The original character of the opposition, as
it appeared under Jannaeus, changed entirely with the lapse of
time, on account of the Sadducees' gradual loss of political
power, till they fell at last to the condition of a sort of "fronde."
On one occasion, when Alexander Jannaeus had returned to Jerusalem
at the feast of tabernacles, and was standing in his priestly
vestments before the altar to sacrifice, he was pelted by the
assembled crowd of worshippers with citrons from the green branches
they carried. By the cruelty with which he punished this insult
he excited the populace to the highest pitch, and, when he lost
his army in the disaster of Gadara, rebellion broke out. The
Pharisees summoned the Syrian king Demetrius Eucaerus; Jannaeus
was worsted and fled into the desert. But as he wandered in
helplessness there, the patriotism of the people and sympathy for
the heir of the Maccabees suddenly awoke; nature proved itself
stronger than that consistency which in the cause of the Divine
honour had not shrunk from treason. The insurgents for the most
part went over to the side of the fugitive king; the others he
ultimately overpowered after a struggle which lasted through
several years, Demetrius having withdrawn his intervention.
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