The Tale Of Mad King Aristobulus I

When High Priest John Hyrcanus of Jerusalem died in 104 BCE, he was survived by his wife and five sons. The office of high priest, at the time, was controlled by the Maccabee/Hasmonean Dynasty, and therefore the sons of John Hyrcanus vied over the succession. Aristobulus, the eldest of the sons, succeeded in a contested play for power. He proclaimed himself to be the new high priest, but, to get what he wanted, he reportedly had to imprison his mother and three of his four brothers. Once in power, Aristobulus became the first member of the Hasmonean Dynasty to not only call himself high priest, but also to adopt the title of king.

King Aristobulus showed little mercy to his mother and siblings while they were imprisoned and what they experienced was in no way a cozy house-arrest. Instead, conditions were so harsh that Aristobulus’ mother reportedly died in prison from malnourishment and mistreatment. As for the one brother who was allowed to walk free, his fate was worse than his brothers. This last sibling, named Antigonus, was said to have eventually been assassinated by Aristobulus.

Tyrannical King Aristobulus, fortunately for his family, did not rule for long. Perhaps his conscience was plagued by guilt over the deaths of his mother and brother, or maybe the authoritarian treatment of his family was inspired by a madness brought on by illness. Whatever the case, King Aristobulus I reportedly fell deathly ill by 103 BCE. Josephus, a Jewish priest and historian from the 1st century, presented a colorful account of the king’s death in his text, The Jewish War:

“As for Aristobulus, remorse for the abomination he had committed precipitated an immediate sickness. Thoughts of the murder kept troubling his mind, and he fell into a decline: eventually pure concentrated anguish corroded his guts, and he vomited a copious quantity of blood….in a moment he was dead. He had been king for no more than a year” (The Jewish War, I.81-84).

After the death of Aristobulus, the king’s surviving siblings were released from prison. Unfortunately, these finally-freed brothers started a new cycle of bloodshed. The eldest of the brothers, Alexander, claimed the vacated titles of high priest and king in yet another disputed succession. To enforce his claim, Alexander ordered the death of a rival brother.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Aristobulus I from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Josephus’ The Jewish War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1768-aristobulus-i 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristobulus-I

The Morbid Bank Of High-Priest John Hyrcanus

John Hyrcanus, a member of the Maccabee/Hasmonean Dynasty, ruled Jerusalem from 135 to 104 BCE. Around the same time as John Hyrcanus’ ascendance, the Jewish state was invaded by the Seleucid Empire, from which the Hasmonean Dynasty of high priests had rebelled in 167 BCE. Antiochus VII, leader of the Seleucids, marched his army to the walls of Jerusalem in 135 or 134 BCE, intending to bring the Jewish realm back into a state of vassalage. A siege ensued, in which both the attackers and defenders suffered from inadequate supplies. As neither side was in an ideal situation to continue the siege, Antiochus VII and John Hyrcanus opened up peace negotiations. For these talks, the high priest needed to find more resources that he could use as leverage in the bargain. As the story goes, John Hyrcanus obtained these bargaining chips from a morbid source.

Josephus, a Jewish priest and historian from the 1st century, wrote about how John Hyrcanus responded to the siege of Antiochus VII. In The Jewish War, Josephus wrote, “Hyrcanus opened the tomb of David, the wealthiest of kings, and extracted more than 3,000 talents. He spent 300 on bribing Antiochus to raise the siege, and used the residue to hire a force of mercenaries—he was the first Jew to adopt this practice” (The Jewish War, I.61). What Josephus biasedly called a bribe, other ancient historians instead interpreted as a submittal by John Hyrcanus to the demands of Antiochus VII. Yet, the high priest of Jerusalem was indeed able to negotiate favorable terms for himself. Although John Hyrcanus, in the negotiations, apparently recognized Seleucid power and agreed to some demilitarization, he also convinced Antiochus VII to recognize Maccabee/Hasmonean rule in Jerusalem, and to allow the dynasty to continue exercising autonomy.

John Hyrcanus’ early concessions worked out in the long run, as he was able to regain lost ground after the death of Antiochus VII in 129 BCE, at which point the Seleucid Empire fell into a succession crisis and civil war. Along with the mercenaries paid by the treasure from King David’s tomb, John Hyrcanus also added a further check against foreign threats by reportedly making some sort of partnership or alliance with Rome.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Hoard of ancient gold coins, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Josephus’ The Jewish War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7972-hyrcanus-john-johanan-i 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Hyrcanus-I 
• https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-vii-sidetes/ 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antiochus-VII-Sidetes 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Flavius-Josephus 
• https://www.ancient.eu/King_David/