Civil war between the two sons, of Salome, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus.
Hyrcanus II reigns as king of northern Judea from 67 to 63 BCE.
Allied with Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, he marches on Jerusalem—the stronghold of his adversary Aristobulus. Both Hyrcanus II and Aristoblus were from wings of the Maccabeean dynasty.
During the siege of Jerusalem, the forces of Hyrcanus II commit two interrelated acts that incense the majority of the Jews and brand him forever:
1) The besieged forces in Jerusalem (under Aristobulus) had needed of pascal lambs for the Passover rites, and negotiated the purchase of one* from the besieging forces—apparently for the huge sum of 1,000 drachmas. However, instead of sending a pascal lamb, the besieging Hyrcanus II forces malevolently and insultingly send a pig.
2) The pious ONI (Honi Hameagel), along for the march with the forces of Hyrcanus II, refuses to support Hyrcanus II after the pig incident and is consequently stoned to death by Hyrcanus II’s forces.
The two actions in concert give Hyrcanus II a niche in infamy in Jewish lore. The internecine fighting also has other consequences—in that it gave the Roman General Ptolemy the opening he needed to soon de facto seize control of the country.
* Many rabbinic commentators say: one/day for each day of Passover, even though the parties were warring against each other. Some commentators go still further and say one/day was tendered ongoing to maintain the Temple rites.