=The Influence of Antipater.= At the death of Alexandra, Hyrcanus was made high priest while Aristobulus II assumed the kingship. The division was wise and equable, although in the circumstances a permanent truce between the rival parties was impossible. It was at this crisis that Antipater, the father of Herod the Great, became a power in Jewish politics. Antipas, his father, an Idumean, had been made governor of Idumea by Alexander Janneus. Antipater was suspicious of Aristobulus and eager to secure power at any cost. In the weak Hyrcanus he recognized a tool adapted to his aim. Accordingly he persuaded the high priest to flee from Jerusalem, and enlisting the support of his friend, Aretas, the powerful Nabatean king whose capital was at Petra, he advanced to Jerusalem with a large army, in order to wrest the kingdom from Aristobulus and to make Hyrcanus nominal king. In the first engagement Aretas defeated Aristobulus, who then took refuge with his army in the temple. =Advance of Rome.= It was at this juncture that Rome advanced to the conquest of the lands along the eastern Mediterranean. Already this growing world-power had gained possession of Egypt and a foothold in eastern Asia Minor. In 66 B.C. Pompey was sent to crush the allied rival powers of Pontus and Armenia. After accomplishing this mission he advanced southward toward Damascus. Already his lieutenant had ordered the Nabatean army to leave Judea. The contest between the two brothers, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, gave Rome, which had already acted as a patron toward the Judean kingdom, the desired opportunity to step in and assume control of the much coveted territory. Again Palestine and Syria were the bone of contention between two great world-powers. The political horizon, however, had broadened and now the rivals were Rome in the distant west, and Parthia, the successor of the ancient Persian empire in the east.