Josephus explains in The Jewish War that John was known as "Hyrcanus", but does not explain the reason behind this name.
23 Facts About John Hyrcanus
2.
John Hyrcanus was the son of Simon Thassi and hence the nephew of Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan Apphus and their siblings, whose story is told in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, in the Talmud, and in Josephus.
3.
John Hyrcanus was not present at a banquet at which his father and his two brothers were murdered, by John Hyrcanus's brother-in-law, Ptolemy, son of Abubus.
4.
Josephus said that John Hyrcanus had five sons but named only four in his histories: Judah Aristobulus I, Antigonus I, Alexander Jannai, and Absalom.
5.
The prolonged siege caused John Hyrcanus to remove any Judean from the city who could not assist with the defence effort.
6.
Furthermore, John Hyrcanus was forced to accompany Antiochus on his eastern campaign in 130 BCE.
7.
John Hyrcanus probably functioned as the military commander of a Jewish company in the campaign.
8.
Furthermore, John Hyrcanus's driving out the non-military population of Jerusalem during the siege probably caused resentment against him.
9.
Therefore, at a very early point in his thirty-one year reign of Judea, John Hyrcanus had lost the support of Judeans in various cultural sectors.
10.
John Hyrcanus was able to take advantage of unrest in the Seleucid Empire to assert Judean independence and conquer new territories.
11.
John Hyrcanus was determined to take advantage of the dissipating Seleucid Empire to increase the Judean State.
12.
John Hyrcanus's army was supported by the Judean State by funds that Hyrcanus removed from the Tomb of David.
13.
John Hyrcanus placed his sons Antigonus and Aristobulus in charge of the siege of Samaria.
14.
John Hyrcanus's first conquest was an invasion of the Transjordan in 110 BCE.
15.
John Hyrcanus then instituted forced conversions on the Idumeans to Judaism.
16.
On top of that, John Hyrcanus initiated vital building projects in Judea.
17.
John Hyrcanus built a fortress north of the Temple called the Baris and possibly the fortress Hyrcania.
18.
Also, an embassy sent by John Hyrcanus received Roman confirmation of Hasmonean independence.
19.
John Hyrcanus was an excellent case of a ruler backed by Roman support.
20.
The coins seem to suggest that John Hyrcanus considered himself to be primarily the High Priest of Judea, and his rule of Judea was shared with the Assembly.
21.
Ultimately, one of the final acts of John Hyrcanus's life was an act that solved any kind of dispute over his role as High Priest and ethnarch.
22.
John Hyrcanus's widow was given control of civil authority after his death, and his son Judas Aristobulus was given the role of High Priest.
23.
John Hyrcanus's Monument was located in what was formerly outside the walls of the city, but in Josephus' time had been enclosed between the second and third walls of Jerusalem, and where the Romans had built a bank of earthworks to break into the newer third wall encompassing the upper city, directly opposite John Hyrcanus's Monument.