The story of the last Hasmonean king and his struggle with Herod
In the summer of 47 BC, Julius Caesar arrives from Egypt to Syria in order to attack Pharnakis, the king of the Bosphorus, and grants Antipater the title of Roman citizenship and confirms to John Hyrcanus the office of the high priesthood and the status of the Athenarchy, i.e. the presidency/rule over the people ("Athens").
This situation provoked Matthias Antigonus, the son of the rebel Aristobulus, to meet with Julius Caesar and lay before him his claims - the accusation of Pompey for poisoning his father and the accusation of the conspiracy of Hyrcanus and Antipater to expel him and his family members from Judea, and he "added more" by claiming that the forces sent by Hyrcanus And Antipater for the sake of saving Julius Caesar in Egypt was made to be true because of their fear of him, of Caesar.
On the other hand, Antipater responded, and not without knowledge and logic, that Atigonus was aiming for an anti-Roman rebellion with the support of forces he was recruiting. and that any status he receives will endanger the peace and tranquility in the region.
Julius Caesar ruled in favor of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus and reconfirmed their position, and Antipater out of looking after his own interests and those of his sons/family and taking advantage of the weakness of Yochanan Hyrcanus the Hasmonean High Priest, appointed his sons as governors in force of his position and status as epitropus (overseer) over all of Judea on behalf of the Romans - He appointed Petzal the elder as the ruler/commander of Jerusalem and Herod (and by the way, for the sake of good order, his name should be pronounced from the Greek as HRODES. That is, H. Shwayt, W. Bholum Mela and D. Zira) as the governor/commander of the Galilee. From this, by the way, the status of Hyrcanus gradually eroded. It should be noted that due to his various actions in Judea, Antipater received the honor of kings from the Jews and these, the Jews, also greatly respected him due to his pleasant and considerate attitude to the Hyrcanus.
It should be noted that the above picture of the situation is not so simple, because according to distorted, late Jewish myths, Antipater and his sons were considered to be excommunicated out of disgust, and this testimony of Josephus was brought here with emphasis in order to correct the injustice of generations.
This episode connects to the famous story about Herod as the governor of the Galilee who captured a gang of Jewish listists, headed by Hezekiah the Galilean, which endangered the safety of the residents and could, in the absence of a response, invite a much more severe response from the Romans. Herod acted according to his authority and discretion and executed Hezekiah.
Plotters on behalf of the Jews made sure to discredit the Antipater family in the eyes of Hyrcanus and provoke Hyrcanus' jealousy so that he would take action. In the end, Hyrcanus decided to summon Herod before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem and try him on the charge of murder.
Herod saw this as a real test of his power, what's more he acted with authority and authority, and appeared in the Sanhedrin accompanied by a group of armed bodyguards, but not large so as not to arouse suspicion and fear that he was about to launch a coup against Hyrcanus.
Sextus, the procurator of Syria, feared that Herod would be severely punished, and perhaps even sentenced to death, so he ordered Hyrcanus to acquit Herod, who intended to do so anyway, both due to the fact that he liked him and due to the assumption that he knew how to read the political map and therefore wanted to avoid a confrontation with Antipater And especially with the Romans. This is what he wrote in his book The Wars of the Jews, but in his other work - The Antiquities of the Jews Herod himself fled according to the secret advice of Hyrcanus, and this before the end of the trial against him.
The Hasmonean Hyrcanus was indeed revealed here as a coward, as a weakling, but on the other hand he understood, and not without justice, "on which side the butter is spread", and it was better at that time to be quiet, considering still waters that penetrate deep, otherwise the price of standing firm on one or other principles, not this Not only that a personal and even high price could have been claimed here, but also a Roman political move that could have justly harmed Judah's status.
In the meantime, a great war is going on in the Roman Empire (42 BC) between the members of the Triumvirate, which Herod, the governor of Galilee, is enjoying, whose status was upgraded to the highest and highest and became the supervisor (or in another wording - the commander - the strategos) of the entire "Syrian army", including, of course, Judah , with an army of foot and cavalry at his disposal. The Hasmonean Horcanus therefore had no choice but to put up with the situation and hope that his position as high priest would not be compromised.
When Herod wanted to expand the scope of his rule in the north, he made sure to depose Marion, the ruler of Tyre, and in response Marion made a provocative move, which would have echoes later. Hela, out of rage and revenge, helped Antigonus son of Aristobulus the Hasmonean to return from his exile-captivity, considering the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Fabius - the commander of the Roman army in Damascus - participated in this move, after Antigonus bribed him with a lot of money. Where is the money from? Methlemy ben Menaios, ruler of Chalcis, in the region of Mount Lebanon, northwest of Damascus, who was Antigonus' brother-in-law. As a reminder - in one of his rebellions, Aristobulus was captured by the Romans and his son Antigonus was with him.
In the face of these opponents, Herod fought and succeeded through him. He ordered Antigonus expelled from Jerusalem. The public accepted Herod because of his successes and because of his personal connections with the Hasmonean family. Herod, it will be noted, was engaged to Miriam, daughter of Alexander ben Aristobulus, the granddaughter of Hyrcanus (42 BC), whom he would marry in five years. Hyrcanus, the grandfather, the one who was behind the initiative of the engagement, the dignitaries of Jerusalem and the Jewish public in Jerusalem in general wore wreaths of honor on Herod's head, almost as a local coronation. It should be emphasized that before the eyes of Hyrcanus there was a real danger in the form of the emerging exile/captive, that is, Antigonus, and it was only logical, politically and personally, to join forces with Herod, in order to guarantee himself industrial peace in the face of Antigonus and his rebellious ruling parties. And from Herod's point of view it was an important step in his political path, in his ambition to seize the royal crown in the region. And on the other hand, this move was also for the Romans' desire to achieve overall peace in the region.
Between the end of the year 41 BC and the year 40 BC, a geopolitical earthquake takes place in the east of the Mediterranean basin. This took place following the invasion of Judea by the Parthian armies, when within a few months it was knocking on the gates of Jerusalem.
