Aristobulus III of Judea (b. 53 BC - d. 36 BC) was the last scion of the
HasmoneanThe Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BC...
royal house, brother of
Herod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (born 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho, was a Roman client king of Israel. He is often confused...
's wife
MariamneMariamne I, also called Mariamne the Hasmonean was the second wife of Herod the Great. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus. Her husband loved her because of her beauty alone and not for what was in her heart and soul...
, and paternal grandson of
Aristobulus IIAristobulus II was the Jewish High Priest and King of Judea, 66 BC to 63 BC, from the Hasmonean Dynasty.-Family:Aristobulus was the younger son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome. After the death of Alexander in 76 BC, his widow succeeded to the rule of Judea and...
. He was a favorite of the people on account of his noble descent and handsome presence, and thus became an object of fear to Herod, who at first sought to ignore him entirely by debarring him from the high priesthood. But his mother
Alexandra MaccabeusAlexandra the Maccabee was of Hyrcanus II , who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea , who was the son of Aristobulus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus...
(63BC-28BC), through intercession with
CleopatraCleopatra VII Philopator was the last effective pharaoh of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty. She originally shared power with her father Ptolemy XII and later with her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she also married, but eventually gained sole rule...
and
Mark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and General. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia...
, compelled Herod to remove Hananel from the office of High Priest and appoint Aristobulus instead.
To secure himself against danger from Aristobulus, Herod instituted a system of espionage against him and his mother.
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Aristobulus III of Judea (b. 53 BC - d. 36 BC) was the last scion of the
HasmoneanThe Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BC...
royal house, brother of
Herod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (born 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho, was a Roman client king of Israel. He is often confused...
's wife
MariamneMariamne I, also called Mariamne the Hasmonean was the second wife of Herod the Great. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus. Her husband loved her because of her beauty alone and not for what was in her heart and soul...
, and paternal grandson of
Aristobulus IIAristobulus II was the Jewish High Priest and King of Judea, 66 BC to 63 BC, from the Hasmonean Dynasty.-Family:Aristobulus was the younger son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome. After the death of Alexander in 76 BC, his widow succeeded to the rule of Judea and...
. He was a favorite of the people on account of his noble descent and handsome presence, and thus became an object of fear to Herod, who at first sought to ignore him entirely by debarring him from the high priesthood. But his mother
Alexandra MaccabeusAlexandra the Maccabee was of Hyrcanus II , who was the son of Alexander Jannaeus. She married her cousin Alexander of Judaea , who was the son of Aristobulus II. Their grandfather was Alexander Jannaeus, the second eldest son of John Hyrcanus...
(63BC-28BC), through intercession with
CleopatraCleopatra VII Philopator was the last effective pharaoh of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty. She originally shared power with her father Ptolemy XII and later with her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she also married, but eventually gained sole rule...
and
Mark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and General. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia...
, compelled Herod to remove Hananel from the office of High Priest and appoint Aristobulus instead.
To secure himself against danger from Aristobulus, Herod instituted a system of espionage against him and his mother. This surveillance proved so onerous that they sought to gain their freedom by taking refuge with Cleopatra. Their plans were betrayed, however, and the disclosure had the effect of greatly increasing Herod's suspicions against his brother-in-law. As he dared not resort to open violence, he caused him to be drowned while he was bathing in
JerichoJericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate, and has a population of over 20,000 Palestinians. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest...
.
This article was taken from the Jewish EncyclopediaThe Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
(1903).