Phasael (died 40 BCE; Hebrew : פַצָאֵל , romanized : Faṣā'ēl ,; Latin : Phasaelus ; from Greek : Φασάηλος , romanized : Phasaelos ), was a prince from the Herodian Dynasty of Judea .
115-588: Phasael was born in the Hasmonean Kingdom to a Jewish aristocratic family of Edomite descent. His father, Antipater the Idumaean , was the close advisor of the Hasmonean king Hyrcanus II , and his mother Cypros was a Nabatean princess. Phasael was the elder brother of Herod . Both Phasael and Herod began their careers under their father, Antipater, who was appointed procurator of Judea for
230-645: A Roman citizen and former general in the Galilee, who survived the Jewish–Roman wars of the 1st century, was a Jew who was captured by and cooperated with the Romans, and wrote his books under Roman patronage. The continuing Hellenization of Judea pitted traditional Jews against those who eagerly Hellenized. The latter felt that the former's orthodoxy held them back. Jews were divided both between those favoring Hellenization and those opposing it and over allegiance to
345-491: A Greek polis replete with gymnasium and ephebeion (2 Maccabees 4). Whether this step represents the culmination of a 150-year process of Hellenisation within Jerusalem in general, or whether it was only the initiative of a small coterie of Jerusalem priests with no wider ramifications, has been debated for decades." Hellenised Jews are known to have engaged in non-surgical foreskin restoration (epispasm) in order to join
460-460: A Latin "r" by uniform convention. (Similarly, the Old Persian word vazir also has almost the same meaning as "chieftain".) Linear B only represents syllables of single vowel, or of a consonant-vowel form, therefore any final -s is omitted. The word can be contrasted with wanax , another word used more specifically for " king " and usually meaning " High King " or "overlord". With
575-518: A Roman client state and marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. Even then, Herod tried to bolster the legitimacy of his reign by marrying a Hasmonean princess, Mariamne , and planning to drown the last male Hasmonean heir at his Jericho palace. In 6 CE, Rome joined Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea into the Roman province of Judaea . In 44 CE, Rome installed the rule of a procurator side by side with
690-420: A brave and noble man. His son, who likewise bore the name Phasael, and seems to have been posthumous, married Herod's daughter Salampsio , by whom he had five children. The son of Herod by his concubine, Pallas, was called Phasael by Herod, who likewise honored his brother's memory by naming a city northeast of Jericho " Phasaelis ," and a tower of his palace at Jerusalem " Phasaelus ." There are three princes by
805-537: A civil war took on the character of an invasion when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenising Jews against the traditionalists. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus prohibited the practices of the traditionalists, thereby, in a departure from usual Seleucid practice, banning the religion of an entire people. Other scholars argue that while the rising began as a religious rebellion, it
920-563: A component in compound personal names (e.g., Anax agóras, Pleisto ánax ) and is still in use in Modern Greek in the description of the anáktoron / anáktora ("[place or home] of the ánax "), i.e. of the royal palace. The latter is essentially the same word as 𐀷𐀩𐀏𐀳𐀫 wa-na-ka-te-ro , wanákteros , "of the wanax / king" or "belonging to the wanax / king", used in Linear ;B tablets to refer to various craftsmen serving
1035-605: A friendly conference, where he persuaded him to dismiss his army of 40,000 men, promising to give him Ptolemais and other fortresses. Jonathan fell into the trap; he took with him to Ptolemais 1,000 men, all of whom were slain; he himself was taken prisoner. When Diodotus Tryphon was about to enter Judea at Hadid, he was confronted by the new Jewish leader, Simon, ready for battle. Tryphon, avoiding an engagement, demanded one hundred talents and Jonathan's two sons as hostages, in return for which he promised to liberate Jonathan. Although Simon did not trust Diodotus Tryphon, he complied with
1150-768: A lesser degree the King of Axum , whose importance was rather peripheral in the Byzantine worldview. Consequently, the title acquired the connotation of "emperor", and when barbarian kingdoms emerged on the ruins of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, their rulers were referred to in Greek not as basileus but as rēx or rēgas , the hellenized forms of the Latin title rex , king . The first documented use of basileus Rhomaíōn in official context comes from
1265-482: A mercenary army to capture Madaba and Schechem , significantly increasing his regional influence. Hyrcanus conquered Transjordan , Samaria , and Idumea (also known as Edom ), and forced Idumeans to convert to Judaism: Basileus Basileus ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεύς ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In the English -speaking world it
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#17327727819881380-511: A rival claimant to the Seleucid throne: Alexander Balas , who purported to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and a first cousin of Demetrius. Demetrius was forced to recall the garrisons of Judea, except those in the City of Acre and at Beth-zur, to bolster his strength. Furthermore, he made a bid for the loyalty of Jonathan, permitting him to recruit an army and to reclaim the hostages kept in
1495-463: A very early form of Greek. The word basileus is written as qa-si-re-u and its original meaning was " chieftain " (in one particular tablet the chieftain of the guild of bronze smiths is referred to as qa-si-re-u ). Here the initial letter q- represents the PIE labiovelar consonant */gʷ/ , transformed in later Greek into /b/ . Linear B uses the same glyph for /l/ and /r/ , now transcribed with
1610-648: Is at this time that the term basileus acquired a fully royal connotation, in stark contrast with the much less sophisticated earlier perceptions of kingship within Greece. Under Roman rule, the term basileus came to be used, in the Hellenistic tradition, to designate the Roman Emperor in the ordinary and literary speech of the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean. Although the early Roman Emperors were careful to retain
1725-516: Is attested as using it alongside the long-established Autokratōr Kaisar in a letter to Kavadh II in 628. Finally, in a law promulgated on 21 March 629, the Latin titles were omitted altogether, and the simple formula πιστὸς ἐν Χριστῷ βασιλεύς , "faithful in Christ Emperor" was used instead. The adoption of the new imperial formula has been traditionally interpreted by scholars such as Ernst Stein and George Ostrogorsky as indicative of
1840-520: Is perhaps most widely understood to mean ' monarch ' , referring to either a ' king ' or an ' emperor ' . The title was used by sovereigns and other persons of authority in ancient Greece (especially during the Hellenistic period ), the Byzantine emperors , and the kings of modern Greece . The name Basileios ( Basil ), deriving from the term basileus , is a common given name in
1955-432: Is treating him disrespectfully. A study by R. Drews demonstrates that even at the apex of Geometric and Archaic Greek society, basileus did not automatically translate to "king": In a number of places authority was exercised by a college of basileis drawn from a particular clan or group, and the office had term limits. However, basileus could also be applied to the hereditary leaders of "tribal" states, like those of
2070-542: Is uncertain. The Mycenaean form was * gʷasileus ( Linear B : 𐀣𐀯𐀩𐀄 , qa-si-re-u ), denoting some sort of court official or local chieftain, but not an actual king. Its hypothetical earlier Proto-Greek form would be * gʷatileus . Some linguists assume that it is a non-Greek word that was adopted by Bronze Age Greeks from a pre-existing linguistic Pre-Greek substrate of the Eastern Mediterranean . Schindler argues for an inner-Greek innovation of
2185-479: The archon basileus was one of the nine archons , magistrates selected by lot. Of these, the archon eponymos (for whom the year was named), the polemarch (polemos archon = war lord) and the basileus divided the powers of Athens' ancient kings, with the basileus overseeing religious rites and homicide cases. His wife had to ritually marry Dionysus at the Anthesteria festival. Philippides of Paiania
2300-493: The -eus inflection type from Indo-European material rather than a Mediterranean loan. The first written instance of this word is found on the baked clay tablets discovered in excavations of Mycenaean palaces originally destroyed by fire. The tablets are dated from the 15th century BCE to the 11th century BCE and are inscribed with the Linear B script, which was deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952 and corresponds to
2415-576: The Achaemenid kings of Persia . The Persian king was also referred to as Megas Basileus / Basileus Megas (Great King) or Basileus Basileōn , a translation of the Persian title xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām (" King of Kings "), or simply " the king". There was also a cult of Zeus Basileus at Lebadeia . Aristotle distinguished the basileus , constrained by law, from the unlimited tyrant ( tyrannos ), who had generally seized control. At Athens ,
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#17327727819882530-624: The Achaemenid Empire , and Alexander the Great 's Hellenic Macedonian empire ( c. 330 BCE), although Jewish religious practice and culture had persisted and even flourished during certain periods. The entire region was heavily contested between the successor states of Alexander's empire, the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Kingdom, during the six Syrian Wars of the 3rd–1st centuries BCE: "After two centuries of peace under
2645-561: The Arcadians and the Messenians , in which cases the term approximated the meaning of "king". According to pseudo- Archytas 's treatise "On justice and law" Basileus is more adequately translated into " Sovereign " than into "king". The reason for this is that it designates more the person of king than the office of king: the power of magistrates ( arkhontes , " archons ") derives from their social functions or offices, whereas
2760-501: The Battle of Antioch resulted in the final defeat of Alexander Balas by the forces of his father-in-law Ptolemy VI. Ptolemy himself, however, was among the casualties of the battle. Demetrius II Nicator remained sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire and became the second husband of Cleopatra Thea . Jonathan owed no allegiance to the new King and took this opportunity to lay siege to the Acra ,
2875-642: The Battle of Elasa (Laisa), where this time it was the Hasmonean commander who was killed. (161/160 BCE). Bacchides now established the Hellenes as rulers in Israel; and upon Judah's death, the persecuted patriots, under Jonathan, brother of Judah, fled beyond the Jordan River. (ib. 9:25–27) They set camp near a morass by the name of Asphar, and remained, after several engagements with the Seleucids, in
2990-504: The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches . The feminine forms are basileia ( βασίλεια ), basilissa ( βασίλισσα ), basillis ( βασιλίς ), or the archaic basilinna ( βασιλίννα ), meaning ' queen ' or ' empress ' . The related term basileia ( βασιλεία ) has meanings such as 'sovereignty', 'royalty', 'kingdom', 'reign', 'dominion' and 'authority'. The etymology of basileus
3105-489: The Euphrates . In 116 BCE, a civil war between Seleucid half-brothers Antiochus VIII Grypus and Antiochus IX Cyzicenus broke out, resulting in a further breakup of the already significantly reduced kingdom. This provided opportunity for semi-independent Seleucid client states such as Judea to revolt. In 110 BCE, John Hyrcanus carried out the first military conquests of the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom, raising
3220-647: The Hasmonean Civil War in 63 BCE and made it into a client state, marking the decline of Hasmonean dynasty; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BCE. Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BCE, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus ( יהודה המכבי Yehudah HaMakabi ) had defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 141 BCE. According to 1 Maccabees , 2 Maccabees , and
3335-632: The Roman Republic by Julius Caesar . Antipater appointed Phasael to be governor of Jerusalem, and Herod governor of Galilee. When Phasael's brother Herod was summoned to be tried by the Sanhedrin he meant to come to Jerusalem with an army and make war, however Antipater and Phasael managed to convince him to be satisfied with making threats of force. While Mark Antony was in Bithynia about 41 BCE, accusations were brought before him against
3450-676: The Sabbath . Other Jews then reasoned that they must fight when attacked, even on the Sabbath. The institution of guerrilla warfare practices by Judah over several years led to victory against the Seleucids: It was now, in the fall of 165, that Judah's successes began to disturb the central government. He appears to have controlled the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and thus to have cut off the royal party in Acra from direct communication with
3565-705: The Septuagint that was codified by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians. The other primary source for the Hasmonean dynasty is the first book of The Wars of the Jews and a more detailed history in Antiquities of the Jews by the Jewish historian Josephus , (37– c. 100 CE). Josephus' account is the only primary source covering the history of the Hasmonean dynasty during the period of its expansion and independence between 110 and 63 BCE. Notably, Josephus,
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3680-594: The sufet mislabeled as the Latin rex . Basileus and Megas Basileus / Basileus Megas were exclusively used by Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors in Ptolemaic Egypt , Asia (e.g. the Seleucid Empire , the Attalid kingdom and Pontus ) and Macedon . The feminine counterpart is basilissa (queen), meaning both a queen regnant (such as Cleopatra ) and a queen consort . It
3795-623: The swamp in the country east of the Jordan. Following the death of his puppet governor Alcimus , High Priest of Jerusalem, Bacchides felt secure enough to leave the country, but two years after the departure of Bacchides from Israel, the City of Acre felt sufficiently threatened by Maccabee incursions to contact Demetrius and request the return of Bacchides to their territory. Jonathan and Simeon, now more experienced in guerrilla warfare , thought it well to retreat farther, and accordingly fortified in
3910-419: The "antiquated" and "outdated" religion practised in Jerusalem, and to rid it of superstitious elements. They were the ones who egged on Antiochus IV and instituted the religious reform in Jerusalem. One suspects that [Bickermann] may have been influenced in his view by an antipathy to Reform Judaism in 19th- and 20th-century Germany. Tcherikover, perhaps influenced by socialist concerns, saw the uprising as one of
4025-522: The 9th century, the Byzantines reserved the term basileus among Christian rulers exclusively for their own emperor in Constantinople . This usage was initially accepted by the "barbarian" kings of Western Europe themselves: Despite having neglected the fiction of Roman suzerainty from the 6th century onward, they refrained from adopting imperial titles. The situation began to change when
4140-418: The City of Acre. Jonathan gladly accepted these terms, took up residence at Jerusalem in 153 BCE, and began fortifying the city. Alexander Balas offered Jonathan even more favourable terms, including official appointment as High Priest in Jerusalem, and despite a second letter from Demetrius promising prerogatives that were almost impossible to guarantee, Jonathan declared allegiance to Balas. Jonathan became
4255-610: The East. Instead, in official context the imperial titles Caesar Augustus , translated or transliterated into Greek as Kaisar Sebastos or Kaisar Augoustos , and Imperator , translated as Autokratōr , were used. By the 4th century however, basileus was applied in official usage exclusively to the two rulers considered equals to the Roman Emperor: the Sassanid Persian shahanshah ("king of kings"), and to
4370-528: The Greek title into Latin, such as: in Christo Deo fidelis imperator divinitus coronatus sublimis potens excelsus semper augustus moderator Romanorum . In his correspondence with the Holy Roman Emperor , Isaakios II added to his title the Latin phrase haeres coronae Constantini magni ('heir to the crown of Constantine the great'), in order to distinguish and prioritize the 'New' Rome of
4485-584: The Hebrew name Hashmona'i is linked with the village of Heshmon , mentioned in Joshua 15:27 . P.J. Gott and Logan Licht attribute the name to "Ha Simeon", a veiled reference to the Simeonite Tribe . Canaan State of Israel (1948–present) The lands of the former Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah ( c. 722 –586 BCE), had been occupied in turn by Assyria , Babylonia ,
4600-478: The Hellenistic party's complaints against Jonathan. In 147 BCE, Demetrius II Nicator , a son of Demetrius I Soter, claimed Balas' throne. The governor of Coele-Syria , Apollonius Taos, used the opportunity to challenge Jonathan to battle, saying that the Jews might for once leave the mountains and venture out into the plain . Jonathan and Simeon led a force of 10,000 men against Apollonius' forces in Jaffa , which
4715-543: The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg began with King George I . Both to assert national independence from the will of the Great Powers, and to emphasize the constitutional responsibilities of the monarch towards the people, his title was modified to "King of the Hellenes", which remained the official royal title, until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1924 and 1973. The two Greek kings who had
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4830-515: The Jews first made the acquaintance of Hellenism and of the more corrupt sides of Greek culture; and it was from Antioch that Judea henceforth was ruled." The major source of information about the origin of the Hasmonean dynasty is the books 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees , held as canonical scripture by the Catholic , Orthodox , and most Oriental Orthodox churches and as apocryphal by Protestant denominations, although they do not comprise
4945-508: The Jews who supported him. The author of the Second Book of Maccabees presented the conflict as a struggle between "Judaism" and "Hellenism", words that he was the first to use. Modern scholarship tends to the second view. Most modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in a civil war between traditionalist Jews in the countryside and Hellenised Jews in Jerusalem. According to Joseph P. Schultz, modern scholarship, "considers
5060-589: The Jews. His government set up an idol of Zeus on the Temple Mount , which Jews considered to be desecration of the Mount; it also forbade both circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures, on pain of death. According to Josephus, "Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during
5175-466: The Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp." In the conflict over the office of High Priest, traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contested against Hellenisers with Greek names like Jason or Menelaus. Other authors point to social and economic factors in the conflict. What began as
5290-481: The New Testament. Other titles involving basileus include Basileus tōn Ouranōn , translated as King of Heaven , and Basileus tōn Ioudaiōn , i.e. King of the Jews (see INRI ). In Byzantine art , standard depictions of Jesus included Basileus tēs Doxēs (King of Glory), a phrase derived from Psalms 24:10, and Kyrios tēs Doxēs (Lord of Glory), from 1 Corinthians 2:8. During the post-Byzantine period,
5405-612: The Papacy's source of protection while the Byzantine's position in Italy had weakened significantly. In 800 CE, Charlemagne, now a king of multiple territories, was proclaimed "Emperor of the Romans" by the Pope. Charlemagne's claim to the imperial title of the Romans began a prolonged diplomatic controversy which was resolved only in 812 when the Byzantines agreed to recognize him as " basileus ", while continuing to refuse any connection with
5520-686: The Persians, the Hebrew state found itself once more caught in the middle of power struggles between two great empires: the Seleucid state with its capital in Syria to the north and the Ptolemaic state, with its capital in Egypt to the south. ... Between 319 and 302 BCE, Jerusalem changed hands seven times." Under Antiochus III the Great , the Seleucids wrested control of Judea from the Ptolemies for
5635-581: The Persians: in a letter sent to Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) by Chosroes II , Maurice is addressed in Greek as basileus Rhomaíōn instead of the habitual Middle Persian appellation kēsar-i Hrōm ("Caesar of the Romans"), while the Persian ruler refers to himself correspondingly as Persōn basileus , thereby dropping his own claim to the Greek equivalent of his formal title, basileus basileōn ("king of kings"). The title appears to have slowly crept into imperial titulature after that, and Emperor Heraclius
5750-592: The Ptolemies or Seleucids. In 175 BCE, conflict broke out between High Priest Onias III (who opposed Hellenisation and favoured the Ptolemies ) and his brother Jason (who favoured Hellenisation and the Seleucids). A period of political intrigue followed, with both Jason and Menelaus bribing the king to win the High Priesthood, and accusations of murder of competing contenders for the title. The result
5865-774: The Punic chief magistrate, the sufet , as basileus in their native language. In fact, this office conformed to largely republican frameworks, being approximately equivalent in mandate to the Roman consul . This conflation appears notably in Aristotle 's otherwise positive description of the Carthaginian Constitution in the Politics , as well as in the writings of Polybius , Diodorus Siculus , and Diogenes Laertius . Roman and early Christian writings sourced from Greek fostered further mischaracterizations, with
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#17327727819885980-414: The Roman Empire. In an effort to emphasize their own Roman legitimacy, the Byzantine rulers thereafter began to use the fuller form basileus Rhomaíōn ( βασιλεύς Ῥωμαίων , "emperor of the Romans") instead of the simple " basileus ", a practice that continued in official usage until the end of the Empire. The title autokratōr was also revived by the early 9th century (and appears in coins from 912 on). It
6095-463: The Roman Republic to remove the Greeks: "In the year 161 BCE he sent Eupolemus the son of Johanan and Jason the son of Eleazar , 'to make a league of amity and confederacy with the Romans.'" A Seleucid army under General Nicanor was defeated by Judah (ib. 7:26–50) at the Battle of Adasa , with Nicanor himself killed in action. Next, Bacchides was sent with Alcimus and an army of twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, and met Judah at
6210-484: The Roman historian Livy , the Roman senate dispatched the diplomat Gaius Popilius to Egypt who demanded Antiochus to withdraw. When Antiochus requested time to discuss the matter Popilius "drew a circle round the king with the stick he was carrying and said, 'Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.'" While Antiochus was campaigning in Egypt, a rumor spread in Judah that he had been killed. The deposed high priest Jason took advantage of
6325-460: The Romans and Serbs which was, however, not recognized by the Byzantines. While the terms used for the Roman emperor are Kaisar Augustos (Decree from Caesar Augustus, Dogma para Kaisaros Augoustou, Luke 2:1) or just Kaisar (see Render unto Caesar... ), and Pontius Pilate is termed Hegemon ( Matthew 27:2), Herod is referred to as basileus (in his coins also Basileōs Herodou , "of King Herod", and by Josephus ). Regarding Jesus ,
6440-446: The Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire allowed Judea to regain some autonomy; however, in 63 BCE, the kingdom was invaded by the Roman Republic , broken up and set up as a Roman client state . Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II , Simon's great-grandsons, became pawns in a proxy war between Julius Caesar and Pompey . The deaths of Pompey (48 BCE) and Caesar (44 BCE), and
6555-413: The Seleucid fortress in Jerusalem and the symbol of Seleucid control over Judea. It was heavily garrisoned by a Seleucid force and offered asylum to Jewish Hellenists. Demetrius was greatly incensed; he appeared with an army at Ptolemais and ordered Jonathan to come before him. Without raising the siege, Jonathan, accompanied by the elders and priests, went to the king and pacified him with presents, so that
6670-594: The Seleucid throne appeared in the person of the young Antiochus VI Dionysus , son of Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea. He was three years old at most, but general Diodotus Tryphon used him to advance his own designs on the throne. In the face of this new enemy, Demetrius not only promised to withdraw the garrison from the City of Acre, but also called Jonathan his ally and requested him to send troops. The 3,000 men of Jonathan protected Demetrius in his capital, Antioch , against his own subjects. As Demetrius II did not keep his promise, Jonathan thought it better to support
6785-450: The Western European states began to challenge the Empire's political supremacy and its right to the universal imperial title. The catalytic event was the coronation of Charlemagne as imperator Romanorum (" Emperor of the Romans ") by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800, at St. Peter's in Rome . The matter was complicated by the fact that the Eastern Empire was then managed by Irene (r. 797–802), who had gained control after
6900-495: The almost complete Hellenization of the Empire by that time. In imperial coinage, however, Latin forms continued to be used. Only in the reign of Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741) did the title basileus appear in silver coins, and on gold coinage only under Constantine VI (r. 780–797). "BASILEUS" was initially stamped on Byzantine coins in Latin script, and only gradually were some Latin characters replaced with Greek ones, resulting in mixed forms such as "BASIΛEVS". Until
7015-417: The camp of the Parthian leader Barzapharnes under the pretext of peace talks. Both Hyrcanus and Phasael were imprisoned. They were then handed over to Antigonus, who caused Hyrcanus to be mutilated , a disgrace which Phasael escaped by dashing out his own brains , having the satisfaction of knowing before he died that his brother Herod had escaped from Jerusalem and was safe. Josephus speaks of Phasael as
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#17327727819887130-539: The canonical books of the Hebrew Bible . The books cover the period from 175 BCE to 134 BCE during which time the Hasmonean dynasty became semi-independent from the Seleucid empire but had not yet expanded far outside of Judea. They are written from the point of view that the salvation of the Jewish people in a crisis came from God through the family of Mattathias, particularly his sons Judas Maccabeus, Jonathan Apphus, and Simon Thassi, and his grandson John Hyrcanus . The books include historical and religious material from
7245-412: The city of Ekron along with its outlying territory. The people of Azotus complained to King Ptolemy VI, who had come to make war upon his son-in-law, but Jonathan met Ptolemy at Jaffa in peace and accompanied him as far as the River Eleutherus. Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem, maintaining peace with the King of Egypt despite their support for different contenders for the Seleucid throne. In 145 BCE,
7360-465: The city of Ragusa issued in 1451, two years before the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire in the Siege of Constantinople . The later German emperors were also conceded the title " basileus of the Franks ". The Byzantine title in turn produced further diplomatic incidents in the 10th century, when Western potentates addressed the emperors as "emperors of the Greeks". A similar diplomatic controversy (this time accompanied by war) ensued from
7475-413: The city. He remained governor as a Seleucid vassal . For the next two decades of his reign, Hyrcanus continued, like his father, to rule semi-autonomously from the Seleucids. The Seleucid empire had been disintegrating in the face of the Seleucid–Parthian wars and in 129 BCE Antiochus VII Sidetes was killed in Media by the forces of Phraates II of Parthia , permanently ending Seleucid rule east of
7590-430: The collapse of Mycenaean society, the position of wanax ceases to be mentioned, and the basileis (the plural form) appear the topmost potentates in Greek society. In the works of Homer wanax appears, in the form ánax , mostly in descriptions of Zeus ( ánax andrōn te theōn te , "king of men and of the gods ") and of very few human monarchs, most notably Agamemnon . Otherwise the term survived almost exclusively as
7705-421: The death of her husband, the Emperor Leo IV (r. 775–780), as regent for their nine-year-old son, Constantine VI (r. 780–797). After Constantine's coming of age, Irene eventually decided to rule in her own name. In the conflict that ensued, Irene was victorious, and Constantine was blinded and imprisoned, to die soon afterward. The revulsion generated by this incident of filicide cum regicide
7820-426: The desert a place called Beth-hogla; there they were besieged several days by Bacchides. Jonathan offered the rival general a peace treaty and exchange of prisoners of war . Bacchides readily consented and even took an oath of nevermore making war upon Jonathan. He and his forces then vacated Israel. The victorious Jonathan now took up his residence in the old city of Michmash . From there he endeavoured to clear
7935-430: The dominant Hellenistic cultural practice of socialising naked in the gymnasium, where their circumcision would have carried a social stigma; Classical , Hellenistic , and Roman culture found circumcision to be a cruel, barbaric and repulsive custom. In spring 168 BCE, after successfully invading the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, Antiochus IV was humiliatingly pressured by the Romans to withdraw. According to
8050-424: The dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire , and from roughly 110 BCE, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea , Samaria , Idumea , Galilee , and Iturea . The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title basileus ("king") as the kingdom became a regional power for several decades. Forces of the Roman Republic intervened in
8165-479: The east over the 'Old' Rome of the west. By the Palaiologan period , the full style of the Emperor was finalized in the phrase, "in Christ the God faithful Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans, the Palaiologos" ( Medieval Greek : ἐν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ πιστὸς βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαίων ὁ Παλαιολόγος , romanized : en Christō tō Theō pistós basileus kai autokratōr Rhōmaíōn ho Palaiológos ), as exemplified in documents such as Constantine XI 's chrysobull to
8280-614: The election was performed in Hellenistic fashion. Simon, having made the Jewish people semi-independent of the Seleucid Greeks, reigned from 142 to 135 BCE and formed the Hasmonean dynasty, finally capturing the citadel [Acra] in 141 BCE. The Roman Senate accorded the new dynasty recognition c. 139 BCE, when the delegation of Simon was in Rome. Simon led the people in peace and prosperity, until in February 135 BCE, he
8395-531: The façade of the republican institutions and to not formally adopt monarchical titles, the use of basileus amply illustrates that contemporaries clearly perceived that the Roman Empire was a monarchy in all but name. Nevertheless, despite its widespread use, due to its "royal" associations the title basileus remained unofficial for the Emperor, and was restricted in official documents to client kings in
8510-526: The final time, defeating Ptolemy V Epiphanes at the Battle of Panium in 200 BCE. Seleucid rule over the Jewish parts of the region then resulted in the rise of Hellenistic cultural and religious practices: "In addition to the turmoil of war, there arose in the Jewish nation pro-Seleucid and pro-Ptolemaic parties; and the schism exercised great influence upon the Judaism of the time. It was in Antioch that
8625-653: The first book of The Jewish War by historian Josephus (37 – c. 100 CE), the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( r. 175–164 ) moved to assert strict control over the Seleucid satrapy of Coele Syria and Phoenicia after his successful invasion of Ptolemaic Egypt (170–168 BCE) was turned back by the intervention of the Roman Republic. He sacked Jerusalem and its Temple , suppressing Jewish and Samaritan religious and cultural observances, and imposed Hellenistic practices ( c. 168–167 BCE). The steady collapse of
8740-692: The hereditary royal office in favor of democratic or oligarchic rule. Some exceptions existed, namely the two hereditary Kings of Sparta (who served as joint commanders of the army, and were also called arkhagetai ), the Kings of Cyrene , the Kings of Macedon and of the Molossians in Epirus and Kings of Arcadian Orchomenus . The Greeks also used the term to refer to various kings of " barbaric " (i.e. non-Greek) tribes in Thrace and Illyria , as well as to
8855-520: The imperial aspirations of Simeon I of Bulgaria in the early 10th century. Aspiring to conquer Constantinople, Simeon claimed the title " basileus of the Bulgarians and of the Romans", but was only recognized as " basileus of the Bulgarians" by the Byzantines. From the 12th century however, the title was increasingly, although again not officially, used for powerful foreign sovereigns, such as
8970-555: The king (e.g. the "palace", or royal, spinner, or the ivory worker), and to items belonging or offered to the king (javelin shafts, wheat, spices, precincts etc.). Most of the Greek leaders in Homer's works are described as basileís , which is rendered conventionally in English as "kings". However, a more accurate translation may be "princes" or "chieftains", which would better represent conditions in Greek society in Homer's time, and also
9085-412: The king not only confirmed him in his office of high priest, but gave to him the three Samaritan toparchies of Mount Ephraim , Lod , and Ramathaim-Zophim . In consideration of a present of 300 talents the entire country was exempted from taxes , the exemption being confirmed in writing. Jonathan in return lifted the siege of the Acra and left it in Seleucid hands. Soon, however, a new claimant to
9200-510: The kings of France or Sicily , the tsars of the restored Bulgarian Empire , the Latin emperors and the emperors of Trebizond . In time, the title was also applied to major non-Christian rulers, such as Tamerlane or Mehmed II . Finally, in 1354, Stefan Dušan , king of Serbia , assumed the imperial title, based on his Bulgarian mother's Theodora Smilets of Bulgaria royal line, self-styling himself in Greek as basileus and autokratōr of
9315-593: The land of "the godless and the apostate ". The chief source, 1 Maccabees, says that with this "the sword ceased in Israel", and in fact nothing is reported for the five following years (158–153 BCE). An important external event brought the design of the Maccabeans to fruition. Demetrius I Soter 's relations with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon (reigned 159–138 BCE), Ptolemy VI of Egypt (reigned 163–145 BCE), and Ptolemy's co-ruler Cleopatra II of Egypt were deteriorating, and they supported
9430-479: The leadership (142 BCE), receiving the double office of High Priest and Ethnarch (Prince) of Israel. The leadership of the Hasmoneans was established by a resolution, adopted in 141 BCE, at a large assembly "of the priests and the people and of the elders of the land, to the effect that Simon should be their leader and High Priest forever, until there should arise a faithful prophet " (1 Macc. 14:41). Ironically,
9545-647: The name Phasael in the Herodian dynasty, all three mentioned by Josephus in "War" (BJ) and "Antiquities" (AJ): Hasmonean Kingdom The Hasmonean dynasty ( / h æ z m ə ˈ n iː ən / ; Hebrew : חַשְׁמוֹנָאִים Ḥašmōnāʾīm ; Greek : Ασμοναϊκή δυναστεία ) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity ), from c. 140 BCE to 37 BCE. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE
9660-466: The new king when Diodotus Tryphon and Antiochus VI seized the capital, especially as the latter confirmed all his rights and appointed his brother Simon (Simeon) strategos of the Paralia (the sea coast), from the "Ladder of Tyre " to the frontier of Egypt . Jonathan and Simon were now entitled to make conquests; Ashkelon submitted voluntarily while Gaza was forcibly taken. Jonathan vanquished even
9775-615: The official religious leader of his people, and officiated at the Feast of Tabernacles of 153 BCE wearing the High Priest's garments. The Hellenistic party could no longer attack him without severe consequences. Hasmoneans held the office of High Priest continuously until 37 BCE. Soon, Demetrius lost both his throne and his life, in 150 BCE. The victorious Alexander Balas was given the further honour of marriage to Cleopatra Thea , daughter of his allies Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II. Jonathan
9890-578: The overthrow of his appointee, Menelaus, he may have been responding to a Jewish revolt that had drawn on the Temple and the Torah for its strength, or he may have been encouraged by a group of radical Hellenisers among the Jews. The author of the First Book of Maccabees regarded the Maccabean revolt as a rising of pious Jews against the Seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion and against
10005-673: The pair tetrarchs . Meanwhile, Antigonus the Hasmonean endeavored to seize the Jewish throne; and in Jerusalem there were frequent conflicts between his retainers and those of the two brothers, which were especially perilous on the Jewish Feast of Shavuot . Phasael defended the walls, and Herod the palace, thus routing their antagonists, whereupon Antigonus invoked the aid of the Parthian Empire . In spite of Herod's warning, Phasael allowed himself to be lured with Hyrcanus to
10120-591: The powerful, the exalted, ever Augustus, Autocrat of the Romans, the Angelos" ( Medieval Greek : ἐν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ πιστὸς βασιλεύς, θεοστεφής, ἄναξ, κραταιός, ὑψηλός, αὔγουστος καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαίων , romanized : en Khristō to Theō pistos basileus, theostephēs, anax, krataios, hupsēlos, augoustos, kaì autokratōr Rhōmaiōn ) . Variations of this title are found in letters of the Angelid emperors to Pope Innocentius III ; these are nearly direct translations of
10235-531: The related Roman civil wars , temporarily relaxed Rome's grip on the Hasmonean kingdom, allowing a brief reassertion of autonomy backed by the Parthian Empire, rapidly crushed by the Romans under Mark Antony and Augustus . The Hasmonean dynasty had survived for 103 years before yielding to the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE. The installation of Herod the Great (an Idumean ) as king in 37 BCE made Judea
10350-428: The request so that he might not be accused of the death of his brother. But Diodotus Tryphon did not liberate his prisoner; angry that Simon blocked his way everywhere and that he could accomplish nothing, he executed Jonathan at Baskama , in the country east of the Jordan. Jonathan was buried by Simeon at Modin . Nothing is known of his two captive sons. One of his daughters was an ancestor of Josephus. Simon assumed
10465-458: The roles ascribed to Homer's characters. Agamemnon tries to give orders to Achilles among many others, while another basileus serves as his charioteer. His will, however, is not to be obeyed automatically. In Homer the wanax is expected to rule over the other basileis by consensus rather than by coercion, which is why Achilles rebels (the main theme of the Iliad ) when he decides that Agamemnon
10580-577: The rule of the Herodian kings (specifically Agrippa I 41–44 and Agrippa II 50–100). The family name of the Hasmonean dynasty originates from the ancestor of the house, whom Josephus called by the Hellenised form Asmoneus or Asamoneus ( Greek : Ἀσαμωναῖος ), said to have been the great-grandfather of Mattathias , but about whom nothing more is known. The name appears to come from the Hebrew name Hashmonay ( Hebrew : חַשְׁמוֹנַאי , romanized : Ḥašmonay ). An alternative view posits that
10695-628: The rural peasants against the rich elite. According to I and II Maccabees, the priestly family of Mattathias (Mattitiyahu in Hebrew), which came to be known as the Maccabees , called the people forth to holy war against the Seleucids. Mattathias' sons Judas (Yehuda), Jonathan (Yonoson/Yonatan), and Simon (Shimon) began a military campaign, initially with disastrous results: one thousand Jewish men, women, and children were killed by Seleucid troops because they refused to fight, even in self-defence, on
10810-470: The sea and thus with the government. It is significant that this time the Syrian troops, under the leadership of the governor-general Lysias, took the southerly route, by way of Idumea. Towards the end of 164, Judah felt strong enough to enter Jerusalem and the formal religious worship of Yahweh was re-established. The feast of Hanukkah was instituted to commemorate the recovery of the temple. Antiochus, who
10925-549: The siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar." He also outlawed observance of the Sabbath and the offering of sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple and required Jewish leaders to sacrifice to idols; punitive executions were also instituted. Possession of Jewish scriptures was made a capital offence. The motives of Antiochus are unclear. He may have been incensed at
11040-556: The situation, attacked Jerusalem, and drove away Menelaus and his followers. Menelaus took refuge in Akra , the Seleucids fortress in Jerusalem. When Antiochus heard of this, he sent an army to Jerusalem to sort things out. Jerusalem was taken, Jason and his followers were driven out, and Menelaus reinstated as high priest. He then imposed a tax and established a fortress in Jerusalem. Antiochus tried to suppress public observance of Jewish laws, apparently in an attempt to secure control over
11155-637: The sovereign derives his power from himself. Sovereigns have auctoritas , whereas magistrates retain imperium . Pseudo-Archytas aimed at creating a theory of sovereignty completely enfranchised from laws , being itself the only source of legitimacy . He goes so far as qualifying the Basileus as nomos empsykhos , or "living law", which is the origin, according to Agamben, of the Führerprinzip and of Carl Schmitt 's theories on dictatorship . In classical times , most Greek states had abolished
11270-565: The strategoi of Demetrius II far to the north, in the plain of Hazar, while Simon at the same time took the strong fortress of Beth-zur on the pretext that it harboured supporters of Demetrius. Like Judah in former years, Jonathan sought alliances with foreign peoples. He renewed the treaty with the Roman Republic and exchanged friendly messages with Sparta and other places. However, the documents referring to those diplomatic events are of questionable authenticity. Diodotus Tryphon went with an army to Judea and invited Jonathan to Scythopolis for
11385-680: The term basileus , owing to the renewed influence of classical writers on the language, reverted to its earlier meaning of "king". This transformation had already begun in informal usage in the works of some classicizing Byzantine authors. In the Convention of London in 1832, the Great Powers agreed that the new Greek state should become a monarchy , and chose the Wittelsbach Prince Otto of Bavaria as its first king. The Great Powers furthermore ordained that his title
11500-443: The term basileus acquired a new Christian theological meaning out of the further concept of basileus as a chief religious officer during the Hellenistic period. Jesus is titled both Basileus Basileōn ( Βασιλεὺς βασιλέων = King of Kings , Revelation 17:14, 19:16, a previous Near Eastern phrase for rulers of empires, and Basileus tōn basileuontōn ( Βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων = literally King of those being kings, 1 Timothy 6:15) in
11615-401: The territory of Galilee , and Alexander Jannaeus conquered the territory of Iturea . In addition to territorial conquests, the Hasmonean rulers, initially reigning only as rebel leaders, gradually assumed the religious office of High Priest during the reign of Jonathan Apphus in 152 BCE and the monarchical title of Ethnarch during the reign of Simon Thassi in 142 BCE, eventually assuming
11730-564: The title of King ( basileus ) in 104 BCE by Aristobulus I. In c. 135 BCE, John Hyrcanus, Simon's third son, assumed the leadership as both the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) and Ethnarch, taking a Greek " regnal name " (see Hyrcania ) in an acceptance of the Hellenistic culture of his Seleucid suzerains . Within a year of the death of Simon, Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes attacked Jerusalem. According to Josephus , John Hyrcanus opened King David 's sepulchre and removed three thousand talents which he paid as tribute to spare
11845-442: The two brothers, who were objects of hatred to many Jews, but the shrewd Herod succeeded in obtaining the dismissal of the charges. It was impossible, however, for the Sanhedrin to rest content with the administrations of Herod and Phasael; and charges were again brought against them before Antony at Antioch . Once more the accusations proved to be fruitless, for even the weak Hyrcanus II pleaded for them. This led Antony to appoint
11960-473: The will of the Greek people, a fact further underlined by Otto's addition of the formula " ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ " eléo Theou , i.e. " By the Grace (Mercy) of God ". For 10 years, until the 3 September 1843 Revolution , Otto ruled as an absolute monarch, and his autocratic rule, which continued even after he was forced to grant a constitution, made him very unpopular. After being ousted in 1862, the new Danish dynasty of
12075-498: Was assassinated at the instigation of his son-in-law Ptolemy , son of Abubus (also spelled Abobus or Abobi), who had been named governor of the region by the Seleucids. Simon's eldest sons, Mattathias and Judah, were also murdered. After achieving semi-independency from the Seleucid Empire, the dynasty began to expand into the neighboring regions. Perea was conquered already by Jonathan Apphus , subsequently John Hyrcanus conquered Samaria and Idumea , Aristobulus I conquered
12190-400: Was a brief civil war. The Tobiads , a philo-Hellenistic party, succeeded in placing Jason into the powerful position of High Priest. He established an arena for public games close by the Temple. Author Lee I. Levine notes, "The 'piece de resistance' of Judaean Hellenisation, and the most dramatic of all these developments, occurred in 175 BCE, when the high priest Jason converted Jerusalem into
12305-537: Was away on a campaign against the Parthians , died at about the same time in Persis . Antiochus was succeeded by Demetrius I Soter , the nephew whose throne he had usurped. Demetrius sent the general Bacchides to Israel with a large army, in order to install Alcimus with the office of high priest. Bacchides subdued Jerusalem and returned to his King. After five years of war and raids, Judah sought an alliance with
12420-504: Was compounded by the traditional (and especially Frankish ) aversion to the idea of a female sovereign . Although it is often claimed that, as monarch, Irene called herself in the male form basileus , in fact she normally used the title basilissa . The Pope would seize this opportunity to cite the imperial throne being held by a woman as vacant and establish his position as able to divinely appoint rulers. Leading up to this, Charlemagne and his Frankish predecessors had increasingly become
12535-426: Was even held by women. By contrast, the authoritarian rulers were never termed basileus in classical Greece, but archon (ruler) or tyrannos (tyrant); although Pheidon of Argos is described by Aristotle as a basileus who made himself into a tyrannos . Many Greek authors, reconciling Carthaginian supremacy in the western Mediterranean with eastern stereotypes of absolutist non-Hellenic government, termed
12650-405: Was gradually transformed into a war of national liberation. The two greatest twentieth-century scholars of the Maccabean revolt, Elias Bickermann and Victor Tcherikover, each placed the blame on the policies of the Jewish leaders and not on the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but for different reasons. Bickermann saw the origin of the problem in the attempt of "Hellenised" Jews to reform
12765-474: Was invited to Ptolemais for the ceremony, appearing with presents for both kings, and was permitted to sit between them as their equal; Balas even clothed him with his own royal garment and otherwise accorded him high honour. Balas appointed Jonathan as strategos and "meridarch" (i.e., civil governor of a province; details not found in Josephus), sent him back with honours to Jerusalem, and refused to listen to
12880-581: Was one of the richest Athenians during the age of Lycurgus of Athens, he was honoured archon basileus in 293–292 BCE. Similar vestigial offices termed basileus existed in other Greek city-states. Thus in the Ionian League each member city had a basileus that represented it to the League sanctuary of the Panionion , whereas in the Roman period it was a League office of unclear duties, and
12995-590: Was reserved for the senior ruling emperor among several co-emperors ( symbasileis ), who exercised actual power. The term Megas Basileus / Basileus Megas ("Great Emperor") was also sometimes used for the same purpose. During the 12th century, Byzantine emperors of the Angelos dynasty, in their correspondence with the Pope and foreign rulers, styled themselves as "in Christ the God faithful, Emperor, crowned by God, Anax,
13110-521: Was to be " Βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἑλλάδος " Vasilefs tes Elládos , meaning "King of Greece", instead of " Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων " Vasilefs ton Ellénon , i.e. "King of the Greeks". This title had two implications: first, that Otto was the king only of the small Kingdom of Greece , and not of all Greeks , whose majority still remained ruled by the Ottoman Empire . Second, that the kingship did not depend on
13225-411: Was unprepared for the rapid attack and opened the gates in surrender to the Jewish forces. Apollonius received reinforcements from Azotus and appeared in the plain in charge of 3,000 men including superior cavalry forces. Jonathan assaulted, captured and burned Azotus along with the resident temple of Dagon and the surrounding villages. Alexander Balas honoured the victorious High Priest by giving him
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