Her Rise to the Throne Defied Expectations. And Then She Proved to Be One of Judea's Greatest Rulers. Born in the small village of Modein, a place made famous by the warrior Maccabees, Salome Alexandra knows better than to harbor grand dreams for her future. She pales in comparison to her beautiful older sister, and though she learns to read at an early age, girls are not valued for their intellectual ability. However, when her father and sister are killed, John Hyrcanus, a distant relative, invites Salome and her mother to live with his family in Jerusalem, where her thirst for knowledge is noticed and indulged. When her guardian betroths her to a pagan prince, she questions HaShem's plan. When Hyrcanus finally marries her to a boy half her age, she questions her guardian's sanity. Though Salome Alexandra spends much of her life as a pawn ordered about by powerful men, she learns that a woman committed to HaShem can change the world.