Hyrcanus of a 'Pleasaunce' and bearing the name of his father, Alexander. From all this barbaric pomp, which to the yet uncorrupted taste of the proud Roman citizen produced no other feeling than disgust, the conqueror turned to the other candidate. Hyrcanus was as insignificant as Aristobulus was commanding in character and appearance-then, as always, a tool in the hands of others. With him were the heads of II. the great party who, in their hostility to the Sadducaic and Pontifical elements represented by the rival brother, did not scruple to insinuate against him the charge that he was not a genuine friend of Rome. And with them, inspiring and guiding all, was the man destined to inaugurate for the Jewish nation the last phase of its existence. When John Hyrcanus subdued the Edomites, and incorporated them into the Jewish Church, he little dreamed that he was nourishing the evil genius that would be the ruin of his house. The son of the first native governor of the conquered Idumæa, who himself succeeded to his father's post, was Antipater or Antipas, father of Herod. With a craft more like that of the supplanter Jacob than the generosity of his own an- Antipater. cestor Esau, he perceived that his chance of retaining his position would be imperilled by the independent spirit of the younger brother, and might be secured by making himself the ally and master of the elder. To his persuasions the Roman general lent a willing ear, and Hyrcanus was preferred. Not without a struggle did Aristobulus surrender his hopes. From Damascus he retired to the family fortress, the Alexandreum, commanding the passes into southern Palestine. Thither Pompey followed, and after one or two futile parleys Aristobulus finally, in a fit of desperation broke away from the stronghold, threw himself into Jerusalem, and there defied the conqueror of the East. The crisis was at once precipitated. Every step of PomTерTwλh. Strabo, in Jos. Ant. xiv. 3, 1. B.C. 63. Pompey's march to Jericho. pey's advance is noted, like that of Sennacherib of old. But it was by a route which no previous invader had adopted. From the fortress of Alexandreum, instead of following the central thoroughfare by Shechem and Bethel, he plunged into the Jordan valley and encamped beside the ancient city where Joshua had gained his first victory over the Canaanites. It would almost seem as if it was the fame of Jericho which had occasioned this deviation. It was a spot, which, having sunk into deep obscurity, during this later period revived with a glory peculiar to itself. There is a faint tradition that even as far back as the Persian dominion it had been raised to a rank rivalling, if not exceeding, that of Jerusalem, and this equality was henceforth never lost till the fall of both. Long afterwards in the homes of Roman soldiers was preserved the recollection of the magnificent spectacle which burst upon them, when for the first time they found themselves in the midst of the tropical vegetation which even now to some degree, but then transcendently, surrounded the city of Jericho. In the present day not one solitary relic remains of those graceful trees which once were the glory of Palestine. But then the plain was filled with a splendid forest of palms, 'the Palm-grove,' 2 as it was called, three miles broad and eight miles long, interspersed with gardens of balsam, traditionally sprung from the balsamroot that the Queen of Sheba brought to Solomon-so fragrant that the whole forest was scented with them, so valuable that a few years later no richer present could be made by Antony to Cleopatra. In this green oasis, beside the diamonds of 'the desert,' which still pour forth their clear streams in that sultry valley, but which then were used to feed the spacious reservoirs in which the youths of those days delighted to 1 Solinus in Polyhistor, c. 38; see Hitzig, 308. 2 Phonicon' (Strabo, xvi. 2, 41; 4, 21). plunge and frolic in the long days of summer and autumn, the Roman army halted for one night. lem. It was a day eventful not only for Palestine. The shades of evening were falling over the encampment. Pompey was taking his usual ride after the march careering round the soldiers as they were pitching their tents, when couriers were seen advancing from the north at full speed, waving on the points of their lances branches of laurel, to indicate some joyful news. The troops gathered round their general, and entreated to hear the tidings. At their eager wishes he sprang down from his horse; they extemporised a tribune, hastily constructed of piles of earth and of the packsaddles which lay on the ground, and he read aloud the despatch, which announced the crowning mercy of his Oriental victories-the death of his great enemy Mithridates. Wild was the shout of joy which went up from the army. To JerusaIt was as though ten thousand enemies had fallen. Throughout the camp arose the smoke of thankful sacrifice, and the festivity of banquets rang in every tent. Filled with this sense of triumphant success the army started at break of day for the interior of Judæa, after first occupying the fortresses which commanded that corner of the Jordan valley-those which were known by the name, perhaps, of the foreign mercenaries who manned them- as well as those which guarded the Dead Sea. Thus Pompey advanced in perfect security towards the mysterious and sacred city which possessed, no doubt, a special attraction for the curiosity of the enquiring Roman. From the north, from the south, from the west, the situation of Jerusalem produces but little effect on the spectator. But, seen from the east-seen from that ridge of Olivet, whence Pompey, alone of its conquerors, 1 Plutarch (Pompey, 41) places this scene on his way to Petra. But, besides the positive statement of Josephus which fixes it at Jericho, it is clear that the attack on Petra was left B.C. 63. first beheld it, rising like a magnificent apparition out of the depth and seclusion of its mountain valleys-it must have struck him with all its awe, and, had his generous heart forecast all the miseries of which his coming was the prelude, might have well inspired something of that compassion which the very same view, seen from the same spot ninety years later, awakened in One who burst into tears at the sight of Jerusalem, and mourned over her fatal blindness to the grandeur of her mission. From this point Pompey descended, and swept round the city, to encamp on the level ground on its western side.1 Once more Aristobulus ventured into the conqueror's presence; but this time he was seized and loaded with chains. Then broke out within the walls that bitter internal conflict of which Jerusalem since has been so often the scene. The Temple was occupied by the patriots, who, even in this extremity, would not abandon their king and country. The Palace and the walls were seized by those who, in passionate devotion to their party, were willing to admit the foreigner. The bridge between the Palace and the Temple was broken down; the houses round the Temple mount were occupied. Thus for three months the siege was continued. As if to bring out in the strongest relief the Jewish character in this singular crisis, the Sabbath, which, during the last two centuries had played so conspicuous apart in the history of the nation, was turned to account by the Romans in preparing their military engines and approaches, which, even in spite of the example of the first Asmonean, were held by the besieged not to be sufficient cause for a breach of the sacred rest. It may be that it was one of the instances in which the strict adherence of the Sadducees to the letter of the Law outran the zeal of their 1 Jos. B. J. v. 12, 2. But see Jos. Ant. xiv. 4, 2. 2 The variations in the different accounts as to the time of this capture are not essential. It On capture of the city. B.C. 63. Pharisaic opponents. However occasioned, the Jewish and 2 Conviv. vi. 12; Acts xxvii. 9. On the 2 Plutarch, De Superst. c. 8. |