Alexander of Miletus
there the hatred against the Jews was intense and accompanied with violence: the greater part of them were massacred near Chalcis. and only a small remnant found refugre in Bet Zabdai. Of those that escaped to Egypt. one of he most prominent was Judah ben Ṭabbai. while another leader, Simon b. Sheṭaḥ, dragged out a miserable existence among the Arabs.
Alexander found that this semblance of peace at
home, dearly bought as it was, by no means added
Last
Campaigns.
to his strength against outside enemies.
Hated by the people, he had to
place his main reliance upon hired
foreign troops; and yet he could not
effectively counteract the increasing power of his
nearest neghbor, the Arab king Aretas. When
the latter invaded Judea. Alexander was too weak to
oppose him, and he purchased the enemy's withdrawal only by means of shameful concessions. The
defeat suffered by Alexander at Adida—which commanded the road between Jaffa and Jerusalem—
placed the key of the capital in the Arab's hands.
But Alexander was not the man readily to admit himself beaten; and he sought to wipe out the disgrace
of this defeat by the conquest of petty rulers. His
three years' war east of the Jordan (about 85–82) was
successful; and he conquered Pella. Dium, Gerasa,
Gaulana, Seleueia. and the strong fortress Gamala.
His life in the field and the inebriety to which he had become addicted combined to bring on a persistent Death. fever, which undermined his strength and rendered the last three years of his life full of suffering. Notwithstanding this, he continued his warlike enterprises until, at the siege of the fortitied town Hagaba, he succumbed to his ailment at the age of fifty-one, in the year 78 B.C. His wife, Salome, was present at his death, and by his last will and political testament—as related by Josephus and the rabbis—he entrusted to her the reins of government, and gave her upon his deathbed the following instruction as to her attitude toward the conflicting parties in the nation; "Fear neither the Pharisees nor those that are not Pharisees [namely, the Sadducecs], but guard thyself against the dyed ones [hypocrites] who do the deed of Zimri (Num. xxv. 14) and expect the reward of Phinehas" (Num. xxv. 10-13; Ps. cvi. 31; Sotah, 22b). The body of Alexander was brought to Jerusalem and, thanks to the magnanimity of the Pharisees, who cherished no grudge against a dead tyrant, was interred with every mark of respect.
Alexander had only one aim in life: to increase the extent of his kingdom to its natural boundaries— the Mediterranean sea and the eastern Character and Importance desert. Its pursuit brought him into conflict with the Pharisees; that is, with the people in general. This opposition was based neither upon religious nor personal grounds. But upon political ones only. Alexander would probably have given way to the Pharisees in everything if they had kept him supplied with soldiers. He seems to have been the victor in this mutual antagonism; for, in spite of all adverse fortune, he approximately attained his goal. He not only maintained his hold upon the towns and fortresses received from his predecessors, but made conquests on both sides of that Jordan. In point of fact, however, Alexander's achievements were but of a temporary character: for as time was not granted to him in which to bind the people steadfastly to the Hasmonean dynasty, and as his cruel persecution of the Pharisees served only to intensify the love and devotion of the people to these, their religious guides; so in reality he did not permanently enlarge the Jewish kingdom, but, instead, undermined its very foundations.
Alexander Jannæeus must be considered as having contributed by far the largest share to the catastrophe which overtook Palestine soon after his death. Compare the articles Simon B. Sheṭaḥ, Pharisees, and Sadducees.
Biblography: Josephus, Ant. xiv 12-15; idem, B. J. i. 4; Ewald, Gesch. d. Volkes Israel, v 386-392; Grätz, Gesch, d. Juden, 2d ed., ii. 106-117; Hitzg, Gesch. d. Volkes Israel, ii. 475-488; Derenbourg, Essai,pp. 95-10; Hamburger, R.B.T. 2d ed., ii. 430-434; Schūrer, Gesch. i. 219-229; Wellhausen, I. J. G. pp 264-269; Stade, Gesch. d. Volkes. Israel. ii. 400-407; Wiese, in Hermes pp. 216 et seq. (whose chronology has been followed). Upon coins of Alexander, see Schürer, l.c p. 227.
L. G.
ALEXANDER, LIONEL LINDO : Political and communal worker; born in London .May 14, 1852; died Jan. 31, 1901. He was educated at the St. Marylebone's and City of London schools. For nine years (1884-92) he filled the position of honorary secretary to the Jewish Board of Guardians of London. He was a member of several political associations and was active in organizing political campaigns in the metropolitan constituencies. He was president of the Jewish Workingmen's Club and Lads' Institute, vice-president of the Home and Hospital for Jewish Incurables, vice-president of Jews' College, having acted on its council since 1877; on committees of Jews' Infant School (1876), Stepney Jewish Schools (1876), Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum (1875), Jewish Board of Guardians (1879). Alexander was considered an authority on economic and sociological questions, and gave evidence before the House of Lords' and House of Commons' select committees on the " Sweating System " and on " Emigration and Immigration." He compiled "Jewish Population Statistics." and as honorary secretary for several years wrote the annual reports of the Jewish Board of Guardians.
G. L.
ALEXANDER LYSIMACHUS known also by
his prænomen of Alexander alone; Josephus," Ant."
xviii. 6, § 3): Alabarch brother of the philosopher
Philo, and father of Julius Alexander and Tiberius
Julius Alexander. He held office under the emperors Tiberius and Claudius. He was imprisoned
by Caligula, but was released and restored to office by
Claudius, for whose mother, Antoni., he had tilled
the post of procurator. In Soferim, i. 9, where the
editions read (
Hebrew characters) ("the Law of Alexander"), a manuscript reads (Hebrew characters) Graetz
("Jew. Quart. Rev." ii. 102) believes that reference
is made to gilded letters in a scroll of the Law,
belonging to the alabarch Alexander Lysimaehus.
This, however, is quite impossible, as Alexander
Janæaus is meant. Alexander Lysimaehus once refused Herod Agrippa I. (who was always in financial straits) a loan, but accorded it to Agrippa's wife
Cypros. The gates of the Sanctuary were decorated
by him in gold and silver(Josephus, " B. J." v. 5, § 3).
See Alabarch.
Bibliography: Josephus. Ant. xlx. 5, § 1; xx. 5, § 2. S. Kr.
ALEXANDER, MAXTRICE ALEXANDER
An Australian politician; born in London. Nov. 30, 1820; died in Sydney, N. S. W., January 27, 1874, He arrived in Sydney in 1834, and from the year 1863 represented Goulburn in the New South Wales House of Assembly. He acquired a very considerable fortune by careful investment in real estate. At his death, his widow, among other beneficent acts, founded a scholarship in the University of Sydney, and dedicated it to his memory.
Bibliography Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates, s.v.
G. L.
