their principles.  John’s first campaign was against the cities to the east of the Jordan, and resulted in the conquest of the towns of Medeba and Samaga and the territory subject to them.  The conquest of Shechem and southern Samaria was undoubtedly prompted both by hereditary hatred toward the Samaritans and by the desire to provide an outlet for the growing Jewish population.  After standing for two centuries, the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the Jews.  This sacrilegious act naturally intensified that hatred between Jew and Samaritan which burned so fiercely during the early part of the first Christian century.  Marissa and Dora, the chief cities of the Idumeans, were next conquered.  With strange inconsistency, John Hyrcanus, whose ancestors had first taken up the sword in defence of religious liberty, compelled the descendants of their old foes, the Edomites, to give up their national religion or else go into exile.  This policy was fraught with far-reaching consequences, for among those appointed to rule over the conquered Edomites was Antipater, the ancestor of Herod, who was destined to rule the Jews and to initiate that long series of disasters that culminated in the destruction of the Jewish state.  Last of all, John Hyrcanus advanced to the conquest of the Greek city of Samaria.  Because of its natural strength and formidable defences a year was required for the siege, and it was ultimately captured only through famine.  The sons of John Hyrcanus succeeded in holding at bay the Syrian armies that were sent to relieve the besieged.  The conquered inhabitants were sold as slaves, and the city was left for a time in complete ruins.  The conquest of Scythopolis, the ancient Bethshean, extended the bounds of John’s kingdom to the southern hills of Galilee.  Thus he became master of a small empire extending out toward the desert on the east, to the South Country on the south, touching the sea at Joppa, and including the entire territory of ancient Samaria on the north.  While not as large as the kingdom of David, it was a more perfect political unit, and offered superior opportunities for commerce and internal development.

IV.  The Break with the Pharisees.  The successes of John Hyrcanus blinded the majority of the nation to the real issues at stake.  But a powerful group, which during the Maccabean period appeared for the first time under the name of Pharisees, began to withdraw their allegiance and silently, at least, to protest against a high priest whose chief ambition was conquest.  The story which Josephus tells to explain the defection of the Pharisees may be simply a popular tradition, but it is indicative of that division within Judaism which ultimately wrecked the Maccabean state.  From the days of John Hyrcanus, the Maccabean rulers, with only one exception, were compelled to meet the silent but strong opposition of the Pharisees.  As a result they turned to the rising party of the Sadducees which henceforth identified itself with the interests of the reigning family.  Thus in the year of its greatest triumph the Jewish state became a house divided against itself.  Estranged from the better-minded religious leaders of the nation, John Hyrcanus and his successors followed an increasingly secular, selfish policy until they completely forgot the noble ideals for which their fathers had striven.