them up so closely, that, after great numbers had perished by famine, the rest yielded up the tower. To prevent its falling again into the hands of the enemy, Simon caused it to be utterly demolished, and even levelled the ground on which it stood. But we must now turn our attention to the affairs of Syria.

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Demetrius being in a state of captivity, Antiochus Sidetes, his brother, laid claim to the crown. He then wrote to Simon, complaining of Tryphon's usurpation. In order to gain him to his interest, he made great concessions, and gave him hopes of greater when he should ascend the throne, the World at which he shortly arrived by the con3865. quest and death of Tryphon. But the promises he made to the Jews in his adversity, were soon forgotten when he became prosperous. He even sought an occasion to quarrel with them, by making some unreasonable demands, which not being complied with, he sent an army into Judea, under the command of Cendebeus, who was defeated, and his troops dispersed, by Judas and John, the two sons of Simon, to whom he had given the principal command.

Simon had now governed the Jews eight years, from the death of Jonathan, and was far advanced in age, when he met with an untimely fate. In his progress through Judea, to visit the cities and

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3869.

promote their welfare, when he came to Jericho, he was invited by Ptolemy, the governor of the place (who was also his son-in-law, having married one of his daughters), to partake the World of a feast at the castle. Simon unsuspectingly accepted the invitation, and was treacherously slain, with his two sons, Judas and Mattathias, by Ptolemy, who had conspired with Antiochus to effect his ruin. John, surnamed Hyrcanus, escaped to the city, where the people received him gladly, for the love they bare to his father, and shut the gates against Ptolemy, who was obliged to retire. Hyrcanus was then proclaimed high-priest and prince of the Jews in his father's stead.

Antiochus, upon the death of Simon, advanced into Judea with so powerful an army, that John Hyrcanus, not having an adequate force to resist him, was obliged to shut himself up in Jerusalem, where he sustained a long siege with incredible valour. At length, being reduced to the last extremity for want of provisions, he caused proposals of peace to be made to the king; and a treaty was entered into, wherein it was agreed that the besieged should deliver up their arms, that the fortifications of Jerusalem should be demolished, and that a certain tribute should be paid to the king. Antiochus was slain, not long after, in an expedition against the Parthians; upon which, Demetrius, who had till then been detained a prisoner among them, was set at liberty, and reascended the throne of Syria.

Hyrcanus took advantage of these revolutions, and the commotions occasioned by them, to extend his dominions. He laboured also to deliver his

country from the yoke of foreign powers, in which he was so successful, that neither he nor his descendants were in the least subject to the kings of Syria. As an able statesman, he took every opportunity to strengthen himself, and to obtain for his people the confirmation of their liberty, by which he rendered the Jews formidable to their enemies. He renewed the treaty of friendship and alliance which his father Simon had made with the Romans, who were now rapidly advancing to the meridian of their power. He was also successful in his wars with Year of the World the Idumeans, whom he constrained to

3875. embrace the religion of the Jews: by which means they shortly after became so blended with that people, as to lose their political existence, and cease to be a distinct nation.

Thus increasing in wealth and power, Hyrcanus determined to reduce Samaria. He accordingly sent his two sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus, to form the siege of that place, which, after holding out a full year, at length surrendered to Hyrcanus, who ordered it to be demolished; and it was not rebuilt till the time of Herod. Hyrcanus was now master of all Judea, Galilee, Samaria, and many places upon the frontiers, by which he became one of the most considerable princes of his time. None of his neighbours daring to attack him he passed the rest of his days in tranquillity with regard to foreign affairs; though his domestic peace was much disturbed towards the close of his reign, by the contentions between the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

These were two religious sects of great note, into which the Jews at that time began to be di