ALE 



caufcd a rebellion, which brought on a civil war, that lafted 

 fix years. Dcinctriii?, fumamcd Eiichterus, adiited the rebels 

 with a conliderable force ; and after Tome previous iliinniftics 

 Alexander was defeated, and forced to retire for (belter to 

 the mountains. This defeat, however, induced the Jews 

 ^ho had joined Demetrius to defert him, and join the army 

 of Alexander ; and Demetrius.alarmcdby this dcfcAion.lcft 

 Judia. This circumilance afi'orded Alexander an oppor- 

 tunity to march againft the rebellious Jews ; but tbough he 

 defeated them in every engagemait, the fur)' of their rcfent- 

 ment continued till a'ddcifivc battle put an end to the war. 

 In this lall afiion he cut off the grcatell part of their army, 

 and drove the reft into Bcthome, which he befiegcd and 

 captured. Tofcphus, who being a zealous Pharifec, may 

 poffibly have exaggerated, infomis us, that be caufed Sco 

 of the principal captives to be earned to Jerufakm, where 

 they were all crucified at the fame time and place ; and that 

 whilft they were hanging on the crofs, he ordered their wives 

 and children to be butchered before their faces. It is added 

 bv the hiftorian, that a banquet was prepared for himfelf and 

 his concubines, fo near to this horrible fcene, that they might 

 behold and enjoy the torture and diftrcfs of the fufferers. 

 After this event, the rebels difperfed ; nor were the Pharifees 

 ■ able to make any effort againfl him as long as he lived. The 

 fncceeding years of his hfe were employed in extending his 

 conquerts througli Syria, Idumaea, Arabia and Ph^nicia ; 

 and in ellabhihing his charaftcr as a warhke and viftorious 

 prince. His return to Jerufalem, after an expedition of 

 three years' continuance, was the occafion of loud acclama- 

 tipns on the part of his fubjefts. But from this time he 

 demoted himfelf to drinking and other debaucheries ; which 

 at length brought on a quartan ague, that prevailed till the 

 day of his death, which happened about three years after 

 his return. His ambition for making new conquefts ftill 

 continued ; but his ftrength being exhaufted both by fatigue 

 snd intemperance, he died in bis camp before Regaba, a 

 fortrefs in the Geiafcne territory beyond Jordan, which he 

 Tvas bcfieging, in the 27th year of his reign, in the year 

 before Chrift 79. He left two fons, Hyrcanus and Arifto- 

 bulus ; but decreed by his will, that his wife Alexandra 

 fhould govern the kingdom during her life, and appoint 

 for her fucccfTor either of them, according to her own plea- 

 fure. Alexandra, by conciliating the Pharifees, according 

 to the advice of lier hufband, fccured their influence with 

 the people ; fo that they celebrated the funeral of the 

 dcceafcd king with great pomp, and confirmed her as a 

 fovereign adminiftratrix of the nation. Her eldeft fon 

 Hyrcanus was appointed high prieft, and the direction of 

 all affairs of importance was committed to the Pharifees. 

 Their refentment againfl thofe who had oppofcd them in 

 the late reign ftill continued ; and they contrived every me- 

 thod that was practicable for deflroying them. This con- 

 duft, to which they faw no end, induced them to affemble, 

 and with Ariflobulus at tlieir head to wait on the queen and 

 to implore her proteftion. The queen, having furrcndered 

 herfelf and the government to the Pharifees, could devifc 

 no means for their liberty, that were likely to be effcftual. 

 At length (lie complied with their requeft, and confenled 

 that they fhould difperfc themfelves into places where fhe 

 had garrifons. In the year before Chrift 70, Alexandra 

 was feized with a diforder which threatened her life ; and 

 when Ariftobulus perceived her danger, he repaired to liis 

 ■friends, in the garrifoncd towns, and they arranged them- 

 felves in great numbers under his ftandard ; hoping that he 

 would exert himfelf for abohfliing the odious and oppreflive 

 tyranny of the Pharifees, and well knowing, that no fervicc 



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of this kind could be expefted from his brother Hyrcanus, 

 who had been educated ly his mother in a blind fuluiiifTion 

 to this fed. The Pharifees were alarmed, and accompanied 

 Hyrcanus to the queen, in order to reprefent what had oc- 

 curred, and to demand her afiillance. The impaired llate of 

 her he'nlth would not admit of her interference, and having 

 left the care of the government to them, fhe appointed 

 Hyrcanus her heir general, and foon after expired. Accord- 

 ingly he took pofTefiion of the throne, and raifed an army to 

 oppofe his brother, who was fupported by the people. A 

 battle near Jericho decided the quarrel. Hyrcanus, aban- 

 doned by the greatefl part of his troops, who went over 

 to his brother, was obliged to fly to Jerufalem, and after- 

 wards to feek an afylum in the caftle of Baris, whilll his 

 partifans, who were chiefly of the (cA of the Pharifees, took 

 refuge in the temple. In a little wOiile they, as well as 

 Hyrcanus, fubmittcd to Ariflobulus, and in the year before 

 Chrifl 69, he obtained both the high-prieflhood and the 

 crown. Jofephus Ant. lib. xiii. c. 12 — 15. torn. i. p. 666 — 

 675. Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 4. torn. ii. p. 59 — 62. Anc. Un. 

 Hill. vol. iii. p. 114 — 123. Rollin's Anc. Hift. vol. viii. 

 p. 4— II. 



Alexander, Balas, king of Syria, was, as fome fay, 

 the natural fon of Antiochus Epiphanes, but according to 

 others, a young man of mean extratlion at Rhodes, named 

 Balas, fuborned by Herachdes, at the infligation of Pto- 

 lemy, Attalus, and Ariarathes, to perfoliate the fon of 

 Antiochus Epiphanes, and under that title, to lay claim to 

 the crown of Syria, in oppofition to Demetrius. After he 

 had been acknowledged by the three kings above-mentioned, 

 Herachdes, who condufted the impoflure,took him to Rome, 

 in the year before Chrifl 153, and together with him Lao- 

 dicea, the real daughter of Antiochus Epiphanes, and pre- 

 fented them to the fenate, who received them gracioufly, 

 and pafTed a decree in their favour ; though, as Polybius 

 afferts, (Legat. cxlii. p. 966.) the whole city was con- 

 vinced of the impoflure. The fenate not only acknowledged 

 Balas under the affumed name of Alexander, but decreed, 

 tliat their allies fhould aflifl him in his endeavours for reca- 

 vering the rights of his father. Thus countenanced by the 

 Roman fenate, he landed in Syria, and found no difficulty 

 in raifing troops, which, together with the fuccours afforded 

 him by Ptolemy, Attalus and Ariarathes, enabled him to 

 make himfelf mafter of Ptolemais, the reduftion of which 

 induced a great number of perfons who were difaffefted to 

 Demetrius to join him. Demetrius and Alexander were 

 competitors for the favour and fupport of Jonathan, who 

 had fucceeded Judas Maccabxus in the command of the 

 Jewilh forces, and flrove to outvie each other in their alluring 

 offers. Alexander, however, prevailed ; and with him Jo- 

 nathan jbrmed an alliance. Thefe tvro competitors took 

 the field at the head of their refpeftive armies ; and though 

 Alexander was defeated, he maintained his ground ; and 

 being fupplied by his powerful allies with frelh fuccours, 

 he fucceeded in a fecond battle, in which Demetrius was 

 killed, before Chrifl 150. Alexander, having gained pof- 

 feffion of the whole Syrian empire, fent an embaffy ta 

 Egypt, demanding Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy, in 

 marriage ; and the king not only complied with his requeft, 

 but attended her in perfon, and the nuptials were folemnized 

 at Ptolemais in a very fplendid and magnificent manner. 

 Alexander could not bear his elevation and profperity, but 

 became indolent and debauched, and committed the manage- 

 ment of his affairs to a profligate and tyrannical favourite, 

 whofc name was Ammonias, and who conduced himfelf 

 with a degree of defpotifm aud cruelty, which expofgd him 

 (i and 



