Nadene Goldfoot
General Pompey (106-48 BCE) was a Roman general. He arrived in Syria in 65 BCE and became the arbiter in the dispute between Hyrcanus II, elder son of Alexander Yannai and Salome Alexandra who will die in 31 BCE and Aristobulus, younger brother of Hyrcanus II for the throne of Judea.
Aristobulus became king and reigned from 67 to 63 BCE. Civil War started and in 63 the 2 brothers went to Damascus to talk with Pompey who ordered Aristobulus to surrender all the Judean strongholds, including Jerusalem. Aristobulus was forced to agree, but not his supporters.
When Pompey went to Syria, he was visited by ambassadors from Syria and Egypt, with Aristobulus sending him a very expensive golden vine. A little later, ambassadors from Hyrcanus and Aristobulus went to see him. The former claimed that first Aulus Gabinius and then Scaurus had taken bribes. Pompey decided to arbitrate the dispute later, at the beginning of spring, and marched to Damascus.
There, he heard the cases of Hyrcanus, Aristobulus and those who did not want a monarchy and wanted to return to the tradition of being under the high priest. Hyrcanus claimed that he was the rightful king as the elder brother and that he had been usurped, accusing Aristobulus of making incursions in nearby countries and being responsible for piracy, thus causing a revolt.
Aristobulus claimed that Hyrcanus' indolence had caused him to be deposed, and that he took power lest others seize it. Pompey reproached Aristobulus for his violence, and told the men to wait for him, for he would settle the matter after dealing with the Nabataeans. However, Aristobulus went to Judea. This angered Pompey, who marched on Judea and went to the fortress of Alexandreium, where Aristobulus fled to.
Pompey laid siege to the Temple hill, and after 3 months, captured the Temple in 63. This marked the end of Judea's political independence. Aristobulus was taken prisoner and sent to Rome. Together with his son, Antigonus, Aristobulus escaped in 56 BCE and returned to Judea. the Romans besieged him in the fortress of Makhvar (Machaaerus in Transjordan) and took him prisoner, sending him again to Rome.
Aristobulus went to talk to Pompey and returned to the fortress three times to pretend he was complying with him, intending to wear him down and prepare for war should he rule against him. When Pompey ordered him to surrender the fortress, Aristobulus did give it up, but withdrew to Jerusalem and prepared for war. While Pompey was marching on Jerusalem, he was informed about the death of Mithridates.
Pompey encamped at Jericho, where Aristobulus went to see him, promising to give him money, and received him into Jerusalem. Pompey forgave him and sent Aulus Gabinius with soldiers to receive the money and the city. However, the soldiers of Aristobulus did not let them in, which led Pompey to arrest Aristobulus and enter Jerusalem. The pro-Aristobulus faction went to the Temple and prepared for a siege, while the rest of the inhabitants opened the city gates.
Pompey sent in an army led by Piso and placed garrisons in the city and at the palace, yet the enemy refused to negotiate. Pompey built a wall around the area of the Temple and encamped inside this wall. However, the temple was well fortified and there was a deep valley around it. The Romans built a ramp and brought siege engines and battering rams from Tyre.
Pompey took advantage of the enemy celebrating the Sabbath to deploy his battering rams, since Jewish law did not allow the Jews to meddle with the enemy if they were not attacking them on the day of the Sabbath. Therefore, the defenders of the Temple did not counter the deployment of the battering rams by the Romans, which, on the other days of the week, they had successfully prevented.
The next day, the wall of the Temple was broken through and the soldiers went on a rampage. According to Josephus, 12,000 Jews fell. Josephus wrote "No small enormities were committed about the temple itself, which, in former ages, had been inaccessible, and seen by none; for Pompey went into it, and not a few of those that were with him also, and saw all that which it was unlawful for any other men to see but only for the high priests. There were in that temple the golden table, the holy candlestick, and the pouring vessels, and a great quantity of spices; and besides these there were among the treasures two thousand talents of sacred money: yet did Pompey touch nothing of all this, on account of his regard to religion; and in this point also he acted in a manner that was worthy of his virtue."
Pompey left the shrine intact, although entering the Holy of Holies (inner sanctum) which was huge no no. The Temple, a shrine for the Ark, sacred vessels and offerings consisted essentially of a hall, shrine, and inner sanctum (holy of holies.)
The next day, he ordered the men in charge of the Temple to purify it, and to bring offerings to God, as Jewish law required. Pompey restored Hyrcanus, the rightful king and eldest son to the high priesthood "both because he had been useful to him in other respects, and because he hindered the Jews in the country from giving Aristobulus any assistance in his war against him."
Pompey returned the Syrian cities the Jews had conquered to Syrian rule, thus bringing Judea back to its original territory. He rebuilt the city of Garara and restored seven inland cities and four coastal ones to its inhabitants. He also made Jerusalem a tributary of Rome and Judea a satellite of Syria. According to Josephus, Pompey then went to Cilicia, taking Aristobulus and his children with him, and, after this, he returned to Rome.
Aristobulus and his family were taken to Rome to grace Pompey's triumph. Pompey effectively terminated Jewish independence enjoyed since Simon the Maccabee who died in 135 BCE.
When Julius Caesar rose to power, Aristobulus was released in 49 BCE and promised 2 legions with which to attack Pompey's supporters in Syria. He was poisoned before being able to embark.
Judea was made tributary and stripped of the territories acquired by the Hasmoneans.
In April 70 ce, about the time of Passover, the Roman general Titus besieged Jerusalem. He was then emperor from 79 to 81 CE. Since that action coincided with Passover, the Romans allowed pilgrims to enter the city but refused to let them leave—thus strategically depleting food and water supplies within Jerusalem. This time, Titus saw to it that the Temple was burnt down, destroyed and so was the city of Jerusalem and most all the people were either killed or taken prisoner as slaves. Titus is called Titus, the Wicked.
Judea had been attacked twice, once by Pompey 100 years ago and now by Titus.
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