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John Hyrcanus’ Conquests: A Forgotten Page of the Seleucid Fraternal War

Publication date: 24.04.2026

ELECTRUM, 2026, Volume 33, pp. 155-176

https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.26.008.23121

Authors

Michaël Girardin
University of the Littoral Opal Coast
, France
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8671-2933 Orcid
All publications →

Titles

John Hyrcanus’ Conquests: A Forgotten Page of the Seleucid Fraternal War

Abstract

It is generally assumed that the beginning of the conquests was a clear sign of the political independence of the Hasmonean rulers. In this paper, I consider together literary, numismatic and archaeological data to demonstrate that neither John Hyrcanus, nor Alexander Jannaeus, led their fights for their own purposes only. Their conquests must be evaluated in both their local and regional contexts. In the end, it appears that they acted as loyal vassals to their Seleucid and Lagid masters, taking their part in the civil war against the usurper Antiochos IX and his ally Ptolemy IX.

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Information: ELECTRUM, 2026, Volume 33, pp. 155-176

Article type: Original scientific article

Authors

https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8671-2933

Michaël Girardin
University of the Littoral Opal Coast
, France
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8671-2933 Orcid
All publications →

University of the Littoral Opal Coast
France

Published at: 24.04.2026

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY 4.0  licence icon

Article financing:

This article was written thanks to the financial support of the Institut Universitaire de France, project “La Judée au temps d’Hyrcan l’Hasmonéen : un État hellénistique” (2024–2029).

Percentage share of authors:

Michaël Girardin (Author) - 100%

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Acknowledgements:

This article was written thanks to the financial support of the Institut Universitaire de France, project “La Judée au temps d’Hyrcan l’Hasmonéen : un État hellénistique” (2024–2029). It benefitted twice from Sarah Mullen’s help. Once, because of the many hours of English lessons she gave me and secondly, because of her language correction. I am grateful to her for this service. In any case, any remaining error is mine.

Publication languages:

English

John Hyrcanus’ Conquests: A Forgotten Page of the Seleucid Fraternal War

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