be overcome, because of the almightiness of not venture to attack the royal army in the the God by whom they were helped. He open field. But while the Syrians laid therefore offered them peace, on the condi- siege to Bethsura, Judas fell upon them in tion of their being loyal to the state; on the night, slew four thousand of them before their acceptance of which, he issued a decree they well knew who was among them, and in the name of the king, which allowed them drew off safely by break of day. The day the free exercise of their own customs and after, a battle took place, in which the worship, and permitted them to live accord- Syrians lost six hundred men; but Judas, ing to their own laws. The apostate high-fearing to be surrounded by the numbers of priest Menelaus, who had been all this while the enemy, thought proper to retire to Jeruwith the Syrians, and had exerted himself salem, the fortifications of which he now in promoting this peace, was now sent back strengthened and put in a state of defence. to the Jews to be reinstated in his pontifi- In this battle Judas lost his brother Eleazar. cate. It is of some importance to note that That valiant man perceiving one of the the Roman ambassadors at the Syrian court elephants more splendidly caparisoned than, used their efficient aid in obtaining this treaty the others, mistakenly supposed it to be that for the Jews. of the king, and fought his way to it, got under it, stabbed it in the belly, and was crushed to death by the fall of the huge beast upon him.

The peace thus afforded was of no long continuance for although, formally, the war with the kingdom had ceased, the governors of the Syrian provinces were not backward in giving the Jews all the molestation in their power, and in encouraging such of the neighboring nations as were, from old or new enmities, disposed to disturb them such as the Joppites, the Jamnites, the Arabians, and the Idumæans, all of whom were successively reduced by Judas, after a bloody warfare, the particulars of which are recorded in 2 Macc. x. 14-38; xi. 1-38.

It being a sabbatic year of rest to the land, Bethsura soon after surrendered for lack of provisions; and Jerusalem, which was next besieged, must have shared the same fate, and all the advantages which had been gained appeared now to be on the point of being lost for ever; when provi dentially the young king and his guardian were recalled by a civil war at home, com menced by Philip, who had been appointed regent by Antiochus Epiphanes before his death, to the exclusion of Lysias, whose ill success in the former war with the Jews had been highly displeasing to him. When this intelligence reached the camp, the king and council hastily concluded a peace with the Jews on the former terms that they should be allowed to live according to their own laws. The siege was then broken up, but the treaty was violated by the Syrians in the demolition of the strong walls of the mount on which the temple stood. The royal army was then marched against Philip, who had gotten possession of Antioch, the metropolis, but who was defeated and slain.

All this time the citadel on Mount Zion, garrisoned by Syrians and renegade Jews, continued to prove a great annoyance to the temple worship, which at last proved so intolerable, that Judas was induced to lay siege to it, after his return from the defeat of Gorgias the governor of Idumæa. But some of the besieged, forcing their way through in a sally, hastened to the court at Antioch, and complained of the continued hostility of the Jews to the Syrian government, as evinced by this attempt upon the Syrian garrison; and by dwelling on this and other matters, contrived to stir up Lysias to undertake a new war against them. The Syrian army which was raised for this war in B. C. 163, consisted of one hundred Now at last the traitor and apostate Menthousand foot, twenty thousand horse, thirty-elaus met the fate he had long deserved. two elephants, and three hundred chariots At the approach of the Syrian army he had armed with scythes—a prodigious force in abandoned his countrymen, and had stimuthat age, when, on account of the extrava- lated the operations against them by his gant wages which soldiers received, it was advice and counsel, in the secret hope of difficult to keep more than eighty thousand being made governor of the province, if men in the field. The young king was Judas and his party were destroyed. But present in the camp, but of course Lysias the intended mischief recoiled on his own was the actual commander. The Jews did wicked head. The Jews did wicked head. On the conclusion of the

peace, he was viewed by the king and regent as the author of all these unhappy wars, and was sentenced to be suffocated in the ash-tower at Berea; * while the office to which he aspired was given to Judas himself, who was appointed to be chief governor, "from Ptolemais unto the Gerrhenians.'

tary and political talents procured him high favor from Ptolemy Philometor, and he was ultimately empowered to build a temple and establish a priesthood, for the numerous Jews of Egypt and Cyrene, at Heliopolis; and which subsisted nearly as long as that of Jerusalem, both being destroyed in the There can be no reign of Vespasian.

In the room of Menelaus, Jachimus, or question of the irregularity of this establishAlcimus, was nominated to the high-priest-ment; and although Onias justified it to hood, to the exclusion of the rightful claim- the Jews by reference to the text Isa. xix. ant, Onias, the son of that Onias who had 18, 19, the temple at Jerusalem was always been slain at Antioch at the instigation of held in much superior estimation by the Menelaus. Upon this disappointment, Onias Jews even of Egypt, who frequently repaired retired in disgust to Egypt, where his mili- thither to worship.

CHAPTER XXV.

MACCABEAN RULE.

POMPEY'S INVASION.

ROMAN POWER.

WITH the promotion of Judas Maccabeus | Antioch. Here the army declared for him, to be chief governor of Judæa, the rule of the and secured the persons of Antiochus Asmonean dynasty may be conveniently Eupator and Lysias, and, in proof of their taken to commence, and the period which sincerity, brought them to Demetrius; but Let me not see their face! that rule embraces may be suitably introduced in a new chapter. which hint they were slain by the soldiers, B. C. 162.

be said,

on

Alcimus, the new high-priest, did not long enjoy his dignity, for his profligacy, In the preceding year one of the Roman and his attempts to revive the heathenish ambassadors at the court of A. Eupator had rites, so offended the Jews, that they ex-been slain, while enforcing the treaty with pelled him. Antiochus the Great, by destroying all the We have already noticed the refusal of elephants, and all but twelve of the ships-ofthe Roman senate to support the claim of war. Demetrius, anxious to have his claims Demetrius to the crown of Syria, or to allow recognized by Rome, sent the murderer thithhim to depart for that country. Subsequent-er, together with a present of a crown of gold. ly, acting by the advice of his friend Poly- The present was accepted by the senate; bius, the historian, he made his escape from but they dismissed the murderer, resolving Rome, and landed with a few men, only to take some future occasion of making the eight friends and their servants, at Tripolis whole Syrian empire responsible for the act. in Phoenicia. Here he had the art to make it believed that his wild enterprise was sanctioned by the Romans; under which persuasion he was joined by several of his adherents, with whom he advanced towards

When Demetrius was established on the throne of Syria, the apostate Jews, with Alcimus at their head, gathered around him, and filled his ears with reports and insinuations injurious to Judas and the party of

was liberally supplied with meat and drink, until overcome with sleep, he fell into the deceitful heap, and died an easy death. Only criminals of high rank were thus punished, it being considered a sort of privileged death.

which he was the leader. As people natu- | body, the Roman senate, to grant liberty to rally listen with pleasure to those who ex- those who were under foreign dominion, that press conformity of views, it is not wonderful they might detach them from their rulers, that these traitors gained the attention of the and afterward enslave them when fit opporking, who could as yet know but little of the tunity offered.* The Jewish ambassadors real state of affairs in his kingdom. He were therefore very graciously received; an re-appointed Alcimus as high-priest, and sent offensive and defensive alliance was readily a considerable military force, under the com- concluded with the Jews; and a letter was mand of Bacchides, governor of Mesopotamia, immediately after written to Demetrius, comto reinstate him, and to take vengeance upon manding him to desist from persecuting them, those whom he had represented as equally and threatening him with war if he persisted. the enemies of himself and the king. As But before the ambassadors returned, or this Bacchides, accompanied by the high-priest, letter had been received, Judas had fallen in entered the country with professions of peace, a furious conflict with Bacchides, whom (with many Jews, relying thereon, put themselves Alcimus) the king had sent to avenge the in his power, and were treacherously slain. defeat of Nicanor and his host. With only After this Bacchides reinstated Alcimus; eight hundred men, the rest having deserted and intrusting the province to his charge, him, Judas charged the Syrians, defeated and leaving a force that seemed sufficient to their right wing and pursued them to Azotus : support him, he returned to the king. Judas, but the left wing, being unbroken, pursued who had not appeared in the field against him closely in turn; and after a most obstiBacchides, came forward after he withdrew; nate engagement the greatest of the later and Alcimus, unable to offer any effectual Jewish heroes lay dead upon the field. This resistance, again repaired with his com- was not far from Modin, his native town; plaints to the king. On this Demetrius, and his brothers Simon and Jonathan, having resolving on the utter destruction of the concluded a truce, were enabled to deposit Maccabees, sent a large army into Judæa, his remains in the family sepulchre at that under the command of the same Nicanor place whom Judas had defeated five years before. At first he endeavored to entrap the Jewish chief with friendly professions, but finding Judas too wary to be thus caught, hostilities commenced, and in a battle fought at Capharsalama, Nicanor was defeated with the loss of fifty thousand men. He was then forced to seek refuge in the castle of Mount Zion, until the re-enforcements, for which he sent, should arrive from Syria. These were promptly supplied, and then he hazarded another battle, in which he was himself slain, and his army cut in pieces. B. C. 160.

Now Judas, having heard of the already extensive conquests of the Romans, and having become sensible of the great controlling power which they exercised in the affairs of Western Asia and of Egypt, took the opportunity of the respite which this victory procured, to send an embassy to Rome, to solicit an alliance with that great people, and therewith protection from the Syrian govern

ment.

It was part of the systematic plan of subjugation practised by that most politic

*This is the drift of Justin's remark with reference to this very transaction: "A Demetrio cum defecissent Judæi, amicitia Romanorum

He

The death of Judas restored the ascendency to the apostate Jews, and was followed by a merciless persecution of his adherents. They were thus made strongly sensible of the want of a head, and therefore they elected Jonathan, the valiant younger brother of Judas, to be their chief and leader. led them into the wilderness of Tekoah, and encamped at the cistern of Aspher. After some skirmishes with the Arabs in that quarter, Jonathan deemed it advisable to send the wives and children, and the most valuable property of his party, to the safe keeping of the friendly Nabathæans of Mount Seir, under a convoy commanded by his brother John. This party was attacked on the way and plundered by the Arabs, and John himself was killed. For this, Jonathan soon after took a severe revenge upon the bridal procession at the marriage of one of the princesses of this same tribe, which he attacked, and slew the greater part, and took their spoils.

After this, Jonathan, the more effectually to secure himself from his enemies, with

petita, primi omnium ex Orientalibus libertatem receperunt: facile tunc Romanis de alieno largientibus." - Lib. xxxvi. cap. 3.

For

drew into the marshes formed by the over- to conclude a treaty with the Romans. flowings of the Jordan, access to which was this step he has been blamed by some pervery difficult. Bacchides, however, made an sons, who appear to have inadequately conattack on the sabbath-day upon the pass lead-sidered the circumstances. It is not clear to ing to the camp, and carried it by storm. us that if Judas had been aware that the The Jews defended themselves with great valor; but being oppressed by numbers, they leaped into the overflowing Jordan and swam to the other side, whither the enemy did not venture to pursue them.

step he took was likely to lead to the future subjection of the country to the Romans, he would have been deterred from seeking their alliance. He did not fight for national independence, which was a moral impossibility, It was not without difficulty that Jonathan but for the liberty of conscience. If that roused his adherents to the exertions which had been conceded by the Syrian kings, the they made on this occasion. In fact there Jews would readily have returned to their are several indications, at and before this political subjection, and were indeed anxious time, that the people were becoming tired of to do so. If therefore Judas had known this long struggle for their religion and liber- the ultimate contingeney of subjection to the ties, and disposed to submit to circumstances, Romans instead of the Syrians, there was for the sake of the quiet of which they had nothing in that to deter him, if he felt that been so many years deprived. Besides, by the Romans were likely to be more tolerant this time the original character of the war, of the religious peculiarities of his nation. as one of resistance against religious persecu- | It is quite true that by the skilful use of tion, had somewhat changed. There was circumstances which ultimately arose, the more of politics mixed in it; and with that Jews were enabled to establish a modified change, the ardor of the orthodox Jews independence—which independence the Roappears to have abated. The Syrian government had also become much more mild since the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and under favoring circumstances, it might have been expected that the Jews would without difficulty have obtained what they sought. It was probably the knowledge of this, as well as from the consciousness that the breach was not likely to be healed by continued warfare, that latterly produced so great a reluctance to support the Maccabees, and so strong a disposition to submit to the Syrians. We may thus account not only for the circumstance which occasions this remark, but for the readiness of some of the best supporters of the Maccabees to listen to the fair promises of the Syrian generals, for the desertion of Judas, before his last action, by the great body of his adherents, and for his comparative inaction on several recent occasions. To the operation of these circumstances we are also disposed to refer the anxiety of Judas

* There is some doubt respecting this place, which is so often named in the history of the Maccabees. Some think it the same as Gaza, which indeed is still called Gazara, and that is certainly a strong circumstance in its favor. Upon the whole, however, there are several passages in which the place is named which seem to refer it to the neighborhood of Joppa, and others which cannot without much straining and difficulty be made to apply to Gaza. In one of a set of unpublished maps by Professor Robin

mans destroyed. But these circumstances were not foreseen in the time of Judas, and independence was not among the objects originally contemplated. It is only in forgetfulness of those facts that any one can impute blame to Judas for the measure which he took which measure, indeed, we cannot trace to have had any grave effect upon ultimate results. Whether the Jews had offered themselves to the notice of the Romans at this time or not, they certainly could not long have escaped the attention of that people, nor, unless events had taken an entirely different course to that which they actually took, could their subjection to the Roman yoke have been long postponed.

From the Jordan, Bacchides returned to Jerusalem, and was employed for some time in strengthening the fortresses of Judæa, particularly the citadel at Jerusalem and the important fortresses of Gazara.* of some of the principal persons among the

The sons

son (for which we are indebted to his kindness) we find that a site name Yazur occurred in his line of route, three miles and a half to the east of Jaffa, and we much more than suspect that this marks the site not only of the Gazara in question, but also (believing the names identical) of the Gazer which was one of the royal cities of the old Canaanites, and the same which the king of Egypt took from the Canaanites, and gave, for a dower with his daughter, to Solomon. All cir cumstances appear to agree with this allocation.

Jews he took and detained in the citadel as hostages for the good conduct of their friends. But in the same year Alcimus was seized with a kind of cramp, and died in much agony, while giving orders for the demolition of the wall which separated the court of the Gentiles from that of the Israelites, so as to give the former free access to the privileged part of the temple; and Bacchides, having nothing to detain him in Judæa after the death of the man on whose account the war was undertaken, withdrew from the country, and allowed the Jews two years of repose. To what extent this may have been due to

the interposition of the Romans, we have no means of knowing; but the results of the application to the senate must by this time have been known both at Antioch and in Judæa. Probably the death of Judas, before the return of his ambassadors, went far to neutralize the immediate effects which might have been expected from this treaty.

This tranquillity was not favorable to the designs of the Grecizing Jews, who laid a plot to surprise and seize Jonathan and his adherents, all in one night, throughout the land, and prevailed on Bacchides to return with the force under his command to give

effect to their design (B. C. 158). A timely | tion; and, in his resentment, he put to death discovery of the plot enabled Jonathan to several of the persons who had the most damp the ardor of the conspirators by putting actively stimulated his enterprise. At this to death fifty of the principal of them. Not, juncture, Jonathan sent to him a deputation however, feeling himself in a condition to oppose Bacchides in the field, Jonathan, with his friends and his brother Simon, withdrew to the wilderness, where they so strongly repaired the dilapidated fortress of Bethbasi, that they were enabled to maintain a long siege against Bacchides, and at length to defeat him. This affair wonderfully enlightened the Syrian general, who now perceived that he had been but the tool of a fac

with proposals of peace, and Bacchides readily acceded to the terms which were offered. The treaty being concluded and sworn to by both parties. an exchange of prisoners took place, and Bacchides withdrew from the land, B. C. 156. Peace being thus happily restored, Jonathan fixed his residence at the strong post of Michmash, six miles north by east from Jerusalem, where he governed according to the laws of Moses, and to