5. We trace now the fortunes of the next member of the family, John Hyrcams. Having been unani- mously proclaimed high-priest and ruler at Jerusalem, his first step was to march against Jericho, and avenge the death of his father and brothers. Ptolemy held there in his power the mother of Hyrcanus and her sur- viving sons, and, shutting himself up in a fortress near to Jericho— which Josephus calls Dagon, and Ewald Dok — he exposed them upon the wall, scourged and tor- mented them, and threatened to throw them down head- long unless Hyrcanus would desist from the siege. This had the effect of jiaralyzing the efforts of Hyrcanus, and, in spite of his heroic mother's entreaties to prosecute it with vigor, and disregard her suli'erings, caused him to
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protract it till the approach of the sabbatical year obliged him to raise the siege. Ptolemy, after kill- ing the mother and brethren of Hyrcanus, tied to Phil- adelphia ("Kabbath, of the children of Ammon"), which is the last we hear of him. It is not easy to see why INIilman calls this reason of the sabbatical j'ear, which is the one assigned by Josephus, " improba- ble." Ewald assigns the approach of that year as a reason for the flight of Ptolemy to Zeno, the tyrant of Pliiladelphia, because it had already raised the price of provisions, so that it became impossible for him to re- main. Antiochus meanwhile, alarmed at the energy displayed by .John, invaded Juda;a, burning up and des- olating the country on his march, and at last besieging him in Jerusalem. He compassed the city with seven encampments and a double ditch, and Hyrcanus was reduced to the last extremities. On the recurrence, however, of the Feast of Tabernacles, Antiochus granted a truce for a week, and supplied the besieged with sac- rifices for the occasion, and ended with conceding a peace, ou condition that the .Jews surrendered their arms, paid tribute for Joppa and other towns, and gave him 500 talents of silver and hostages. On this occa- sion Josephus saj's that Hyrcanus opened the sepulchre of David, and took out of it 3000 talents, which he used for his present needs and the payment of foreign merce- naries. This story is utterly discredited by Prideaux, passed over in silence by Milman, but apparently be- lieved by Ewald. Some time afterwards, having made a league with Antiochus, he marched with him on an expedition to Parthia, to deliver Demetrius Nicator, the king's captive brother. This expeilition proved fatal to Antiochus, who was killed in battle. Demetrius, hov,'8ver, made his escape, and succeeded him on the throne of Syria, whereupon Hyrcanus availed liimself of the opportunity to shake off the Syrian yoke, and es- tablish the independence of Judiea, which was main- taineil till the time of the subjugation by the Romans. He t(jok two towns beyond the Jordan, Samega and JMedaba, as well as the city of Sichem, and destroj'ed the hated Samaritan temple on Motmt Gerizim, which for 200 years had been an object of abhorrence to the Jews. He then turned his arms towards Idumtea, where he captured the towns of Dora (Ewald spells it Adora) and Marissa, and forced tlie rite of circumcision on the Idumieans, who ever afterwards retained it. He pro- ceeded further to strengthen himself by renewing a treaty, offensive and defensive, with the Komans. De- metrius, meanwhile, had little enjoyment of his king- dom. He was unacceptable to the army, who besought Ptolemy Physcon to send them a sovereign of the fam- ily of Seleucus, and he accordingly chose for them Al- exander Zebina, a pretended son of Alexander Balas. Demetrius was beaten in the fight which ensued be- tween them, and subsequently slain ; whereupon Alex- ander took the kingdom and made a league with Hyr- canus. He found a rival, however, in the person of Antiochus (irypus, the son of Demetrius, who defeated and slew him. The struggle which now took place be- tween the brothers Grypus and Cyzicenus, rivals for the throne, only tended to consolidate the power of Hyrca- nus, v;ho quietly enjoyed his independence and amassed great wealth. He likewise made an expedition to Sa- maria, and reduced the place to great distress by siege. His sons Antigonus and Aristobuhis were appointed to conduct it ; and when Antiochus Cyzicenus came to the relief of the Samaritans, he was defeated and put< to flight by Aristobidus. Cyzicenus, hovi'ever, returned with a re-enforcement of 6000 I<:gyptians, and ravaged the country, thinking to compel Hyrcanus to raise the siege. The attempt was unsuccessful, and he retired, leaving the prosecution of the Jewish war to two of his officers. They likewise failed, and, after a year, Sama- ria fell into the hands of Hyrcanus, who entirely demol- ished it, and, having dug trenches on the site, flooded it with water. After this, Hyrcanus, who himself belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, -was exposed to some indig-
nity from one of their paiiy during a banquet, which exasperated him so far that he openly renounced them, and joined himself to the ojjposite faction of the Saddu- cees. This occurrence, however, does not seem to have prevented him from passing the remainder of his days happily. He built the palace or castle of Baris on a rock within the fortitications of the Temple. Here the princes of his line held their court. It was identical with what Herod afterwards called Antonia. There is some con- fusion as to the length of his reign. It probably lasted about, thirty years. He left five sons. With liim ter- minates the upper house of the Asmonseans or Macca- bees, B.C. 107.