#aristobulus

John was eventually succeeded by his son “Aristobulus” who continued the wars and conquests, adding Galilee to the list of kingdoms. 

Aristobulus was then succeeded by his brother “Alexander” whose main interests were war and pleasure. The Jews rebelled against Alexander and drove him in to exile but re-called him to rule them. Instead of being kind and showing gratitude he decided to crucify 800 pharisees, only after butchering their wives and children in front of them. 

Alexander was then succeeded by his widow “Alexandra” at the age of 73. One of her sons “Aristobulus II” started a civil war with the rightful ruler “Hyrcanus”. Hyrcanus lost the first battle and decided to take the advice of an Idumean prince named “Antipater”. He continued the conquest and assembled an army of 50,000 Arabs and this forced Aristobulus to take refuge in Jerusalem. 

Pompey

In 65 B.C. a Roman General named “Pompey” captures a large portion of the former Syrian Empire. He then turned his attention to Palestine which was the land bridge to both Asia and Africa. The Jews divided in to three groups to fight the Romans, but this move played right in to the Roman’s hands. Aristobulus was under seige in Jerusalem by Hyrcanus and his Arab army. The pharisees were sick of all the trouble that the king had brought upon them and were eager to get rid of royalty all together. All three Jewish groups sent representatives to Damascus where Pompey was camped. These three requests gave Pompey and ideal opportunity to invade Palestine. Aristobulus held fort on “Temple Hill” for almost three months against Pompey before finally surrendering. Pompey took advantage of the Jewish Sabbath custom, and attacked them on the Sabbath which the Jews would not strike a blow in defense.