Josippon

In those days, Pompey the Great, Commander of the Army of Roma, advanced with a great army against Tigran (Tigranes), king of Armenia. He sent Scaurus, one of his servants, commanding him to take control over Aram. Scaurus went to Damesek (Damascus), where Aristobulus sent him envoys asking for his assistance. Hyrcanus too sent him messengers asking for his assistance. But Scaurus was unwilling to assist Hyrcanus; rather, he wanted Aristobulus's friendship, since he had given him four hundred talents of gold. Scaurus took the gold and sent a letter to Aretas, king of Arav, at Jerusalem, saying: "Leave Jerusalem, and if you do not, know that the Romans will come against you!" When Aretas read this letter, he left Jerusalem and went his way, accompanied by Hyrcanus and Antipater, for "the helper will stumble and he who is helped will be ashamed."

Aristobulus came out of Jerusalem with a small force and pursued Aretas, Hyrcanus, and Antipater and caught up with them in the Valley of Capiron, where he fought and defeated them in battle, killing six thousand warriors of the army of Arav and also many of the Judaean army of Hyrcanus; and in that battle, he also killed Cephalon, Antipater's brother. Aristobulus then returned to Jerusalem and ruled over all Yehudah.

After these events, Pompey the Great also came to Damascus, and all the nations sent him envoys. Aristobulus, too, sent him as a gift a vine of gold weighing five hundred gold talents and also a garden of gold, called Terpon by Joseph ben Gurion. And Joseph ben Gurion says: "I saw with my own eyes this vine and this garden as a statue in the Temple of Iovis in Roma; there was an inscription upon the vine as follows: 'This is the vine that Aristobulus king of Judaea sent as a gift to Roma.'"

After these events, envoys came to Pompey from Hyrcanus and from Aristobulus; Hyrcanus sent Antipater, and Aristobulus sent Nicomedes. Nicomedes pleaded with him to lend his hand to Aristobulus, for he had given him four hundred gold talents. Antipater too, when he saw that Nicomedes persuaded him to aid Aristobulus, spoke to him privately, saying: "Why do you come to the aid of Aristobulus and accept a bribe from him? Is it not better for you to rule over such a populous people as this nation of Judaea? You will gain a reputation and might, and you will have done a great deed such as your fathers did not accomplish. If you will help Hyrcanus obtain the kingdom, he will be your servant, and all the people of Yehudah will be your servants." When Pompey heard these words, he rejoiced exceedingly and told Antipater, saying: "If such is your desire, be silent until I tempt him with words; perhaps Aristobulus will come to me, for I fear to challenge him in battle lest he wage war in the mountain passes to prevent us from invading his land. Rather, wait until he comes to me, and I will deceive him and go with him to Jerusalem; then I will give the kingdom to Hyrcanus, but only if you give me an annual tax."

Whereupon Pompey called Nicomedes and deceived him, saying: "Tell Aristobulus, your lord: 'Thus spake Pompey, Commander of the Army of Roma: Hasten to me and do not tarry. I am here in Damascus. I will await you until you come to me, and I will secure the kingdom of Judaea in your hand, for thus decreed the Elder and his 320 counselors.'"

Now these are the words of the letter that Pompey sent to Aristobulus: "Pompey, Commander of the Army of Roma, to Aristobulus, king of the royal seed of the priests of God: Peace. Let it be known to you that I have received the vine and the garden that you sent to me, and I sent them to Roma. The Elder and his 320 counselors were pleased, and they gave your offering to the Temple of Iovis. They praise you there and pray for you in that place. The Elder has written to me to strengthen the kingdom in your hand. Now if it pleases you, hasten to me in Damascus, and I will fulfill your wishes as seems proper and fitting to you." This letter is written in the book of the kings of Roma.

Aristobulus went to Damascus unto Pompey the Great, hero of Roma, along with Hyrcanus, Antipater, and the Judaean elders who supported Hyrcanus and Antipater. They said to Pompey: "Judge thou, O great general and man of mercy, for Aristobulus has oppressed his elder and has usurped the kingdom with sword and javelin and by war, nor did that suffice him, for he ruled by force over the people of Judaea and has smitten all the nations, our neighbors, friends of ours from yore, treading upon them as if in a wine press and spilling much blood in their land, and he is cruel to his people and to foreigners." Antipater brought forth one thousand elder witnesses, and they testified to the truth of these things.

Aristobulus responded and said: "Indeed, I know that he is my elder brother, but he is lazy and weak, and it is not fitting that he rule. I did not covet the kingdom, nor do I love to rule, but I saw the people of Judaea in its need at the death of our mother, the queen. All the servants of Judaea, conquered by our forefathers, rebelled and disobeyed, and naught was left but ruin. When I saw this, I accepted the kingdom and fought with them, bringing them under the yoke of Judaea. And further, my father commanded before his death that I should be king after my mother, for he saw the laziness of Hyrcanus and his lack of sense." Aristobulus brought forth witnesses who testified to these things. The witnesses whom Aristobulus brought were young men, all of them dressed in royal blue and purple and all of them adorned with gold and precious stones.

Pompey was amazed at the magnificence of the youths and at the splendor of their beauty, and he said to his elders: "The men of this people are all kings! Blessed be the king who will rule over this people, and blessed would we be if able to govern this people! Our name shall be known in all lands, and fear and awe for us will fall upon all the nations when we shall have subdued this powerful people."

Pompey marched from Damascus to Jerusalem accompanied by Aristobulus and Hyrcanus. During the march, while the camp rested, Hyrcanus quarreled with his brother Aristobulus over the kingdom, and the inhabitants of the cities that Aristobulus had captured also came and cried out to Pompey how Aristobulus conquered them and subdued them. Pompey summoned Aristobulus and ordered him to return the cities to their owners and to give his signed statement to their residents that he would not invade them again. Aristobulus obeyed and, returning the cities, signed his text and did all that Pompey had commanded him.

Hyrcanus continued to quarrel with Aristobulus over the kingdom, whereupon Pompey said to them: "Be silent until I come unto your cities, then I will know what I will do for you!" Aristobulus despised Pompey and left without asking his permission; he came to Delon, from there to Pilam (Pella) and Sitopoli (Scythopolis), and from there he traveled to Alexandria (Alexandrium), where he remained. Pompey was enraged and diverted against him all the forces that he had planned to send against Persia. Pompey pursued him, catching up with him at Alexandrium, and besieged the city. Aristobulus's sages said to him: "Why are you rebelling against the Romans, who rule over nearly all the world, when you see that we have no support from our people, who have joined with them?" Aristobulus heeded them and, going out to Pompey, asked him for peace. He quarreled again with his brother over the kingdom, and again he left and entered Alexandrium against Pompey's order.

On the following day, Aristobulus came out of the city and, sounding the ram's horn, rebelled against Pompey and went to Jerusalem, with Pompey in pursuit with all the forces of the Roman army and all their might. They marched until they came to Jericho, city of fragrance, and encamped there, for in that place grew balsamo, an excellent unguent that is called panag. As Joseph ben Gurion haCohen says: "This tree is not seen anywhere else in the world save in Jericho, and many kings, even the kings of Egypt, took cuttings from that tree wishing to grow it in their own land. But the tree did not take root and desiccated; and this tree remained in Jericho until the destruction of the Temple; when the Temple was destroyed, then this tree was transferred from Jericho to Egypt and other places."

After this, Pompey rose early and left Jericho for Jerusalem. When Pompey beheld the height of the city's walls and the loftiness of her towers, how her stones shone and the glitter of her lattices, the magnificence of her beauty and the luster of her splendor, Pompey went mad viewing the grandeur of the city and said: "Who will sling a rock and who will shoot an arrow against this holy city? Blessed be the king who shall rule over this city!"

After this, Aristobulus went out to him and asked him for peace, for he repented that he had rebelled; Pompey received him and made peace with him. Aristobulus said to him: "All that you command me, I will do; and all that you assess me, I will give; only aid me in the matter of the kingship and do not humiliate me before my enemies!" Pompey said to him: "Bring me the vessels of gold of your temple and the precious stones; I will send them to Kittim, to Roma, to the Temple of Iovis, then I will fulfill all your wishes!" Aristobulus consented to do so, and Pompey sent Gabinius, a valiant and mighty warrior, one of the heroes of Roma, to take the vessels and the precious stones from the Temple of Jerusalem. But the people refused to give what Pompey asked and chased Gabinius from the city, and many Roman warriors died in the fighting within the city.

Pompey was furious and put Aristobulus under guard and bound him with chains; then he approached the city to fight against her with a mighty hand. He saw that the city was well fortified from every corner, for it was situated on a very high mountain save for the broad approach at its north; Pompey arrayed all his battle weapons there; and his whole force was with him, a mighty and very strong force, for the entire army of Roma that had been sent to Persia and Media was assembled at Jerusalem. The Jerusalemites sallied suddenly to attack Pompey, and raising a great cry, they rushed to his camp, killing many. The valor of the men and the swiftness of the youth so dismayed Pompey that he considered withdrawing from the city.

Fighting broke out within the city of Jerusalem between the supporters of Hyrcanus and those of Aristobulus. Hyrcanus's men ordered the gate opened to receive Pompey into the city, while Aristobulus's men prevented him from entering. The fighting inside was stronger than the fighting outside, and many of Yehudah died in that fighting. When Pompey heard this, he approached the gate, and the Jews themselves opened the gate and received Pompey with all his force within the city.

Pompey captured Jerusalem and the king's palace; only the Temple of God he did not capture, for the priests had closed the gates of God's Temple: they seized the approaches to the Temple and fought mightily. Now that month was the fourth month, and the priests fought until the seventeenth day of it. On the day of the fast, while the priests were offering up the meal offering and sacrificing the peace offerings and the burnt offerings before God's altar, Pompey too offered up the ram to batter the tower of the Temple, and, crushing the tower, it knocked it to the ground. Thus, they opened the inner recesses of the Temple; the first to ascend were Cornelius and Faustus, sons of Sylla, and they entered the Temple when the priests were sacrificing the peace offering and the burnt offerings before God. Following Cornelius was Furius and his men, and behind Furius came Fabius with a strong force of Pompey's warriors, their swords unsheathed in hand. They marched into the Temple, smiting about the priests of God. But the priests did not fear, nor did they dread the drawn swords, nor were they agitated by the flashing spears, nor were they agitated by the shining spears, nor did they tremble at the corpses falling dead within the Temple, for the priests walked over the corpses to celebrate God's service: to offer His peace offerings, to hallow His holocausts, and to offer His qorbanot. The priests said to one another: "Strengthen yourselves and be strong, O priests of God, and let us be killed before His altar, for it is fitting that we die in our watch and not leave the Service of God nor cast His work away!" God's priests continued without fear or dread in the eye of the battle's storm just as a man might walk in the midst of peace. When a priest of those sacrificing the peace offering fell, his colleague would come and take the qorban from his hand and offer it up; and when they had slain him as well, his companion would come and replace him as he had done for his colleague until all God's service was completed by the priests on the day of the fast. Thus, they slaughtered the priests, all of them wearing the ephod garment and dressed in holy vestments, and the corpses of the priests fell upon the carcasses of their peace offerings, and their blood intermingled with the blood of the peace offerings, and they died in holiness before the altar of God.

Joseph ben Gurion in his book spoke about the affair of the priests, saying: "I spoke no lie in anything that I have said about the priests of God, and anyone who reads my book and does not believe my words, let him go and read other authors' books, for many authors bear witness to this. Behold, it is written in the book of Nicholaus of Damascus and in the book of Strabo of Caphtor and in the book of Titus (Livy), the author who wrote Pompey's deeds, and in the books of many others." Joseph ben Gurion added still more things that we have not written here. Now when the last of the priests was dead in the Temple, Pompey's generals entered the Sanctuary and remained there. These are their names: Gaius and Antonius and Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was an author and wrote in his book everything he saw about God's priests and his Sanctuary.

After this, Pompey, accompanied by many others, entered the Temple; he saw the Holy of Holies and took pity, touching nothing in the Sanctuary, for they found a great many golden vessels and two thousand talents of gold drachmas. Pompey wished to touch nothing that he found in the Temple; he ordered the rest of the priests to purify the Temple and to offer the sacrifice, to sacrifice burnt offerings, and so they did.

He gave the kingdom to Hyrcanus and killed the supporters of Aristobulus; he took Aristobulus and bound him in chains to lead him to Roma. All the cities of Aram that the Judaeans took in battle he returned them to the Aramaeans; and all the territory that the Hasmonean kings had conquered Pompey returned to its inhabitants; and all the nations that were subdued to Jerusalem for ages he freed them from being servants of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, mistress over all the cities, became subject to Roma, and, too, the nation of Yehudah, a kingdom of priests, was subjugated.

Thus spake Joseph ben Gurion, saying: "All this came upon us from the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, for they initiated this evil in Jerusalem, and we became slaves to Roma. Henceforth we sank from greatness and became subdued."