Antiquities Book 13, Chapter 7
How Simon Confederated Himself With Antiochus Pius, And Made War Against Trypho, And A Little Afterward, Against Cendebeus, The General Of Antiochus's Army; As Also How Simon Was Murdered By His Son- In-Law Ptolemy, And That By Treachery.
1. 15 Now a little while after Demetrius had been carried into
captivity, Trypho his governor destroyed Antiochus, 16 the son of
Alexander, who was also called The God, 17 and this when he had reigned
four years, though he gave it out that he died under the hands of the
surgeons. He then sent his friends, and those that were most intimate
with him, to the soldiers, and promised that he would give them a great
deal of money if they would make him king. He intimated to them that
Demetrius was made a captive by the Parthians; and that Demetrius's
brother Atitiochus, if he came to be king, would do them a great deal of
mischief, in way of revenge for their revolting from his brother. So the
soldiers, in expectation of the wealth they should get by bestowing the
kingdom on Trypho, made him their ruler. However, when Trypho had gained
the management of affairs, he demonstrated his disposition to be wicked;
for while he was a private person, he cultivated familiarity with the
multitude, and pretended to great moderation, and so drew them on
artfully to whatsoever he pleased; but when he had once taken the
kingdom, he laid aside any further dissimulation, and was the true
Trypho; which behavior made his enemies superior to him; for the
soldiery hated him, and revolted from him to Cleopatra, the wife of
Demetrius, who was then shut up in Seleucia with her children. But as
Antiochus, the brother of Demetrius who was called Soter, was not
admitted by any of the cities on account of Trypho, Cleopatra sent to
him, and invited him to marry her, and to take the kingdom. The reasons
why she made this invitation were these: That her friends persuaded her
to it, and that she was afraid for herself, in case some of the people
of Seleucia should deliver up the city to Trypho.
2. As Antiochus was now come to Seleucia, and his forces increased every
day, he marched to fight Trypho; and having beaten him in the battle, he
ejected him out of the Upper Syria into Phoenicia, and pursued him
thither, and besieged him in Dora which was a fortress hard to be taken,
whither he had fled. He also sent ambassadors to Simon the Jewish high
priest, about a league of friendship and mutual assistance; who readily
accepted of the invitation, and sent to Antiochus great sums of money
and provisions for those that besieged Dora, and thereby supplied them
very plentifully, so that for a little while he was looked upon as one
of his most intimate friends; but still Trypho fled from Dora to Apamia,
where he was taken during the siege, and put to death, when he had
reigned three years.
3. However, Antiochus forgot the kind assistance that Simon had afforded
him in his necessity, by reason of his covetous and wicked disposition,
and committed an army of soldiers to his friend Cendebeus, and sent him
at once to ravage Judea, and to seize Simon. When Simon heard of
Antiochus's breaking his league with him, although he were now in years,
yet, provoked with the unjust treatment he had met with from Antiochus,
and taking a resolution brisker than his age could well bear, he went
like a young man to act as general of his army. He also sent his sons
before among the most hardy of his soldiers, and he himself marched on
with his army another way, and laid many of his men in ambushes in the
narrow valleys between the mountains; nor did he fail of success in any
one of his attempts, but was too hard for his enemies in every one of
them. So he led the rest of his life in peace, and did also himself make
a league with the Romans.
4. Now he was the ruler of the Jews in all eight years; but at a feast
came to his end. It was caused by the treachery of his son-in-law
Ptolemy, who caught also his wife, and two of his sons, and kept them in
bonds. He also sent some to kill John the third son, whose name was
Hyrcanus; but the young man perceiving them coming, he avoided the
danger he was in from them, 18 and made haste into the city [Jerusalem],
as relying on the good-will of the multitude, because of the benefits
they had received from his father, and because of the hatred the same
multitude bare to Ptolemy; so that when Ptolemy was endeavoring to enter
the city by another gate, they drove him away, as having already
admitted Hyrcanus.
captivity, Trypho his governor destroyed Antiochus, 16 the son of
Alexander, who was also called The God, 17 and this when he had reigned
four years, though he gave it out that he died under the hands of the
surgeons. He then sent his friends, and those that were most intimate
with him, to the soldiers, and promised that he would give them a great
deal of money if they would make him king. He intimated to them that
Demetrius was made a captive by the Parthians; and that Demetrius's
brother Atitiochus, if he came to be king, would do them a great deal of
mischief, in way of revenge for their revolting from his brother. So the
soldiers, in expectation of the wealth they should get by bestowing the
kingdom on Trypho, made him their ruler. However, when Trypho had gained
the management of affairs, he demonstrated his disposition to be wicked;
for while he was a private person, he cultivated familiarity with the
multitude, and pretended to great moderation, and so drew them on
artfully to whatsoever he pleased; but when he had once taken the
kingdom, he laid aside any further dissimulation, and was the true
Trypho; which behavior made his enemies superior to him; for the
soldiery hated him, and revolted from him to Cleopatra, the wife of
Demetrius, who was then shut up in Seleucia with her children. But as
Antiochus, the brother of Demetrius who was called Soter, was not
admitted by any of the cities on account of Trypho, Cleopatra sent to
him, and invited him to marry her, and to take the kingdom. The reasons
why she made this invitation were these: That her friends persuaded her
to it, and that she was afraid for herself, in case some of the people
of Seleucia should deliver up the city to Trypho.
2. As Antiochus was now come to Seleucia, and his forces increased every
day, he marched to fight Trypho; and having beaten him in the battle, he
ejected him out of the Upper Syria into Phoenicia, and pursued him
thither, and besieged him in Dora which was a fortress hard to be taken,
whither he had fled. He also sent ambassadors to Simon the Jewish high
priest, about a league of friendship and mutual assistance; who readily
accepted of the invitation, and sent to Antiochus great sums of money
and provisions for those that besieged Dora, and thereby supplied them
very plentifully, so that for a little while he was looked upon as one
of his most intimate friends; but still Trypho fled from Dora to Apamia,
where he was taken during the siege, and put to death, when he had
reigned three years.
3. However, Antiochus forgot the kind assistance that Simon had afforded
him in his necessity, by reason of his covetous and wicked disposition,
and committed an army of soldiers to his friend Cendebeus, and sent him
at once to ravage Judea, and to seize Simon. When Simon heard of
Antiochus's breaking his league with him, although he were now in years,
yet, provoked with the unjust treatment he had met with from Antiochus,
and taking a resolution brisker than his age could well bear, he went
like a young man to act as general of his army. He also sent his sons
before among the most hardy of his soldiers, and he himself marched on
with his army another way, and laid many of his men in ambushes in the
narrow valleys between the mountains; nor did he fail of success in any
one of his attempts, but was too hard for his enemies in every one of
them. So he led the rest of his life in peace, and did also himself make
a league with the Romans.
4. Now he was the ruler of the Jews in all eight years; but at a feast
came to his end. It was caused by the treachery of his son-in-law
Ptolemy, who caught also his wife, and two of his sons, and kept them in
bonds. He also sent some to kill John the third son, whose name was
Hyrcanus; but the young man perceiving them coming, he avoided the
danger he was in from them, 18 and made haste into the city [Jerusalem],
as relying on the good-will of the multitude, because of the benefits
they had received from his father, and because of the hatred the same
multitude bare to Ptolemy; so that when Ptolemy was endeavoring to enter
the city by another gate, they drove him away, as having already
admitted Hyrcanus.