rest from war proved but the beginning of disease. Afflicted by a quartan ague, [106] he hoped to shake off the malady by a return to active life. He, accordingly, plunged into ill-timed campaigns and, forcing himself to tasks beyond his strength, hastened his end.* He died, at any rate, amid stress and turmoil, after a reign of twenty-seven years. (v. 1) [107] Alexander bequeathed the kingdom to his wife Alexandra,* being convinced that the Jews would bow to her authority as they would to no other,