from Egypt, took Jerusalem by assault, destroyed eighty thousand persons, plundered the temple of all its treasures, vessels, and golden ornaments, and carried away one thousand eight hundred talents to Antioch.

Ptolemy Philometer being now actually under the power of Antiochus, the people of Alexandria proclaimed his brother king under the name of Ptolemy Euergetes II.; but who was afterward nick-named Physcon ("big-belly") on account of his corpulency. This afforded Antiochus a pretext for returning the next year (B. C. 169) to Egypt with the declared intention of supporting Ptolemy Philometor in the throne, but with the real purpose of bringing the whole country under his power. At the end, however, perceiving that the conquest of Alexandria would be an undertaking of great difficulty, he withdrew to Memphis, and affected to deliver up the kingdom to Philometor, and returned to Antioch. But as he retained in his own hands Pelusium, the key of the kingdom on the side of Syria, his ulterior designs were transparent to Philometor, who therefore made an agreement with Physcon that they should share the government between them and resist Antiochus with their united power; and also that a joint embassy should be sent to Rome to implore the protection of the republic against their uncle.

This brought on a fourth invasion of Egypt by Antiochus (B. C. 168), who now threw off the mask he had hitherto chosen to wear, and declared himself the enemy of both the brother kings. He took possession of all the country as far as Alexandria, and then advanced toward that city. He was within four miles thereof, when he was met at Eleusis, by the ambassadors which the Roman republic had sent to adjust these differences. And this they did in the usual summary manner of that arrogant people. At the head of the ambassadors was Popilius Lænas, whom Antiochus had known during his thirteen years' residence at Rome. Rejoiced to see him, Antiochus stretched forth his arms to embrace him. But the Roman sternly repelled the salute, demanding first to receive an answer to the written orders of the senate, which he delivered. The king intimated that he would confer on the matter with his friends, and acquaint the ambassadors with the result: on which Popilius drew with his staff a circle around the king on the sand, and said, "I require your answer before you quit this circle." The king was confounded; but after a moment of rapid and condensed deliberation, he bowed his proud head, and said, falteringly, "I will obey the senate!" On which Popilius, who had hitherto seen only the king of Syria, recognised the friend, and extended to him his hand. Perhaps this conduct in either party would not have occurred the year, or even the month before; but the Romans had just concluded their war with Perseus, and made Macedonia a Roman province, and the ambassadors had waited at Delos to learn the issue of this war before they sailed for Egypt.

Antiochus obeyed the senate, by immediately withdrawing his forces from Egypt. On his way homeward, he marched along the coast of Palestine; and he despatched Apollonius, his general, with twenty-two thousand men to vent his mortification and fury upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, which, as well as the rest of the province, had for two years been groaning under the tyranny and rapacity of Philip, the Phrygian governor, "more barbarous than his master;" and of Menelaus the apostate highpriest, "worse than all the rest." Apollonius came to Jerusalem, and as his men remained quiet, and he was himself known as the collector of the tribute in Palestine, and as such usually attended by an armed force, his hostile intentions were not suspected by the Jews. All things remained quiet until the sabbath, on which day, it was known, the Jews of that age would not fight even in self-defence. The soldiers were then let loose, and scoured the streets, slaughtering all they met-who suffered themselves meekly to be slain, none being found who attempted to stand on their de fence. The women and children were spared, to be sold for slaves. All the streets of Jerusalem, and the courts of the temple flowed with blood; the houses were pillaged and the city wall thrown down. Apollonius then demolished all the buildings near Mount Zion, and with the materials strengthened the fortifications of the citadel, which he furnished with a garrison and held under his own command. This castle was so situated as to give the garrison complete command of the temple, and the remains of the people would no longer visit the sanctuary, or the priests perform the public services of religion. Accordingly, in the month of June, B. C. 167 the daily sacrifice ceased, and Jerusalem was soon completely deserted, as the surviving inhab itants fled to the cities of the neighboring Gentiles.

An edict was now issued at Antioch, and proclaimed in all the provinces of Syria,

421

commanding the inhabitants of the whole empire to worship the gods of the king,
and to acknowledge no religion but his-with the declared object" that all should
become one people." Antiochus was unquestionably a madman. This is not doubted
by any one who has studied the whole of his history, which it has been no part of
our duty to relate: and it is surely not very necessary to analyse the interior motives
of a madman's acts.
raised by Antiochus, not from any regard to his own religion, but from a regular plan
Hales fancies that "this general persecution seems to have been
and deep-laid scheme of plundering the temples throughout his dominions, after he
had suppressed their worship. For the temples were not only enriched by the offer-
ings of the votaries, but from their sanctity were the great banks of deposite, and the
grand magazines of commerce." But there was no general persecution, although the
edict was general in its terms.
worshipped the gods of Greece; and it must have been known, as proved the fact,
The cities containing the wealthiest temples already
that none of the other pagan nations would make much difficulty in complying with
the royal edict. It must have been known, in fact, that none but the Jews were
likely to oppose themselves to the operation of this decree; and we are therefore not
disposed to look for any deeper cause than the insane abhorrence which Antiochus had
conceived against that people, and which he could not safely manifest without bring-
ing them into a condition of apparent contumacy, which might, in some degree, ex-
cuse, in the eyes of the heathen, his contemplated severities against them.

The pagan generally, as we have intimated, found no difficulty in complying with
the royal edict. The Samaritans, who were anxious to claim a Jewish origin in the
time of Alexander, now wrote to Antiochus to inform him that they were Sidonians,
and offered to dedicate their temple on Mount Gerizim to Jupiter Xenius, "the de-
fender of strangers."
ment, and a still greater number, long attached to the customs of the Greeks, were
Even many Jews submitted to the edict for fear of punish-
glad to avail themselves of the apparent compulsions under which they were now
placed. But the better part of the people fled, and kept themselves concealed. An
old man of the name of Athenæus was sent to Jerusalem to instruct the Jews in the
Greek religion, and to compel the observance of its rites. He dedicated the temple
to Jupiter Olympius, and on the altar of Jehovah he placed a smaller altar to be used
in sacrificing to the heathen god. This new altar, built by order of the desolater An-
tiochus, is what Daniel alludes to when he speaks of the "abomination that maketh
desolate," or " abomination of desolation."* This altar was set up on the fifteenth day
of the month Cisleu (November-December), and the heathen sacrifices were com-
menced on the twenty-fifth of the same month.
sabbath, and every peculiar observance of the law was made a capital offence; and
all the copies of the law which could be found were taken away, defaced, torn in
Circumcision, the keeping of the
pieces, burned. The reading of it was forbidden; and it is said to have been at this
time that the Jews first took to the public reading in the synagogues, of the other
books of Scripture, as substitutes for the interdicted Pentateuch, which usage they
afterward retained, when the reading of the law was restored. Groves were conse-
crated, and idolatrous altars erected in every city, and the citizens were required to
offer sacrifices to the gods, and to eat swine's flesh every month on the birth-day of
the king; and on the feast of Bacchus, the Jews were compelled to join in the cele-
bration, and to walk in procession crowned with ivy. Instant death was the penalty
of refusal. Among other instances of cruel punishment at Jerusalem, two women,
with their infant children, whom they had circumcised with their own hands, were
thrown from the battlements on the south side of the temple, into the deep vale be-
low. Officers were sent into all the towns, attended by bands of soldiers, to enforce
obedience to the royal edict.

It seems that ultimately Antiochus came into Palestine to observe that his orders had been duly executed; and the history relates that he commanded and superintended the most horrible tortures of the recusants:-particular mention is made of the martyrdom of Eleazer, in his ninetieth year, for refusing to eat swine's flesh (2 Macc. vi. 18-31); and of the heroic matron and her seven sons, who nobly set the royal

*This is from Jahn, who remarks further, "This interpretation agrees much better with the literal meaning of the words than that adopted by those who apply this expression to the erecting of an image to Jupiter Olympius; a mode of explanation which is at variance with the authority of Josephus and the first book of Maccabees. Undoubtedly there was an image erected to Jupiter Olyinpius, for the pagan religion required it; but this is not the circumstance referred to by the prophet, in the words which have been quoted."

madman at defiance and professed their belief that "The King of the World would raise up to everlasting life those who died for his laws;" and threatening their tormentor that "he should have no resurrection to life, but receive the just punishment of his pride through the judgment of God." Never before were the Jews exposed to so furious a persecution-indeed it is the first time in which they can be said to have been persecuted on account of their religion. It was undoubtedly made instrumental in the then great mission of the Jews in calling the attention of the heathen to the great principles of doctrine of which they had been the special conservators. The mere fact of this conspicuous persecution for opinion, which was a new thing to the heathen, and still more the historical results of this persecution, were calculated to draw the attention of every reflecting mind among the heathen to those religious peculiarities on behalf of which such numbers of the Jewish people were willing to peril their lives.

The persecution had lasted about six months, when God raised up a deliverer for a people whom he had not yet abandoned, in the noble family of the Asamoneans. MATTATHIAS was the son of John, the son of Simon, the son of Asamonias, from whom the family took its name. He was a priest of the course of Joarib, the first of the twenty-four courses appointed by David (1 Chron. xxiv. 7), descended from Phineas, the son of Eleazer, the elder branch of the family of Aaron (1 Macc. ii. 55). He had five sons, whose names were JOHANAN (John), SIMON, JUDAS, ELEAZER, and JONATHAN. He was one of the principal inhabitants of Modin, a town near the seashore, about a mile from Joppa (Jaffa), and four miles from Lydda or Diospolis. To this city a royal officer named Appelles was sent to enforce the edict. With many fair promises, he endeavored to induce Mattathias, as a leading man in the place, to set the example of sacrificing to the idol. But the undaunted priest repelled his offers with indignation and abhorrence, and with a loud voice, in the hearing of the whole assembly, proclaimed his refusal to sacrifice. At this juncture a certain Jew passed toward the altar with the intention of sacrificing, when Mattathias, in obedience to the law, struck him down with his own hand, as a rebel against Jehovah. This was the earnest-blood of the great war which followed. Kindled by his own act, the zealous priest and his sons, assisted by the citizens, whom their daring act emboldened, rushed upon the commissioner and his retinue, slew them on the spot, and tore town the idolatrous altar. Alive to the consequences of this deed, Mattathias proclaimed through the city, "Whosoever is zealous for the law, and a maintainer of the cove nant, let him follow me!" Thus he and his sons fled to the mountains of Judea. They were only ten in number at first, but were soon joined by many Jews who were determined to maintain the religion of their fathers.

These conscientious persons were disposed to construe the obligations of the law all the more rigidly and literally, out of opposition to the loose principles of those who had joined the Greeks-it being the tendency of all great struggles to produce extreme parties. They hence held it to be imperative to abstain from the use of arms on the sabbath day. In consequence of this a thousand persons, who had taken refuge in a large cave not far from Jerusalem, allowed themselves to be slaughtered on that day without the least resistance. This event opened the eyes of Mattathias and his adherents; who, after mature deliberation, determined that it was not only lawful, but their duty, to stand on their defence on the sabbath day; although they still thought themselves bound from voluntarily becoming on that day the assailants. They took every means of making this resolution known throughout the country, so that from that time no scruples on the subject were entertained.

Meanwhile the party of Mattathias went on steadily increasing, until it amounted to a considerable body of men, who were prepared to hazard everything in defence of their religion. This ardor could not long be restrained, and Mattathias, emerging from his concealment, went with them throughout the Jewish cities, and everywhere demolished the idolatrous altars, circumcised the children, slew the apostate Jews and the officers appointed to execute the decree of Antiochus, recovered many of the copies of the law which the oppressors had taken away, and gained several important advantages over the enemy. While engaged in these expeditions the heroic priest died, in the year B. C. 167. Before his death he appointed his third and bravest son, Judas, to be military leader; associating with him Simon, his second and most prudent son, as counsellor. Judas is supposed to have derived his celebrated surname of Maccabeus from a cabalistic word formed of M. C. B. I., the initial letters of the He

brew text Mi Chamoka Baalim Jehovah, "Who is like unto thee among the gods, 0 Jehovah!" (Exod. vi. 11), which letters might have been displayed on his sacred standard: like the S. P. Q. R. for Senatus populus que Romanus on the Roman ensigns.

The noble war for the rights of opinion commenced by Mattathias was carried on for twenty-six years by his illustrious sons-counting from the first stroke at Modinwith five successive kings of Syria. Within this period Judas and his brothers established the independence of their country and the aggrandizement of their family, after destroying above two hundred thousand of the best troops of the Syrian kings. "Such a triumph of a petty province over a great empire is hardly to be paralleled in the annals of history." (Hales ii. 551.)

The first enterprise of Judas, and his comparatively small but resolute band, was against Apollonius, whose barbarous exploits at Jerusalem have lately been recorded. He was at the head of a large army, but was defeated and slain by Judas, who took his sword, with which he afterward fought all his life long.

The next exploit of Judas was the defeat of Seron, a Syrian general, with a large host of Græcising Jews and apostate Samaritans. The small force with which he achieved this victory was encouraged by the hero in the words of Jonathan, the son of Saul, "With the God of Heaven it is all one to deliver with a great multitude or a small company :" adding the emphatic words, " We fight for our lives and our laws.” This battle was fought near Betheron.

Antiochus was filled with rage and indignation at these successes of an adversary which seemed so contemptible, but whose fame had now spread into all the neighboring nations. He formed large plans of vengeance, but finding these checked by the exhausted state of his treasury-for he had squandered wealth like a madman, as he was-he resolved to proceed into the eastern provinces to recruit his finances. His son, the heir of his crown, then about seven years old, he committed to the care of Lysias, "a nobleman, and one of the blood royal," and appointed him regent of all the western provinces, from the Euphrates to Egypt, and commissioned him to raise and march an army to extirpate the Jews, and to plant a foreign colony in their room, B. C. 166.

The next year Lysias was able to send a large army of forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse into Judea, under the command of Nicanor and Gorgias. So confident were they of victory that Nicanor proclaimed a sale of the captive Jews beforehand, at the rate of ninety for a talent, or about two pounds sterling a head. This drew a crowd of merchants from the coast to the Syrian camp at Emmaus, near Jerusalem, to make a cheap purchase of slaves. This was not a peculiar circumstance; for it was then usual (according to Polybius) for the march of armies to be attended by slave-dealers. Under these alarming circumstances Judas and his party assembled at Mizpeh-that ancient place of concourse-where they fasted and prayed; after which Judas, in obedience to the law, dismissed all such of his men as had in the course of the preceding year built houses, betrothed wives, or were planting vineyards, or were fearful; and this strong act of faith reduced his small army from six thousand to three thousand men.

Three

The Syrian generals deemed it superfluous to employ their large force against so small a body. Gorgias, therefore, with a chosen army of five thousand foot and one thousand horse, marched by night to surprise the army of Judas. But that vigilant commander was apprized of the design, and determined to take advantage of the separation of the two generals. He marched therefore early in the evening, and fell by night upon the camp of Nicanor. Not the least expectation of an attack being enter tained, the whole camp was thrown into confusion, and the soldiers fled. thousand Syrians were slain, and many soldiers and slave-dealers made prisoners. Early in the morning Gorgias, returning from his abortive march to Mizpeh, beheld the Syrian camp in flames, which threw his soldiers into such a panic that they betook themselves to instant flight; but were pressed upon so vigorously by the conquering Jews, that in all they destroyed that day nine thousand of their enemies, and wounded many more. Nicanor escaped in the disguise of a slave to Antioch, declaring his conviction that a mighty God fought for the Jews. In the camp of the Syrians the latter found great quantities of gold and silver, including the money which the slave-dealers had brought to purchase their persons. This victory was celebrated by a feast of thanksgiving.