During the Third Mithridatic War, Pompey specifically asked for Scaurus to become his military tribune, and charged Scaurus, at the time a quaestor, with the responsibility for the Judea region, which was involved in a bloody civil war between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Caught in a siege by the Nabatean king Aretas III, Aristobulus asked for Pompey's intervention through Scaurus, and offered an enormous bribe. After Scaurus convinced Aretas to end the siege (64 BC), Aristobulus accused Scaurus of the extortion of 1000 talents, but Pompey, who trusted his brother-in-law, decided to give Judea to his opponent Hyrcanus (63 BC).