Independence Lost

When Queen Salome Alexandra died in 67 B.C., her two sons treated Judah like their personal domain and instigated a civil war. The feud ended when the soldiers of Hyrcanus II defected to his brother and he was forced to surrender to Aristobulus II.

Antipater was an Idumean who had worked himself into the politics of Jerusalem and he convinced Hyrcanus that Aristobolus was planning to kill him. Antipater had a deal with the Nabataeans and used them to try and oust Aristobulus.

Eventually both brothers appealed to the Romans, but Pompey betrayed them both and seized control of Jerusalem, effectively ending Jewish independence. A Roman civil war complicated matters, and when the dust cleared, Julius Caesar was emperor, Pompey, Hyrcanus II, and Aristobulus II were dead. Herod was the new vassal king of Judea and this was the man who would beautify the temple and try to kill Jesus as a boy.