(), was the son of Johannes
Hyrcanus, and brother of Aristobulus I., whom he succeeded, as King of the Jews, in B. C. 104, after putting to death one of his brothers, who laid claim to
the crown. He took advantage of the unquiet state of Syria to attack the cities of Ptolemais
(Acre), Dora, and Gaza, which, with several others, had made themselves independent. The
people of Ptolemais applied for aid to Ptolemy Lathyrus, then king of Cyprus, who came with an
army of thirty thousand men. Alexander was defeated on the banks of the Jordan, and Ptolemy
ravaged the country in the most barbarous manner. In B. C. 102,
Cleopatra came to the assistance of Alexander with a fleet and army, and Ptolemy was compelled
to return to Cyprus. (B. C. 101.) Soon afterwards Alexander invaded
Coele Syria, and renewed his attacks upon the independent cities. In B. C.
96 he took Gaza, destroyed the city, and massacred all the inhabitants. The result of
these undertakings, and his having attached himself to the party of the Sadducees, drew upon
him the hatred of the Pharisees, who were by far the more numerous party. He was attacked by
the people in B. C. 94, while officiating as high-priest at the feast
of Tabernacles; but the insurrection was put down, and six thousand of the insurgents slain.
In the next year (B. C. 93) he made an expedition against Arabia, and
made the Arabs of Gilead and the Moabites tributary. But in B. C. 92,
in a campaign against Obedas, the emir of the Arabs of Gaulonitis, he fell into an ambush in
the mountains of Gadara; his army was entirely destroyed, and he himself escaped with
difficulty. The Pharisees seized the opportunity thus afforded, and broke out into open
revolt. At first they were successful, and Alexander was compelled to fly to the mountains
(B. C. 88); but two years afterwards he gained two decisive
victories. After the second of these, he caused eight hundred of the chief men amongst the
rebels to be crucified, and their wives and-children to be butchered before their eyes, while
he and his concubines banqueted in sight of the victims. This act of atrocity procured for him
the name of " the Thracian." It produced its effect, however, and the rebellion was shortly
afterwards suppressed, after the war had lasted six years. During the next three years
Alexander made some successful campaigns, recovered several cities and fortresses, and pushed
his conquests beyond the Jordan. On his return to Jerusalem, in B. C.
81, his excessive drinking brought on a quartan ague, of which he died three years
afterwards, while engaged in the siege of Ragaba in Gerasena, after a reign of twenty-seven
years. He left his kingdom to his wife Alexandra. Coins of this king are extant, from which it
appears that his proper name was Jonathan, and that Alexander was a name which he assumed
according to the prevalent custom. (Josephus, J. AJ 13.12-15.)