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344
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
344

Alexander. Son of Herod Alexander I., Favlovich

Till-:

.lEWISlI

a pitched Imttlc. Ni-ur .Ii-nisali-m 3.000 of foUowtTsdicd u|)i)ii tlii'ticld. wliiloas many again were made captives, and lie with a siiiall reiimant Although esi-aped to tlie f(irti<'.ss of Ali'Xaiidrioii. liromised full pardon, he rejected Gabinius' .summons to surrender; and only after a linive defense against the united I'lfurts of (iaiiinius and Mark louy did he capitulate upon {-ondilion (if relaiiiini; This result of his futile resistance to the his liberty. Komans was followed by no further personal sulfer iugforhim; but it wasdilferent with the. Jewish ])eoEven the nominal independence which .Judea plc. had hitherto enjoyed under its (piasi-kings was now at an end: Gabinius deprived !y nanus of all political standing, and left liiin only the charge of the Temple. Thus the struggle of the lirave .Maeealiees ended in the total loss of even the .semblance of t" avoiii liis

I

independence. Alexander, however, had not yet given up all hope, and in the year .')"). after the escape of his father and his brother Autigonus from Roman captivity (56). he again meditateil opposition to the Homans. While Gabinius was temporarily absent from Palestine. Alexander gathered around him a eonsiilerable force, with which be vani|uislicd such Uomau detachments as opposed themselves to him. and compelled the enemy to withdraw to .Mount Geri/.im. Gabinius hastened back to Palestine from Alexandria, and upon hisarrival fortune once more deserted Alexander. A considerable proportion of his force was detached from allegiance by the craftiness of . lipater. leaving him with only ISO.IKJO men. who were unable to withstand Gabinius' attack, and lied from the battle-tield of Itabyrium. leaving one-third of their number dead on the tield. Alexander seems to have escaped to Syria, where, however, the unfortunate fate which ]nirsued his unhaiijiy family overtook him. In the year 49-48 no., just when the good star of the Maccabees, through the favor of Ca'sar. seemed once again to be in the ascendant. Alexander, by direct command of Ponipey. was behi'aded at Antioch by Q. Metellus Scipio. Pompey's father-in-law. who was at the time proconsul of Syria. BlBLioGRAPnv

Ant.

xlv. 4. 9 .'> ; .I. 9 2 ; 6, SS 2, 3; s. 99 2, 6 ; 9. 98 1.2; Griitz, GckcIi. 144. I4.S; s<-liurer. (Pfscd. 1.241. 276c(

Jospplitis,

idem, B. J. I. d.JuiIni, 2(1 eU., tl. 7, S 4

7. 9 T

m/.

h. G.

ALEXANDER,

Son of Herod: Born about

His mother was the Hasmoneau jiriucess Mariamne. The infortunate fate which persistently pursued the Hasmonean house overtook this prince also. As heir presumptive to the throne by right of descent on his mother's side. he was sent to Home for his education in the year He remained there in the household of 23 B.C. Asinius Pollio mitil about the year ITiiC, when Herod himself brought him and his yoiuiger brother Aristobulus. who had been with him. home to .leruShortly afterward Alexander received in salem. marriage Glapiiyra, daughter of the Cappadocian king Arehelaus. But then the clouds began to From his mother he inherited gatlier around him. both the personal excellences and the failings of the Hasmonean hou.se. His handsome presence and frank bearing made him a favoriti' with the people, and they fairly Ujnged for the day when this noble scion of the house of the Maccabees should mount the throne instead of the usurper and half Jew Herod. But. on the other hand, a certain degree of vanity and a spirit of vindictiveness, which marked him no less than his prepossessing qualities, rendered him extremely unpopdar with the partizans of Herod, who had much to fear from a future King Alexander.

3')

B.C.

died aliout 7

i!.c.

344

EN'CYCLOPEDIA

Salome in particular incessantly warned HertHl of the danger threatening him from Alexander and his

The

brother Aristobulus.

king's evil conscience,

on the one hand, convinced as he was l)y this time of Marianuie's innocence (see JI.HI.VMNK). suggested that

it

was

impossible that her s<nis miilitated

not

revenge for her unjust execution; and on the other hand, the open antipathy expre.s.sed by them against their father

combined

to ojien the king's ear to the

Herealunmies of Salome and her fellow-plotters. od's attempt to humiliate Alexander by restoring to honor . ti]>ater, an older son by another wife, re.Vntipater's insidious jilotting sulted disjistrously. and the open enmity to Herod shown by .Mexander wiilene(l the brea<h between fat her and son to such an extent that in the year 12 n.c. llerod felt himself c<instrained to bring charges against his sons lu'fore .ugustus. A reconciliation was brought about, but it was of short duration and shortly afterward (about 10 n.c.) Alexander was thrown into prison upon the evidence of a tortureil witness whoaccuseil him of plamdng the miirder of Herod. Intercepted letters were |)roduee(l which oidy too fully n'vealed Alexanih'r's bitterness against his father. In vain did .Vrcbelaus, Ale.an<ler's father-in law, endeavor to bring about belter relations between them; the reconciliation was again but a brief one, although elfected with great cleverness, so that once more the intrigues of Antipater and Salome succeeded in .securing the incarceration of Alexander and Aristobulus (about Herod lodged formal complaint of high H ij.c. treason against them with Augustus, who ])ut the matter into Herod's own hands, with the advice to ajipoint a court of in(|uiry to consist of Human oltiSuch a court of hirelings eialsand his own frienils and favorites was naturally unanimous for convicTheattemi)tsof Alexander's friends, by mciins tion. of petition to King Herod, to avert the execution of the sentence, resulted in the death of Tero an old and devoted servant of Herod who openly remonstrated with the king for the enormity of the Jiropo.sed judicial crinii and of 300 others who were denounced as partizans of .Vlexander. The sentence was carried out without delay about the year 7 B.C., where thirty years before at Sebaste (Samaria) .Marianme's wedding had been celebrated her sons sullered death by the cord

).

BiBi.iocRAPMV; 88 1-:}; 4, 88

Oench.

tl.

J<is<>iihiis.

l-<!,

Judcn,

Ant. xv.

etc.; Sc'tiurer. li.

10,

Gesch.

8 1.

S, 1 : xvl. I, 8 2: (see index) : (Jriitz,

(see index).

L

ALEXANDER

II.,

POPE

(1061-73):

G.

Family

nameAnselmo Baggio; born at Milan; died April 2(5, 1073. He became pope in 1061. succeeding Nicholas He was elected upon the H.. and ruled until U)73. propo.sal of Hil<lebnuiil. who later became his .successor, and throughout his pontiticate wasgidded by Hildebrand's policy and spirit. His election wascontested liy the imperial house, which caused an antipope, Honorius II.. to be chosen. The latter, howIn ever, was later deposed by a council at Mantua. spite of his multifarious duties. Alexander devoted In all emergen considcRible thought to the Jews. eies he was ready to extend to them his protection.

occasion he commended the action of the Viscount IJerengar of Narbomie, who vigorously thwarted an imipieiit anti Jewish outbreak in 1063, and simultaneously he addresseil an epistle to Bishop Wilfred of Narboune bidding him to offer protection to the Jews in the future, if occasion should demand. Two years later he reprimanded Prince Landulph of

On one

Benevcnto

for

having

forced

certain

.lews into

baptism, referring both to the un Christlike nature