JEWS. 



Jtv*. Roman forces in the east, the arbitrator of their differ- 

 ^T"YT^ encea. Pompey had resolved to take the part of Hyr- 

 '" canus ; and Aristobulus, suspecting this, prepared to 

 JSLio/ defend himself against the Romans. On this, the Ro- 

 il... . man general *umraoned him to appear before him, 

 which he reluctantly did. Pompey insisted that he 

 should deliver up all the fortified places he possessed. 

 Upon this he fled to Jerusalem, but being quickly fol- 

 lowed by Pompey, to prevent hostilities, he promised to 

 pay him a large sum of money. Some troops were ac- 

 cordingly sent to receive the stipulated sum, but they 

 were repulsed by the garrison of Jerusalem. This exas- 

 perated Pompey so much, that he immediately marched 

 again*! that city. The Jews were still so scrupulous, 

 that they would not do any thing on the Sabbath to 

 prevent the besiegers from carrying on their works. 

 S B. C. xhe city was therefore taken in the year 63 B. C. 

 Twelve thousand of the inhabitants were slaughtered, 

 and many more put an end to their own lives. Hyr- 

 canus was restored to the dignity of high priest, with 

 the title of prince, but forbidden to assume the title of 

 king, or to extend hi* territories beyond Judea. The 

 walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, and a Roman go- 

 vernor and garrison were left in it. Aristobulus, and 

 hi* two sons Alexander and Antigonus, were carried 

 by Pompey to Rome ; but Alexander escaped into Ju- 

 dea, ana raited an army of 1 1,500 men. Hyrcanus on 

 this applied to the Roman* for assistance : Alexander 

 ventured a battle, but wa* defeated with considerable 

 lot*. After this, hi* mother contrived to make his 

 p*ac with the Roman*. Judea wa* at this period di- 

 vided into five districts, in each of which a separate 

 court of judicature wa* erected. The first of these was 

 at Jerusalem ; the eecond at Gadara ; the third at A- 

 math ; the fourth at Jericho ; and the fifth at Sephoris 

 in Galilee. 

 The Jew* having ingratiated themselves with Ciwar, 



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during the civil wan between him and Pompey, were 

 o highly favoured while be lived, that they could 

 career/ be Mud to feel the Roman yoke. After his 

 rhrth, however, great commotions prevailed among 

 them, which were not put down till Herod, who was 

 maHil King of Judea by If arc Anthony in the year 

 40 B. C. wa* firmly established on the throne by 

 the taking of Jerusalem by the Roman* in 37 B. C. 

 But the Jew* toon found that they had only changed 

 civil EatMnofiiHi* far the most dreadful tyranny. The 

 whole C*jndKt of Herod wa* *o cruel, that an attempt 

 was made to dcatiOT him. This, however, did not suc- 

 ceed ; and Herod, having discovered the authors of the 

 plot, cmiuJ them and their familie* to be put to death. 

 niMllj after tm, however, he regained, in some degree, 

 the confidence and attachment ofni* subjects, by his ge- 

 nerosity to them during a famine. About the year 23 

 B. C. be rebuilt the temple with great splendour and 

 magnificence. These, however, were only intervals of 

 hi* mtehy and tyranny. At length, be was seized with 

 most loathsome and incurable disease, of which he 

 died. He divided his kingdom among his son* in the 

 following manner: To Archelaus, he allotted Judea; 

 to Herod, or Antipa*, Galilee and Pirea ; and to Phi- 

 lip, Trachoniti*, Gaulon, Hatinea, and Paniaa. 



No sooner wa* hi* death known, than tumults, sedi- 

 tion*, and insurrections arose. An appeal was made 

 to Augustus, who made the following division of the 

 kingdom : Arrhetaus had one half, with the title of 

 Fthnarch. Hi* portion contained Judea Proper, Idu- 

 and Samaria. The remainder wa* divided be* 



VOL. U. PART II. 



tween Philip and Herod; the former of whom had Jews. 

 Trachonitis, Batanea, and Auranitis, together with a "T""' 

 small part of Galilee; the latter had the- rest of Gali- 

 lee, and the countries beyond the Jordan. 



A few years after this division, Archelaus was sum- 

 moned to Rome by the Emperor, in consequence of 

 complaints against his tyranny. His effects were con- 

 fiscated, himself banished, and a Roman governor ap- 

 pointed over Judea, which was declared a Roman pro- Declared a 

 vince. The Jews, dissatisfied at this arrangement, and Roman 

 moreover, excited to tumult by the taxes imposed upon province, 

 them by their new masters, were seldom quiet ; their rest- 

 lessness was increased by their expectation at this time 

 of their Messiah ; and, as they anticipated in him a 

 temporal prince, they looked forward to his coming as 

 the era of their emancipation from the Roman yoke, 

 and their restoration to national independance and 

 power. The governors appointed by the Romans were 

 frequently changed, but seldom was the change bene- 

 ficial to the Jews. About the 16th year of Christ, Pon- Pontius Pi- 

 tius Pilate was appointed governor : his administration lateappoim- 

 was one continued scene of rapine, tyranny, and cruel- ** S OT , er - 

 ty. Seven years after his condemnation of our Saviour, ^ 

 he was removed from the government, and Agrippa, A. b. 16. 

 the grandson of Herod, was raised to the royal dignity. 

 His character and conduct were similar to those of his 

 grandfather, and his death was equally dreadful and 

 singular. On his death, Judea was again declared a. 

 Roman province. The governors appointed to rule 

 over it were distinguished for every species of vice ; 

 and from them the Jews suffered so much, that many 

 of the inhabitants emigrated. About this time it was 

 computed that there were in Jerusalem between 

 2,500,000 and 3,000,000 Jews. 



In the year 67 A. D. that fatal war between the War be- 

 Jews and the Romans commenced, which ended in the tween the 

 destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews. Jews and 

 The immediate cause of this war was a dispute between 5'i? n sV 

 the Jews and the Syrians respecting the city of Caesa- 

 rea. Nero decided the question against the former, 

 who immediately took up arms. Dreadful cruelties 

 were committed by both parties, but the Jews suffered 

 most : 20,000 of them were massacred by the Syrians 

 and Romans at Casarea ; 50,000 at Alexandria ; 2000 

 at Ptolemais, and 3500 at Jerusalem. Soon after these 

 massacres, the Jews obtained some partial and tempo- 

 rary successes, in consequence of which Vespasian was 

 sent into Judea with an army of 60,000 men in the 

 year 68 A. D. His success was great and rapid, while 

 the Jews, instead of uniting to oppose him, and save 

 their country, were divided into two parties : one were 

 for submitting to the Romans, the other opposed all 

 peaceable measures. This dissension was not confined 

 to Jerusalem, but spread through all the cities, towns, 

 and villages of Judea: even houses and families were 

 divided against each other. Jerusalem was the scene 

 of their contentions. The city was filled with butch- 

 eries of the most horrid kind. Twelve thousand per- 

 sons of noble extraction, and in the flower of their age, 

 were put to death by the Zealots, for so that party 

 who were for war with the Romans were called. The 

 Zealots, after having massacred or driven away the op- 

 posite party, turned their arms against themselves, till, 

 in the year 72 A. D. Titus advanced at the head of a 

 powerful army against Jerusalem. This for a while Jerusalem 

 suspended their mutual animosities ; but they soon re- besieged by 

 turned to them, and thus facilitated the triumph of the 

 Romans. 



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