Romans, He Is Brought Back To Rome;
With Other Things Relating To Gabinius, Crassus And Cassius.

1. In the mean time, Scaurus made an expedition into Arabia, but was
stopped by the difficulty of the places about Petra. However, he laid
waste the country about Pella, though even there he was under great
hardship; for his army was afflicted with famine. In order to supply
which want, Hyrcanus afforded him some assistance, and sent him
provisions by the means of Antipater; whom also Scaurus sent to Aretas,
as one well acquainted with him, to induce him to pay him money to buy
his peace. The king of Arabia complied with the proposal, and gave him
three hundred talents; upon which Scaurus drew his army out of Arabia
[10]

2. But as for Alexander, that son of Aristobulus who ran away from
Pompey, in some time he got a considerable band of men together, and lay
heavy upon Hyrcanus, and overran Judea, and was likely to overturn
him quickly; and indeed he had come to Jerusalem, and had ventured to
rebuild its wall that was thrown down by Pompey, had not Gabinius, who
was sent as successor to Scaurus into Syria, showed his bravery, as in
many other points, so in making an expedition against Alexander; who, as
he was afraid that he would attack him, so he got together a large army,
composed of ten thousand armed footmen, and fifteen hundred horsemen.
He also built walls about proper places; Alexandrium, and Hyrcanium, and
Machorus, that lay upon the mountains of Arabia.

3. However, Gabinius sent before him Marcus Antonius, and followed
himself with his whole army; but for the select body of soldiers that
were about Antipater, and another body of Jews under the command of
Malichus and Pitholaus, these joined themselves to those captains
that were about Marcus Antonius, and met Alexander; to which body came
Oabinius with his main army soon afterward; and as Alexander was not
able to sustain the charge of the enemies' forces, now they were joined,
he retired. But when he was come near to Jerusalem, he was forced to
fight, and lost six thousand men in the battle; three thousand of which
fell down dead, and three thousand were taken alive; so he fled with the
remainder to Alexandrium.

4. Now when Gabinius was come to Alexandrium, because he found a great
many there en-camped, he tried, by promising them pardon for their
former offenses, to induce them to come over to him before it came to a
fight; but when they would hearke