While the two brothers were pleading
their rival claims before Pompey, ambassadors from the Pharisees
had made their appearance in Damascus to petition for the abolition
of the kingship; this object had now to some extent been gained.
Less ambiguous than the victory of the Pharisees was the fall of
the Sadducees, who in losing the sovereignty of the Jewish state
lost all real importance. But the intervention of the foreign
element exercised its most powerful influence upon the temper of
the lower classes. Though in times of peace the masses still
continued to accept the guidance of the rabbins, their patriotism
instantly burst into flame as soon as a pretender to the throne,
belonging to the family of Aristobulus, appeared in Palestine.
During the decennia which immediately followed, Jewish history
was practically absorbed in vain attempts to restore the old
Hasmonaean kingdom. Insurrections of steadily increasing
dimensions were made in favour of Aristobulus, the representative
of the national cause. For Hyrcanus was not regarded as a
Hasmonaean at all, but merely as the creature of Antipater and the
Romans.
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