ARISTOBULUS. – Name of various members of the Hasmonean dynasty, two of whom were kings and a third a claimant to the throne of Judah.
- A. I (his Jewish name was Judas), the firstborn of John Hyrcanus, assumed power and, for the first time, the title of king upon his father’s death (105 B.C.). Flavius Josephus recounts his family tragedy in a manner that may give rise to reservations. He is said to have imprisoned all his closest relatives, causing his mother to die of hunger. After having his brother Antigonus, his coruler, put to death, he himself died, it is said, of grief in 104 B.C.
In a successful campaign against the Ituraeans, he annexed a large part of their territory to Judaea and forcibly Judaized them, imposing circumcision and the Law upon them (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XIII, 11, 1-3).
- A. II, nephew of the preceding, son of Alexander Jannaeus and Queen Alexandra, had a highly adventurous life. He had already organized a revolt against his mother, who preferred his ineffectual brother Hyrcanus (II). When his mother died, in 67 B.C. he defeated his brother at Jericho, compelled him to renounce the kingdom and the high priesthood, and, having taken Jerusalem, proclaimed himself king and high priest there.
During the first two years of peaceful rule he followed his mother’s firm
policy, relying on the Pharisees. Soon, however, Antipater (v.), governor of Idumaea, ensnared the feeble Hyrcanus in his intrigues, making him his unconscious instrument, and first called Aretes III, king of the Nabataeans, and then Pompey to his aid. Matters became more complicated, especially because of A.’s inconsistent conduct toward Pompey. In 63 he was defeated by Pompey, who took Jerusalem and subjected Judaea to Rome, joining it to Syria.
A. was led captive to Rome. Having succeeded in escaping, in 56 he unexpectedly reappeared in Palestine to regain Antigonus (v.). But Gabinius suppressed the insurrection and A. was taken back to Rome. In 49 he was freed by Caesar and sent with two legions to Judaea to fight against Pompey. But he was poisoned in Syria by the Pompeians.
- A. (III), son of an Alexander, born to A. II and Alexandra, was the brother of Mariamne, wife of Herod the Great. At the age of 17 he was proclaimed High Priest. But a year later, Herod, jealous of A.’s popularity and perhaps suspecting him of aiming at the kingdom with the help of his mother, had him drowned in the bath at Jericho (35 B.C.; Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XV, 2,5-3,4). He was the last of the Hasmoneans.