Antiquities of the Jews — Book 14, Chapter 7

1. Now Crassus, as he was going upon his expedition against the
Parthians, came into Judea, and carried off the money that was in the
temple, which Pompey had left, being two thousand talents, and was
disposed to spoil it of all the gold belonging to it, which was eight
thousand talents. He also took a beam, which was made of solid beaten
gold, of the weight of three hundred minae, each of which weighed two
pounds and a half. It was the priest who was guardian of the sacred
treasures, and whose name was Eleazar, that gave him this beam, not out
of a wicked design, for he was a good and a righteous man; but being
intrusted with the custody of the veils belonging to the temple, which
were of admirable beauty, and of very costly workmanship, and hung down
from this beam, when he saw that Crassus was busy in gathering money,
and was in fear for the entire ornaments of the temple, he gave him this
beam of gold as a ransom for the whole, but this not till he had given
his oath that he would remove nothing else out of the temple, but be
satisfied with this only, which he should give him, being worth many ten
thousand [shekels]. Now this beam was contained in a wooden beam that
was hollow, but was known to no others; but Eleazar alone knew it; yet
did Crassus take away this beam, upon the condition of touching nothing
else that belonged to the temple, and then brake his oath, and carried
away all the gold that was in the temple.

2. And let no one wonder that there was so much wealth in our temple,
since all the Jews throughout the habitable earth, and those that
worshipped God, nay, even those of Asia and Europe, sent their
contributions to it, and this from very ancient times. Nor is the
largeness of these sums without its attestation; nor is that greatness
owing to our vanity, as raising it without ground to so great a height;
but there are many witnesses to it, and particularly Strabo of
Cappadocia, who says thus: "Mithridates sent to Cos, and took the money
which queen Cleopatra had deposited there, as also eight hundred talents
belonging to the Jews." Now we have no public money but only what
appertains to God; and it is evident that the Asian Jews removed this
money out of fear of Mithridates; for it is not probable that those of
Judea, who had a strong city and temple, should send their money to Cos;
nor is it likely that the Jews who are inhabitants of Alexandria should
do so neither, since they were in no fear of Mithridates. And Strabo
himself bears witness to the same thing in another place, that at the
same time that Sylla passed over into Greece, in order to fight against
Mithridates, he sent Lucullus to put an end to a sedition that our
nation, of whom the habitable earth is full, had raised in Cyrene; where
he speaks thus: "There were four classes of men among those of Cyrene;
that of citizens, that of husbandmen, the third of strangers, and the
fourth of Jews. Now these Jews are already gotten into all cities; and
it is hard to find a place in the habitable earth that hath not admitted
this tribe of men, and is not possessed by them; and it hath come to
pass that Egypt and Cyrene, as having the same governors, and a great
number of other nations, imitate their way of living, and maintain great
bodies of these Jews in a peculiar manner, and grow up to greater
prosperity with them, and make use of the same laws with that nation
also. Accordingly, the Jews have places assigned them in Egypt, wherein
they inhabit, besides what is peculiarly allotted to this nation at
Alexandria, which is a large part of that city. There is also an
ethnarch allowed them, who governs the nation, and distributes justice
to them, and takes care of their contracts, and of the laws to them
belonging, as if he were the ruler of a free republic. In Egypt,
therefore, this nation is powerful, because the Jews were originally
Egyptians, and because the land wherein they inhabit, since they went
thence, is near to Egypt. They also removed into Cyrene, because that
this land adjoined to the government of Egypt, as well as does Judea, or
rather was formerly under the same government." And this is what Strabo
says.

3. So when Crassus had settled all things as he himself pleased, he
marched into Parthia, where both he himself and all his army perished,
as hath been related elsewhere. But Cassius, as he fled from Rome to
Syria, took possession of it, and was an impediment to the Parthians,
who by reason of their victory over Crassus made incursions upon it. And
as he came back to Tyre, he went up into Judea also, and fell upon
Tarichee, and presently took it, and carried about thirty thousand Jews
captives; and slew Pitholaus, who succeeded Aristobulus in his seditious
practices, and that by the persuasion of Antipater, who proved to have
great interest in him, and was at that time in great repute with the
Idumeans also: out of which nation he married a wife, who was the
daughter of one of their eminent men, and her name was Cypros, 12 by
whom he had four sons, Phasael, and Herod, who was afterwards made king,
and Joseph, and Pheroras; and a daughter, named Salome. This Antipater
cultivated also a friendship and mutual kindness with other potentates,
but especially with the king of Arabia, to whom he committed his
children, while he fought against Aristobulus. So Cassius removed his
camp, and marched to Euphrates, to meet those that were coming to attack
him, as hath been related by others.

4. But some time afterward Cæsar, when he had taken Rome, and after
Pompey and the senate were fled beyond the Ionian Sea, freed Aristobulus
from his bonds, and resolved to send him into Syria, and delivered two
legions to him, that he might set matters right, as being a potent man
in that country. But Aristobulus had no enjoyment of what he hoped for
from the power that was given him by Cæsar; for those of Pompey's party
prevented it, and destroyed him by poison; and those of Cæsar's party
buried him. His dead body also lay, for a good while, embalmed in honey,
till Antony afterward sent it to Judea, and caused him to be buried in
the royal sepulcher. But Scipio, upon Pompey's sending to him to slay
Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, because the young man was accused of
what offenses he had been guilty of at first against the Romans, cut off
his head; and thus did he die at Antioch. But Ptolemy, the son of
Menneus, who was the ruler of Chalcis, under Mount Libanus, took his
brethren to him, and sent his son Philippion to Askelon to Aristobulus's
wife, and desired her to send back with him her son Antigonus, and her
daughters; the one of which, whose name was Alexandra, Philippion fell
in love with, and married her, though afterward his father Ptolemy slew
him, and married Alexandra, and continued to take care of her brethren.