With the decline in power of the ruling Seleucid
dynasty of Syria in the second century B.C., the
Hasmoneans began to assert a greater political
independence for the Jewish people. Upon the
death of Alexander Janaeus in 76 B.C., ids widow
Salome Alexandra took over the reign of power.
However, because a woman could not hold the
office of high priest, Janaeus, john Hyrcanus II,
gave tills title to her son. When Salome died in
67 B.C., a civil war broke out between Hyrcanus
and ids brother Aristobulus II that lasted four
years, until the Roman general Pompey
intervened. Pompey then conquered Jerusalem
but left the powers of john Hyrcanus as high
priest intact. From tills time onward, the Romans
took an active hand in the political affairs of
Judea. One of john Hyrcanus' chief advisors was
Antipater the Idumean, who saw that ids own
son Herod was eventually installed on the throne
after the death of Hyrcanus in 40 B.C.
- (FJ.5885)
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