The many fortresses which the queen placed at the disposal of the Sadducees, ostensibly for their defense against the Pharisees, constituted in reality one of the preparatory moves of Aristobulus for the usurpation of the government.

The queen sought to direct his military zeal outside Judea, and sent him (70-69) against Ptolemy Mennaeus; but when the undertaking failed, Aristobulus resumed his political intrigues.

He left Jerusalem secretly and betook himself to his friends, who controlled the largest number of fortified places, with the intention of making war against his aged mother.

[4] This agreement however did not last for long, as Antipater the Idumaean convinced Hyrcanus that Aristobulus was planning his death and to take refuge with Aretas III, King of the Nabataeans.

Aristobulos, suspicious of Pompey, entrenched himself in the fortress of Alexandrium, but when the Romans defeated his army again, he surrendered and undertook to deliver Jerusalem over to them.

Aristobulus II escaped in 57 BCE, instigating rebellion against Rome in Judea, until he was finally holed up by Aulus Gabinius, consul of the Roman province of Syria, in Machaerus.

Marc Antony, commander of the cavalry under Gabinius, led several men to scale Aristobulus' fortifications and subdue his forces.