Aristobulus I

Judah Aristobulus I, or Aristobulus I (/ˌærɪstəˈbjuːləs/; Greek: Ἀριστόβουλος, romanized: Aristóboulos), was the High Priest of Israel and the first Hasmonean king of Judea, reigning from 104 BCE until his death the next year, 103 BCE. He was the eldest of the five sons of John Hyrcanus, the previous leader. The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus states that he was the first Jew in "four hundred and eighty-three years and three months" to have established a monarchy since the return from the Babylonian captivity. Aristobulus was the first Hebrew king to claim both the high priesthood and the kingship. The Sadducees and the Essenes were not concerned about Aristobulus taking the title of king, but the Pharisees, believing that the kingship could only be held by the descendants of the Davidic line, strongly opposed this. They launched a massive rebellion, but Aristobulus died before any attempt to depose him could be made.

The major sources on Aristobulus's life from antiquity are Josephus's The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews. His reign is particularly noted for the Judaization of Galilee and the native Semitic people called the Ituraeans. Josephus, quoting from Strabo's Historica Hypomnemata, described Aristobulus's regime as kindly and "very serviceable to the Jews" on account of his conquests and the integration of "a portion of the Ituraean nation whom he joined to them by the bond of circumcision."