Hyrcanus II (died 30 BC) was High Priest of Judea from 76 to 66 BC (succeeding Alexander Jannaeus and preceding Aristobulus II), King of Judea from 67 to 66 BC (succeeding Salome Alexandra and preceding Aristobulus II), and High Priest from 63 to 40 BC (succeeding Aristobulus and preceding Antigonus II Mattathias).
Biography[]
Hyrcanus was the eldest son of King and High Priest Alexander Jannaeus and Salome Alexandra. After Alexander's death in 76 BC, Salome Alexandra succeeded to the throne of Judea and installed her son as High Priest. Hyrcanus had the support of the Pharisees, especially later in his tenure, and he succeeded his mother as monarch of Judea in 67 BC. He had scarcely reigned three months when his brother Aristobulus II rose in rebellion, and many of Hyrcanus' soldiers defected to Aristobulus at Jericho, forcing Hyrcanus out of power. Hyrcanus took refuge in the citadel of Jerusalem, and he was forced to surrender and abdicate from all of his titles, although he was still allowed to enjoy the revenues of the High Priesthood. However, Hyrcanus feared that Aristobulus was planning his death, and Hyrcanus' adviser Antipater the Idumean plotted to gain power by returning the weak Hyrcanus to the throne. Antipater and Hyrcanus allied with the Nabateans, who sent 50,000 troops to besiege Jerusalem. In 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey allied with Hyrcanus and intervened in the war, conquering Jerusalem and imprisoning Aristobulus, while Hyrcanus was restored as High Priest. In 47 BC, Julius Caesar made Hyrcanus ethnarch of Judea, but it had little practical effect, and he yielded to Antipater on everything. In 40 BC, Aristobulus' son Antigonus II Mattathias proclaimed himself King and High Priest with aid from the Parthians, and he bit his uncle's ears off to make him permanently ineligible for the High Priesthood. For four years, he lived among the Jewish community in Babylon, but King Herod the Great invited Hyrcanus back to Judea in 36 BC, fearing that Hyrcanus might himself use Parthian help to be restored to the throne. He made him president of the state council, only to charge him with plotting with the Nabateans in 30 BC and putting him to death.