Josippon

When Hyrcanus saw that Antiochus had died, he ceased from his campaign against Arsaces; changing direction at Aram Tsuvah, he came to Midbata and besieged it for six months; the Lord gave it into his hand, and he placed it under tribute. He turned from there to Samogan (Samoga) and captured it and all her environs. He returned and came to Sh'khem (Sychima) and smote it, for it did not open its gates before him. He smote Mount Gerizim and destroyed the temple that Samballat had built for Manasseh, his son-in-law, brother of Iddo, chief of the priests; Hyrcanus destroyed it two hundred years after its construction, overturned its foundations, and smote the Kutim (Samaritans) of Mount Samaria.

He marched to the land of Edom, where he smote Ḥaverah (Abora) and Mareshah of Edom and humbled the pride of Edom, placing them under his yoke until the exile, for the king captured them and chained them in the bonds of circumcision, circumcising the flesh of their foreskins. From that day hence, they were circumcised and preserved the observance of the Torah of God until the exile. The king did so unto all the gentiles whom he conquered.

After God had made his path successful, he sent envoys to Roma to renew the treaty with the Roman leaders. These are the words of the treaty that the Roman leaders renewed with Hyrcanus, king of Judaea: "Fannius, son of Marcus, and Lucius and Mallius, sons of Mentius, Gaius Sempronius, son of Falernus, and the rest of the Roman leaders and the Elder who is with us to Hyrcanus, king of Judaea: peace. Let it be known to you that we have received your letters, which we have read with affection, and we inquired about your well-being from your envoys Dositheus and Apollonius and Todoros (Diodoros), good and wise men, and we have honored them; they sat with us in front of the Elder, and everything that they requested of the Elder he gave them, and we were of one mind with him. All of the territory that Antiochus took by force from your land will be yours, and everything that Antiochus did and everything that he commanded will be annulled. The cities of his land that you captured in war will be yours. We have written letters unto every nation to receive with respect the envoys that you have sent to us, and we have dispatched with them our legate named Fannius, to whom we gave a letter; further, we spoke to him our words dictating words of peace for you, as the Elder decreed and his 320 advisers decreed."

In those days, the kings of Makedon were fighting among themselves; King Hyrcanus traveled with his entire army. They encamped before Samaria and besieged it, building a siege wall against it. A great famine occurred in Samaria until the Samaritans and the Kutim were reduced to eating the corpses and carcasses lying on the road.

King Hyrcanus left and went to Jerusalem due to the Fast of Kippur to atone for the people of God, for he was both king and priest, and he left his two sons, Antigonus and Aristobulus, in charge of the army in Samaria, against whom Antiochus, king of Makedon, invaded, for he had come to the aid of the Kutim to save Samaria from Hyrcanus's sons, and he fought against them. A great battle ensued with King Antiochus, and King Antiochus fled from the young men, the sons of Hyrcanus, taking refuge in a city called Sitopoli (Scythopolis = Beth Shan).

On that very day, Hyrcanus was in the House of the Holy of Holies praying on behalf of the people of Israel, and afterward he mentioned his sons, for he worried lest they had died by Antiochus's sword. He heard a heavenly voice speak out in the Holy of Holies: "Do not be saddened and do not worry for your sons, Priest Hyrcanus, for this day your sons have done battle with Antiochus, and they have defeated him, putting him to flight and dealing a decisive blow to his army. Now you, Hyrcanus, fear not, finish your worship in peace, for you have come in peace, and you shall go in peace." Hyrcanus left the sanctuary and related all these words to the attending people, but the people did not believe, so they sent horsemen to the camp in Samaria and found that everything said by Hyrcanus was true.

The Kutim sent messengers again and brought Latiro (Lathyrus), son of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, and with him Gallimander and Epicrates, Makedonian officers, and they came to the aid of the Kutim to rescue Samaria from Hyrcanus's sons. King Hyrcanus left Jerusalem to confront the army of Egypt and dealt them a very great blow, killing many, and he smote Gallimander too, who died there. The survivors turned and fled for their lives; and the kings of Makedon and Egypt ceased from helping Samaria and the Kutim any further. The king returned from these battles and came to Samaria and besieged it for one year. The Lord gave it into his hand, and he killed all of its males with the sword and leveled its walls to their foundations.

At that time, God magnified the name of Judaea throughout the inhabited world. Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, also dismissed the Egyptians from her armies and appointed Ḥilkiah and Ḥananiah as generals over all the army of Egypt, for her son Lathyrus had rebelled against her, and the Egyptians abandoned her and joined Lathyrus. Ḥilkiah and Ḥananiah the Jews, Cleopatra's generals, went forth against them, fought with them, and subdued them to the queen's rule. Lathyrus fled before his mother and went to Cyprus, one of the islands in the Mediterranean, and dwelt there. Hyrcanus fought against all his surrounding enemies and subdued them; thus, Israel dwelt in peace in the days of Hyrcanus, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and they multiplied and increased in number and became very strong.