Josippon

Alexander, his brother, succeeded him. He was the Alexander whom his father, Hyrcanus, hated, and Alexander ruled just as the Lord had spoken to Hyrcanus in the night dream. After being freed from the bonds in which his brother had imprisoned him, he sat upon the throne of his kingdom and led an army against Talmaida (Ptolemais), for the people of Ptolemais (Acre) had rebelled in those days.

Gaza revolted at that time, and King Alexander went against Ptolemais and besieged it, and the city came under siege. The inhabitants of Ptolemais sent a message to Lathyrus, Cleopatra's son, who was living in Cyprus from fear of his mother, Cleopatra, saying: "Come and save us from Alexander, king of Judaea, who is fighting against us, and we shall be your servants." But Lathyrus refused to come to their aid, for he feared to fight with the Jews, since he remembered the defeat that Hyrcanus, king of Judaea, had inflicted upon him in battle when he went to the aid of the Kutim in Samaria. For this reason, he was afraid to come. The envoys of Ptolemais said to him: "Do not be afraid to come to save your servants, for if you cross over the sea and go with us, other kings will join to aid us; Zoilus, king of Sidon, and other kings will come to our aid." With these words, they convinced Lathyrus; coming by ship, he went with them, and all his force was about thirty thousand men. Alexander broke off and left Ptolemais before Lathyrus.

Lathyrus and all his army came to Ptolemais, but its people did not receive him, for a wise man named Demaeretus came and spoke to the elders of Ptolemais, saying: "Would it not be better for you to suffer the yoke of Alexander, who is a Jew, than to let Lathyrus, a foreigner, rule over you?" As a result of hearing his words, they changed their minds and did not accept Lathyrus, and Lathyrus feared greatly. Zoilus, king of Sidon, sent him messengers: "Come, let us join forces and go to war against Alexander, king of Judaea!"

Alexander also sent messengers to Lathyrus, saying: "Let there be a covenant between me and you, and do not lend a hand to aid Zoilus, king of Sidon, my enemy; let there be peace between me and you!" He sent him a gift of four thousand talents of silver, and Lathyrus accepted Alexander's friendship. Then Alexander went to war against Zoilus, fought with him, killing many, and Zoilus fled from him. Alexander took all his land from him and returned, arriving in Jerusalem in glory and victory.

After these events, Alexander sent a secret message to Cleopatra, Lathyrus's mother, saying: "Behold, your son Lathyrus rebelled against you, and he is camped opposite me. If it pleases you, hurry and come with your army, and I will go out with all my force, and we shall capture him according to your heart's desire." Lathyrus heard of this and became exceedingly furious and enraged; he invaded the Galilee on the Sabbath and captured Sochton, a city in the Galilee. Those whom he killed in it and those whom he led into captivity were about ten thousand souls. From there, he went to Sipporin, and many of Lathyrus's men were slain in that place. He departed from there and went to make war on Alexander.

When Alexander heard of these things, he gathered fifty thousand Judaean warriors and chose from them six thousand heroes with copper shields who were called ecatonta machos, one against a hundred. King Alexander went out on that day from Jerusalem with pride and might, and he encountered Lathyrus on the rivers of the Jordan. Alexander said to his warriors: "Let us fall upon him suddenly, for the river is behind him, and if they flee from us, behold, the river will block their way, and having no refuge, they will all die to the man." Alexander trusted in his valor rather than trusting in God, Lord of his fathers.

Lathyrus and his men were most frightened of Alexander and his warriors. There was in Lathyrus's army a man named Philostephanus, and he divided the troops, for Philostephanus was a wise man skilled in war and trained in fighting. When Alexander and his army attacked Lathyrus's army, the battle broke out, and many were slain from Lathyrus's camp. They fought from morning until noon: the Jews were victorious, and a great number of Makedonians were slain. He smote half of Lathyrus's army facing them, but there still remained Philostephanus with half the army that he had divided, and they did not approach the fighting until afternoon. In the afternoon, Philostephanus advanced with half the army to fight against the Jews and Alexander. He found them tired and weary; so he dealt them a great blow, and thirty thousand of the Jews, all of them warriors, fell on that day. The survivors fled to the mountain, and Alexander fled from the battle to Jerusalem. The defeat of the Jews at that time came about because they trusted in their own valor rather than in God, Lord of their fathers.

It was evening when Lathyrus entered one of the villages of the Jews and found women and children. He commanded to slay some women and children and ordered to cook their flesh in a cauldron in order to terrify the people of Judaea so that they would say of them that they ate human flesh.

At that time, Queen Cleopatra went forth to do battle with her son Lathyrus, and Alexander went out to greet her and ask her for peace; he gave her gold and silver and told her all the evil that Lathyrus had done in his land; and Alexander joined with Cleopatra to fight against Lathyrus. When Lathyrus heard, he fled before them; he boarded a ship and fled to Cyprus. He abandoned his army on the seashore, where Ḥilkiah and Ḥananiah, Cleopatra's Jewish generals, killed them, and the queen returned to Egypt.

King Alexander went with his entire army; he invaded the plain of Aram and fought against Gadira (Gadara); he besieged it for ten months and captured Gadara and its surrounding villages. He marched from there to Ḥamat (Amathus) and encamped there. It happened on that night that Theodorus with his warriors came out of Ḥamat and, falling upon the Jews' camp, cast ten thousand Jews dead to the ground. When the Jews arose at dawn, they fought against Theodorus and put him to flight, dealing his army a great blow, and he fled from before them; and then the king captured Ḥamat and its surrounding villages. He marched on and encamped against Raphis (Raphia) and captured it and its surrounding villages. From there, he marched and encamped against Anthedona, besieged it, and captured it and its villages, and then returned to Jerusalem.

A year later, he led an army against Gaza, encamped before the city and besieged her, for the king remembered the evil of the people of Gaza, that the Gazans were allied with Lathyrus in fighting against the Jews. Apolodotus, Gaza's general, rose with twelve thousand warriors and, making a night attack on the camp of the Jews, dealt them a great blow. But the Jews maintained their position until morning light. When morning came, the Jews raised a great cry and pressed the Gazans, smiting them and pushing them unto the gate of Gaza; and the whole road was littered with Gazan corpses; the king built a dike against Gaza, and the city came under siege.

The Gazans sent a message to Hartas (Aretas), king of Arav, saying: "Come up and save us from Alexander and the Jews who are fighting against us, and we shall be your servants." Aretas, king of Arav, came with his army to the aid of Gaza. When Alexander heard that Aretas was coming to war against him, he left a commander to guard Gaza, and he, with the rest of the army and all his warriors, went out to confront Aretas, king of Arav. A battle broke out, and Alexander was victorious. Aretas fled from him and went to his land to Desert Rock (Petra), and many of his men were killed at that time. The king returned to Gaza and besieged her for one year.

At that time, Pysimachus (Lysimachus) rose up and killed Apolodotus, his brother, commander of Gaza. The Gazans rose up to kill Pysimachus, but Pysimachus hurried to the gate and, opening the gate of Gaza, called in Alexander and the Jews. The Jews rose up and, raising a cry, passed through the gate and captured the city. Alexander entered the city and commanded his warriors to kill all the inhabitants of the city without mercy, and he smote all her males with the sword; only Pysimachus and all his household did he let live.

Five hundred leaders of the city fled to the temple of Apollinus (Apollo). When Alexander was told, he brought them out of the temple and commanded that they be killed in the midst of the city. He burned the temple of Apollinus, and all its priests he burned with fire inside the temple. The gold statue of Apollinus was thrown into the fire at the king's command; after some days, they collected the gold from the fire. The king returned to Jerusalem and sat upon his throne and reigned in peace.