Hasmonean Civil War
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Hasmonean Civil War | ||
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Part of the Pharisee-Sadducee conflict and the Hasmonean Kingdom | ||
Result |
Roman victory Hyrcanus II becomes ethnarch Judea becomes a Roman vassal kingdom |
Sadducees
Mercenaries
Aretas III
50,000
The Hasmonean Civil War was a
Background
The
Early stages
Brothers prepare for conflict
Alexandra was very sick at the end of her days and Aristobulus began using his connections to take over the walled cities and bastions of the Hasmonean realm and used the money he found there to further hire mercenaries and declared himself king when she was still alive. Alexandra, who favored her elder son Hyrcanus, ordered the jailing of Aristobulus' wife and sons in the Antonia Keep in Jerusalem, to the north of the Temple Mount. She died shortly after, following which Hyrcanus was crowned King of Judea.
The two brothers' forces engaged nearby Jericho,[clarification needed] in which many of Hyrcanus' men joined Aristobulus, after that Hyrcanus quickly escaped to the Antonia Keep where his brother's family was being held. However, eventually after negotiations the brother made peace and Hyrcanus abdicated the throne to Aristobulus, who ensured Hyrcanus' safety.
Nabataean involvement
Aretas gave Hyranus 50,000 cavalrymen and infantrymen. Aretas' men began advancing towards Jerusalem, defeating Aristobulus' forces. Some switched sides and joined Hyrcanus' army. Aristobulus fell back to Jerusalem, which was laid under siege at Passover of that year.
Roman involvement
Negotiations with Scaurus
Pompey sent Marcus Aemilius Scaurus to Syria while Pompey fought against Armenia. The two brothers sent messengers to Scaurus trying to convince him to align with them, but the 300 talents of silver[3] (or 400)[4] sent to him by Aristobulus as well as the fact that Jerusalem would be too hard to breach, persuaded him to fight against Hyrcanus and Aretas. This led to Aretas departing leaving Hyrcanus without Nabatean support. Following the departure of Aretas, Aristobulus led his army against Hyracus and they engaged in a battle at Papiron and killed 6,000 of them, including Phalion, brother of Antipater. Scaurus left Judea after those events.
Negotiations with Pompey
After his war in Armenia, Pompey arrived in Syria and received a gift of 500 talents of Gold from Aristobulus. Again, both parties sent messengers to Pompey, Antipater on behalf of Hyrcanus and a man called Nikodemus on behalf of Aristobulus. Other messengers, this time on behalf of the people, begged for Pompey to end the rule of Kings over the land. After Pompey realized Rome could better manipulate Hyrcanus, he sided with him and took the Roman forces in Syria against Aristobulus. Aristobulus was in the fortress of Alexandrian, which is on top of a mountain, and when Pompey arrived, he spoke several times with him, negotiating, in which Pompey told Aristobulus to call for all his men to leave the fortress, and which they did so, however he regretted those actions and escaped to Jerusalem.
Siege of Jerusalem
When Pompey arrived in Jerusalem, he surveyed the city:
for he saw the walls were so firm, that it would be hard to overcome them; and that the valley before the walls was terrible; and that the temple, which was within that valley, was itself encompassed with a very strong wall, insomuch that if the city were taken, that temple would be a second place of refuge for the enemy to retire to.
— Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:141[5]
Fortunately for Pompey,
The troops then set about filling the ditch protecting the northern part of the Temple enclosure and building two ramparts, one next to the Baris and the other on the west, while the defenders, from their superior position, sought to hinder Roman efforts. When the banks were complete, Pompey erected siege towers and brought up siege engines and battering rams from Tyre. Under the protection of slingers driving the defenders from the walls, these began to batter the walls surrounding the Temple.[6][10][11] After three months, Pompey's troops finally managed to capture one of the Baris' towers and were able to enter the Temple precinct, both from the citadel and from the west. First over the wall was Faustus Cornelius Sulla, son of the former Roman dictator and a senior officer in Pompey's army. He was followed by two centurions, Furius and Fabius, each leading a cohort, and the Romans soon overcame the defending Jews. 12,000 were slaughtered, while only a few Romans troops were killed.[6][12]
Pompey himself entered the Temple's Holy of Holies which only the High Priest was allowed to enter, thereby desecrating it. He did not remove anything, neither its treasures nor any funds, and the next day ordered the Temple cleansed and its rituals resumed.[13][14][15][16] Pompey then headed back to Rome, taking Aristobulus with him for his triumphal procession.[6]
Aftermath
The siege and conquest of Jerusalem was a disaster for the Hasmonean kingdom. Pompey reinstated Hyrcanus II as the High Priest but stripped him of his royal title, though Rome recognized him as an
Ancient sources
See also
- List of conflicts in the Near East
- List of Jewish civil wars
References
- War of the Jews, Book 1 Chapter 6, 2
- ^ "04. Crises in the Hasmonean Dynasty – Peninei Halakha". Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- War of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 6, 3
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 14, Chapter 3
- ^ Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:141
- ^ a b c d e f Rocca 2008, pp. 44-46
- ^ Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:143
- ^ Wightman, Gregory J. (1991). "Temple Fortresses in Jerusalem Part II: The Hasmonean Baris and Herodian Antonia". Bulletin of the Anglo-Israeli Archaeological Society. 10: 7–35.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14:61
- ^ Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:145-147, mentions the towers, siege engines and slingers
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14:62: "...he brought his mechanical engines and battering-rams from Tyre"
- ^ Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:149-151
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14:70-71
- ^ Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 1:152-153
- ^ Barker 2003, p. 146
- ^ Losch 2008, p. 149
- ^ Rocca 2009, p. 7
- ^ Sartre 2005, pp. 40-42
- ^ Malamat and Ben-Sasson 1976, pp. 222-224