Alexandra Salome

ALESSANDRA SALOME. - Hasmonaean queen, born in 140, died in 67 B.C. She I (v.); when he died (103 B.C.) without children, A. conferred the high priesthood and royal dignity upon Alessandro Ianneo, the elder of her three brothers-in-law; she became his wife and bore him the sons Ircano and Aristobulo. In 76 B.C. Alessandro died and left her a kingdom troubled by the fierce persecution unleashed against the Pharisees. A., on her husband’s advice, came to terms with the powerful party that dominated during the years of her reign (76–67 B.C.). She assigned the high priesthood to Ircano, weak and incapable, neglecting the bold Aristobulo, who joined the Sadducean party of the opposition and, during a serious illness of his mother, attempted a coup. A. died at the age of seventy-three, confessing to her adherents her inability to restrain the new threatening movement. The Pharisees regarded A. as the ideal sovereign. At her death, however, with the civil struggle between her two sons, the decline of the Hasmonaean dynasty began.