Given Hebrew name: Jehudah
(Judah; Greek: Judas)
Seventh Hasmonean
ruler of Judea. The impetuous younger
son of Alexander
Jannai & Salome
Alexandra rebelled against
his mother, defeated his older brother Hyrcanus
at Jericho
& proclaimed himself high priest & king. He was supported by
the Sadducees but was driven from Jerusalem
(65 BCE) by Arab armies of Nabatea [Jordan], who came to his
brother's aid at the invitation of Antipater.
Aristobulus called for & received support from the Roman legate
of Syria. But Hyrcanus appealed directly to Pompey,
the Roman conqueror of Syria, who was in Damascus. Aristobulus sent
a counter-petition to Pompey. Yet, rather than wait for Pompey's
decision --- which was complicated by an appeal by residents of
Jerusalem to abolish the Judean monarchy & return to a theocracy
---, Aristobulus seized the fortress of Alexandrium. Pompey used
this as a pretext to attack Jerusalem. When Aristobulus'
aristocratic supporters fortified themselves in the temple, Pompey
breached the walls, slaughtered thousands of Jews in the sanctuary
& even entered the holy of holies. Aristobulus was sent to Rome
as a hostage. He was eventually released by Julius
Caesar (49 BCE), only to be
poisoned by Pompey's supporters before he could wrest control of
Jerusalem from supporters of his older brother.
References:
Josephus,
Antiquities
13.407-433;
14.4-58,
71-82,
92-100,
120-126.
140-142.
_____, War
1.109, 114-160,
171-184.
Other online
resources:
Perspective on the
World of Jesus 