IRCANO II. — High priest and ethnarch of the Jews from 63 to 40 B.C.
He was the son of Alexander Jannaeus and Queen Alexandra, who during her reign (76–67) appointed him high priest. Timid and indolent by nature, I. succeeded his mother to the throne, but only for three months; for, defeated by his dynamic younger brother, II (v.), he was forced to retire into private life, surrendering the high priesthood and the kingdom to him. But shortly afterward, Antipater (v.), I. began rebellions against Aristobulus. In 65 B.C. the Roman legate Scaurus favored Aristobulus, who was subsequently opposed by Pompey. After Jerusalem was occupied by the latter (autumn of 63), Aristobulus was taken to Rome as a prisoner with his sons, while I. was again appointed high priest and ethnarch (no longer king) of the Jews. But the true leader of Judaea was his protector Antipater, while Roman interference was becoming increasingly pronounced.
Sad years followed for Palestine, torn apart by the uprisings of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, and then by those of Aristobulus himself, who had fled from Rome in 56. Supported by the Romans and by Antipater, I. retained a semblance of authority, which in practice was limited to the offices of the high priesthood. Gabinius, proconsul of Syria (57–55 B.C.), even deprived him of the title of ethnarch, which was later restored to him by Julius Caesar. In 40 Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, having allied himself with the Parthians, took possession of his uncle I., whose ears he cut off to render him incapable of liturgical office. When the Parthians withdrew from Palestine, they took I. with them to Babylon, whence Herod, once he had established himself in the kingdom, had him return. But then, in 30 B.C., he had him killed, thereby eliminating the last Hasmonean.