of his party. The Pharisees were still active and powerful, and they soon found a person who rendered their influence subservient to his own aggrandisement, and by whose descendants the Asmonean family were superseded in the government of Judæa. Antipater the son of Antipas an Idumæan, the principal person of his country, of which his father had been governor under Alexander Jannæus, and in religion no doubt a Jew, assumed and sustained the party of Hyrcanus. Representing to that feeble and timid prince, that his life was not safe while he remained in Jerusalem, he easily persuaded him to flee to the protection of Aretas the king of Petra in Arabia. Aretas gladly caught hold of the pretext for the invasion of Judæa. Aristobulus was defeated, and was besieged in the temple. The animosity of the besiegers was carried to a height beyond which it was impossible for the Jews to go. It was the time of the Passover ; and Aristobulus applied to the besiegers, for a sufficient number of lambs for the festival. They promised him a supply upon condition that he paid a thousand drachms of silver for every head, and that they had the money beforehand. But when they had received the money, they withheld the lambs; upon which the priests immediately went to the altar, and imprecated the vengeance of God upon the men who could throw such infamous contempt upon his holy religion.

Describe the first actual interposition of the Romans in the affairs of Judæa.

The Romans now appeared upon the borders of Judæa; the mightiest monarchies of Asia had disappeared before their discipline and valour; and they were now virtually the masters of the world. Scaurus, a lieutenant of Pompey the Great, had taken possession of Damascus, and to him the Jewish competitors appealed. The treasures, and perhaps the character of Aristobulus, gained a decision in his favour, and Aretas was commanded to raise the siege of the temple. The Arabian monarch complied; and A. C. 65. Aristobulus, collecting a small body of troops, pursued, overtook, and defeated him with the loss of seven thousand men. But the illustrious and invincible Pompey himself arrived at Damascus; his fiat

disposed of the crowns and kingdoms of Asia; before him the agents of the brothers, Antipater for Hyrcanus, and Nicodemus for Aristobulus appeared first, and afterwards the rivals pleaded their own cause. The decision was delayed; Aristobulus was alarmed; and he instantly provided for his security, by fortifying and garrisoning the almost impregnable fortress of Ålexandrion. The operations of Pompey were delayed by his expedition to Arabia; but upon his return, he plainly evinced his partiality for Hyrcanus, by commanding Aristobulus to surrender all his fortresses into the hands of the Romans. As soon as Aristobulus had received the imperious mandate of Pompey, he fled to Jerusalem and prepared for an obstinate defence. The party of Hyrcanus were so powerful in the city, that the gallant though unfortunate prince was compelled to retire into the temple, which again was prostituted and perverted from its sacred object to the horrible purposes of war.

A. C. 63.

How was the temple taken by the celebrated Pompey? Pompey formed the siege with all his army, and employed every engine of destruction at that time invented by the military art. Immense battering rams were brought from Tyre, and were mounted on vast platforms raised on the north, and only accessible, side of the edifice. But the strong walls, the massy towers, the deep ditches, and the precipitous vallies surrounding the temple, together with the valour, the skill, and the desperation of the garrison, might have rendered even the efforts of Pompey and of the Romans, fruitless, had it not been for the superstitious reverence of the Jews for the Sabbath. Limiting their opposition on that day to actual assault, they permitted the besiegers to rear their mounds, to fill up the ditches, and to approach the walls, without molestation. When three months had elapsed, a breach was made by the fall of a tower; the Romans, headed by Faustus Sylla, a son of the celebrated dictator, advanced into the assault; they burst into the temple; the priests who calmly continued to officiate at the altar, the soldiers who gallantly defended themselves to the last, were involved in the same slaughter; twelve thousand of the garrison fell; many more to avoid the sword of

the enemy became their own destroyers, and the cruelty of the Pharisees revelled in the slaughter of their detested enemies. When the carnage was over, Pompey entered the temple; surrounded by his officers, he excited the horror of the Jews by penetrating into the Holy of Holies; he admired the precious utensils and vast treasures which he found on the altars, or in the treasury; but his moderation was equal to his valour, he was no public robber, he left the inestimable furniture as he found it; he ordered the priests to purify the edifice which had again been polluted with blood, and the ceremonies of the Mosaic ritual were performed as though a battle had not been fought, and thousands had not been slain.

What was the result of the victory of Pompey?

Hyrcanus was restored to the pontifical dignity, but without the regal title; the cities which had been taken by Alexander Jannæus were united to the province of Syria; the walls of Jerusalem were again demolished; and Aristobulus, with his sons Antigonus and Alexander, and two daughters, were sent prisoners to Rome. Alexander however escaped by the way, and became the source of new troubles to his distracted country.

Who amidst the troubles of Judæa laid the foundation of the future grandeur of his family?

Amidst all these disasters, there was one wily man, who rendered every event subservient to his personal advantage and the aggrandisement of his family. The supplies which Antipater furnished to Scaurus the Roman governor of Syria, and the success of his persuasions in inducing the king of Arabia to pay to the same general the tribute of three hundred talents, conciliated the regard of the conquerors of the world, and laid the foundation of the splendid fortunes of his son.

What was the subsequent condition of Judæa?

The distractions of Judæa were renewed by Alexander the son of Aristobulus, who formed a party and collected troops. Hyrcanus applied for assistance to

A. C. 57.

Gabinius the Roman general, who had recently arrived in Syria; that officer marched into Judæa, and an accommodation was made with Alexander on condition of his surrendering three strong fortresses which he held and which were demolished. After this event, Gabinius seriously applied himself to the internal polity and prosperity of the country; he rebuilt Samaria, Gaza, and other towns which had been destroyed; and he completely changed the whole form of government. Depriving Hyrcanus of the sovereign authority, he established upon the model of the grand Sanhedrim, five distinct courts of judicature, one at Jerusalem, another at Gadara, another at Amathus, another at Jericho, and the fifth at Sepphoris, in Galilee. His object seems to have been, to accommodate the people, that in any case of litigation or difference, they might not be compelled to sustain the inconvenience of a long journey in pursuit of justice.

Give some account of the Jewish Sanhedrim.

A. C. 55.

Gabinius has been supposed by some learned men, to have been the founder of the SANHEDRIM, the great judicial court of the Jews. It is true that Gabinius established five Sanhedrims in Judæa, at Jerusalem, Gadara, Jericho, Amathus, and Sepphoris. It is probable, however, that the great Sanhedrim was instituted soon after the return from the captivity. It consisted of seventy-two persons of the most venerable age and of the most esteemed abilities. It determined the most important affairs of the nation, and had the power of enforcing its decisions by the punishment of death. The high-priest was the Nasi, prince or president of its meetings, which were held in a rotunda, half of which was built without the temple, and half within. The deputy of the Nasi, was called Abbeth-din, father of the house of judgment, and the sub-deputy was called Chacam, or the "wise man. The members of the Sanhedrim sat in a semicircle, their president occupying a throne, with his deputy on his right hand, and his sub-deputy on his left. It appears that in the time of Christ this court had no longer the power of life and death, since Christ was sent to be condemned by Pilate.

How was the administration of Gabinius disturbed?

The administration of Gabinius was incessantly distracted by the commotions of Judæa. Aristobulus himself escaped from his confinement; his standard was raised at the fort of Alexandrion which he had hastily fortified; but he was besieged; all resistance was unavailing; he was desperately wounded in the assault; his son Antigonus by the intercession of his wife was liberated, but he was sent again a prisoner to Rome. Undismayed by the defeat of his father, Alexander again tried the fortune of his sword; he collected a numerous army and bravely met Gabinius in the field; but with the loss of ten thousand men he was discomfited, and compelled to seek his safety by flight.

Describe the seizure of the treasures of the temple by Crassus the Roman triumvir.

When Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus divided the Roman world among them, the last had Syria allotted to him for his province. This monster of insatiable avarice soon came to Jerusalem to seize the treasures of the temple. Like a common robber, he began the work of plunder. A priest, whose name was A. C. 53. Eleazar, probably the treasurer of the temple, desirous of preventing the atrocious sacrilege, foolishly told Crassus, that if he would spare the rest of the riches, he would show him a large beam of massy gold inclosed in a case of wood, which weighed three hundred nimæ, or seven hundred and fifty pounds. The greedy triumvir made no scruple of swearing solemnly, that upon obtaining the beam, he would instantly depart and leave every thing else untouched. But Eleazar had no sooner pointed out to him the mass of gold, than he violated his oath; the contributions of the Jews in every part of the world for the sacred service were taken away by the perjured plunderer ; more than ten thousand talents or upwards of two millions of our money became his prey; and with the guilt of this most infamous transaction upon his head, he marched to make war against the Parthians contrary to the faith of the most sacred treaties, and for the indulgence of his despicable passion; but amidst