Alexander’s Cruel Revenge

So Demetrius came with an army, took with him those who had invited him, and pitched his camp near the city of Shechem. At this Alexander, with his six thousand two hundred mercenaries and about twenty thousand Jews who were of his party, went out against Demetrius, who had three thousand horsemen and forty thousand foot soldiers. Great efforts were made on both sides, Demetrius trying to win over the mercenaries who were with Alexander, because they were Greeks, and Alexander trying to win over the Jews who were with Demetrius. But when neither could persuade them to change sides, they came to a battle, and Demetrius won. All Alexander’s mercenaries were killed in it, after giving proof of their loyalty and courage. A great number of Demetrius’s soldiers were killed too.

Now as Alexander fled to the mountains, six thousand of the Jews gathered to him out of pity at his change of fortune. At this Demetrius was afraid and withdrew from the country. After that the Jews fought against Alexander, and being beaten, they were killed in great numbers in the several battles they fought. He shut up the most powerful of them in the city of Bethome and besieged them there; and when he had taken the city and got the men into his power, he brought them to Jerusalem and did to them one of the most savage things in the world. As he was feasting with his concubines in full view of the whole city, he ordered about eight hundred of them to be crucified, and while they were still alive he had the throats of their children and wives cut before their eyes. This was indeed by way of revenge for the injuries they had done him. Yet the punishment was inhuman, even supposing he had been as hard pressed as he indeed had been by his wars with them. For through them he had come into the utmost danger, both for his life and for his kingdom, since they were not content to fight against him by themselves but brought in foreigners too. Indeed, in the end they reduced him to such necessity that he was forced to give back to the king of Arabia the land of Moab and Gilead that he had conquered, and the places in them, so that the king would not join them in the war against him; and they had done ten thousand other things to insult and abuse him. Still, this savagery seems to have been without any necessity, and for that reason he was nicknamed “the Thracian” among the Jews. His opponents, about eight thousand in number, fled by night and remained fugitives as long as Alexander lived. Freed from any further disturbance from them, he reigned the rest of his time in complete tranquility. [a]

When Demetrius had left Judea, he went to Beroea and besieged his brother Philip, having with him ten thousand foot soldiers and a thousand horsemen. But Strato, the tyrant of Beroea and Philip’s ally, called in Azizus, the chief of the Arabian tribes, and Mithridates Sinaces, the Parthian governor. They came with a great force and besieged Demetrius in his camp, into which they had driven his men with their arrows, and by thirst they forced those who were with him to surrender. So they carried off a great deal of plunder from that country, and Demetrius himself, whom they sent to Mithridates, who was then king of Parthia. As for the captives they took who were citizens of Antioch, they gave them back to the people of Antioch without ransom. Now Mithridates, the king of Parthia, held Demetrius in great honor until Demetrius ended his life by sickness. And Philip, immediately after the fight was over, came to Antioch, took it, and reigned over Syria. [d]