1.164
Now when Gabinius was come to Alexandrium, because he found a great
many there en-camped, he tried, by promising them pardon for their former
offenses, to induce them to come over to him before it came to a fight;
but when they would hearken to no terms of accommodation, he slew a great
number of them, and shut up a great number of them in the citadel. Now
Marcus Antonius, their leader, signalized himself in this battle, who,
as he always showed great courage, so did he never show it so much as now;
but Gabinius, leaving forces to take the citadel, went away himself, and
settled the cities that had not been demolished, and rebuilt those that
had been destroyed. Accordingly, upon his injunctions, the following cities
were restored: Scythopolis, and Samaria, and Anthedon, and Apollonia, and
Jamnia, and Raphia, and Mariassa, and Adoreus, and Gamala, and Ashdod,
and many others; while a great number of men readily ran to each of them,
and became their inhabitants.
1.167
When Gabinius had taken care of these cities, he returned to Alexandrium,
and pressed on the siege. So when Alexander despaired of ever obtaining
the government, he sent ambassadors to him, and prayed him to forgive what
he had offended him in, and gave up to him the remaining fortresses, Hyrcanium
and Macherus, as he put Alexandrium into his hands afterwards; all which
Gabinius demolished, at the persuasion of Alexander's mother, that they
might not be receptacles of men in a second war. She was now there in order
to mollify Gabinius, out of her concern for her relations that were captives
at Rome, which were her husband and her other children. After this Gabinius
brought Hyrcanus to Jerusalem, and committed the care of the temple to
him; but ordained the other political government to be by an aristocracy.
He also parted the whole nation into five conventions, assigning one portion
to Jerusalem, another to Gadara, that another should belong to Amathus,
a fourth to Jericho, and to the fifth division was allotted Sepphoris,
a city of Galilee. So the people were glad to be thus freed from monarchical
government, and were governed for the future by all aristocracy.
1.171
Yet did Aristobulus afford another foundation for new disturbances.
He fled away from Rome, and got together again many of the Jews that were
desirous of a change, such as had borne an affection to him of old; and
when he had taken Alexandrium in the first place, he attempted to build
a wall about it; but as soon as Gabinius had sent an army against him under
Siscuria, and Antonius, and Servilius, he was aware of it, and retreated
to Macherus. And as for the unprofitable multitude, he dismissed them,
and only marched on with those that were armed, being to the number of
eight thousand, among whom was Pitholaus, who had been the lieutenant at
Jerusalem, but deserted to Aristobulus with a thousand of his men; so the
Romans followed him, and when it came to a battle, Aristobulus's party
for a long time fought courageously; but at length they were overborne
by the Romans, and of them five thousand fell down dead, and about two
thousand fled to a certain little hill, but the thousand that remained
with Aristobulus brake through the Roman army, and marched together to
Macherus; and when the king had lodged the first night upon its ruins,
he was in hopes of raising another army, if the war would but cease a while;
accordingly, he fortified that strong hold, though it was done after a
poor manner. But the Romans falling upon him, he resisted, even beyond
his abilities, for two days, and then was taken, and brought a prisoner
to Gabinius, with Antigonus his son, who had fled away together with him
from Rome; and from Gabinius he was carried to Rome again. Wherefore the
senate put him under confinement, but returned his children back to Judea,
because Gabinius informed them by letters that he had promised Aristobulus's
mother to do so, for her delivering the fortresses up to him.
1.175
But now as Gabinius was marching to the war against the Parthians,
he was hindered by Ptolemy, whom, upon his return from Euphrates, he brought
back into Egypt, making use of Hyrcanus and Antipater to provide every
thing that was necessary for this expedition; for Antipater furnished him
with money, and weapons, and corn, and auxiliaries; he also prevailed with
the Jews that were there, and guarded the avenues at Pelusium, to let them
pass. But now, upon Gabinius's absence, the other part of Syria was in
motion, and Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, brought the Jews to revolt
again. Accordingly, he got together a very great army, and set about killing
all the Romans that were in the country; hereupon Gabinius was afraid,
(for he was come back already out of Egypt, and obliged to come back quickly
by these tumults,) and sent Antipater, who prevailed with some of the revolters
to be quiet. However, thirty thousand still continued with Alexander, who
was himself eager to fight also; accordingly, Gabinius went out to fight,
when the Jews met him; and as the battle was fought near Mount Tabor, ten
thousand of them were slain, and the rest of the multitude dispersed themselves,
and fled away. So Gabinius came to Jerusalem, and settled the government
as Antipater would have it; thence he marched, and fought and beat the
Nabateans: as for Mithridates and Orsanes, who fled out of Parthin, he
sent them away privately, but gave it out among the soldiers that they
had run away.
