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Alcimus
Alcimus (from ''Alkimos'', "valiant" or Hebrew אליקום ''Elyaqum'', "God will rise"), also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE. He was a moderate Hellenizer who favored the ruling government of the Seleucid Empire (Greek Syria) and opposed the Maccabean Revolt which was in progress at the time. Original sources What is known of Alcimus comes from records found in 1 Maccabees (, ); 2 Maccabees (); and Josephus's ''Antiquities of the Jews'' Book 12, Chapters 9-11. All of these sources are hostile to Alcimus; no sources from his faction's perspective survived. Alcimus is described as a leader of the Hellenizing faction of Hellenistic Judaism that favored more enthusiastic adoption of Greek practices and less adherence to Jewish law. Biography The office of high priest was recently vacant in 163 BCE after despised High Priest Menelaus was executed by Regent Lysias. It is not clear if Menelaus was of the high pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasideans
The Hasideans (, ''Hasidim ha-Rishonim'', Greek ''Ἁσιδαῖοι'' or Asidaioi, also transcribed as Hasidaeans and Assideans) were a Jewish group during the Maccabean Revolt that took place from around 167–142 BCE. The Hasideans are mentioned three times in the books of the Maccabees, the main contemporary sources from the period. According to the book 1 Maccabees, during the early phases of the anti-Jewish decrees and persecution proclaimed by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, some Hasideans joined up with Mattathias the Hasmonean as he martialed forces and allies for his rebellion (~167–166 BCE). Later on, during the term of High Priest Alcimus, some Hasideans apparently trusted Alcimus's promises at first and attempted to negotiate a settlement with the government, but were betrayed and executed (~161 BCE). In the book 2 Maccabees, Judas Maccabeus is described as the leader of the Hasideans and of them all as troublemakers disrupting the peace, but by Alcimu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccabean Revolt
The Maccabean Revolt () was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence. Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes launched a massive campaign of repression against the Jewish religion in 168 BCE. The reason he did so is not entirely clear, but it seems to have been related to the King mistaking an internal conflict among the Jewish priesthood as a full-scale rebellion. Jewish practices were banned, Jerusalem was placed under direct Seleucid control, and the Second Temple in Jerusalem was made the site of a syncretic Pagan-Jewish cult. This repression triggered the revolt that Antiochus IV had feared, with a group of Jewish fighters led by Judas Maccabeus (J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchides (general)
Bacchides () ( 2nd-century BCE) was a Syrian-Greek general (''strategos''), governor, friend and advisor ('' philos'') of King Demetrius I Soter of the Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Empire was one of the Greek successor states (ruled by the diadochi) founded after the conquests of Alexander the Great, and was centered in Syria and Babylonia in the Hellenistic era. Bacchides is only known from the books of Maccabees (1 Maccabees, possibly 2 Maccabees as well) and the works of the historian Josephus. Depiction in 1 Maccabees The main source on Bacchides is the book 1 Maccabees. The work was written in the Hasmonean kingdom after the success of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, and is thus a source hostile to Bacchides. Nevertheless, the book is open about the successes Bacchides achieved on behalf of the government. According to Chapter 7, Demetrius sent Bacchides in 161 BCE to Judea with an army in order to invest Alcimus with the office of High Priest of Is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judas Maccabeus
Judas Maccabaeus or Maccabeus ( ), also known as Judah Maccabee (), was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE after Judah Maccabee removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it. Life Early life Judah was the third son of Mattathias, the Hasmonean, a Kohen, Jewish priest from the village of Modi'in (ancient city), Modi'in. In 167 BCE, Mattathias, together with his sons Judah, Eleazar Avaran, Eleazar, Simon Thassi, Simon, John Gaddi, John, and Jonathan Apphus, Jonathan, started a revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who since 169/8 BCE had issued decrees that forbade Judaism, Jewish religious practices. After Mattathias died in 166 BCE, Judah assumed leadership of the revolt per the deathbed d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jose Ben Joezer
Jose ben Joezer (also spelt Yose ben Yoezer) was a rabbi of the early Maccabean period, possibly a disciple of Antigonus of Soko and member of the ascetic group known as the Hasidæans, though neither is certain. He belonged to a priestly family. Biography With him and Jose ben Johanan of Jerusalem, his colleague, begins the period known in Jewish history as that of the zugot (duumvirate), which ended with Hillel and Shammai. According to an old tradition, the member of the "zugot" mentioned first occupied the office of Nasi (president) of the Sanhedrin, while the one mentioned second served in the capacity of vice-president. Jose belonged to the party of the Ḥasidim, and was a decided adversary of Hellenism. To prevent Jews from settling beyond Judea he declared all pagan countries " unclean". He declared also glass utensils "unclean", probably because they were manufactured in pagan countries. In other respects, however, he was very liberal, and received the surname "Sha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicanor (Syrian General)
Nicanor (; ; died 161 BCE) was a Syrian-Greek general (strategos) who served the Seleucid Empire during the reigns of kings Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Demetrius I Soter. He served during the Maccabean Revolt in Judea, then part of the Seleucid Empire, and served for a time as governor in Jerusalem. Relations between the government and the Jewish rebels eventually turned sufficiently hostile that he threatened the priests at the Second Temple and led an army to find and defeat Judas Maccabeus's followers, but he and his army were defeated at the Battle of Adasa. Nicanor was killed, his corpse was desecrated, his head and right hand hung for public display back in Jerusalem, and a new festival was declared to celebrate his defeat. As Seleucid literature was ultimately not preserved, almost all of what is known of Nicanor comes from the Jewish books 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. These books were preserved by becoming part of the Septuagint, a collection of Jewish writings in Greek tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees, also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution of Jews under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the Maccabean Revolt against him. It concludes with the defeat of the Seleucid Empire general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the leader of the Maccabees. 2 Maccabees was originally written in Koine Greek by an unknown diaspora Jew living in Hellenistic Egypt. It was likely written some time between 150 and 100 BC. Together with the book 1 Maccabees, it is one of the most important sources on the Maccabean Revolt. The work is not a sequel to 1 Maccabees but rather its own independent rendition of the historical events of the Maccabean Revolt. It both starts and ends its history earlier than 1 Maccabees, beginning with an incident with the Seleucid official Heliodorus attempting to tax the Second Temple in 178 BC, and ending with the Battle of Adasa in 161 BC. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demetrius I Soter
Demetrius I Soter (, ''Dēmḗtrios ho Sōtḗr,'' "Demetrius the Saviour"; 185 – June 150 BC) reigned as king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire from November 162 to June 150 BC. Demetrius grew up in Rome as a hostage, but returned to Greek Syria and overthrew his young cousin Antiochus V Eupator and regent Lysias. Demetrius took control during a turbulent time of the Empire, and spent much of his time fighting off revolts and challenges to his power from threats such as Timarchus and Alexander Balas. Biography Early confinement and escape Demetrius was born around 185 BC. He was sent to Rome as a hostage at a young age during the reign of his father Seleucus IV Philopator and his mother Laodice IV.Appian, ''Roman History: Syrian Wars'' 8.46 Rome taking prominent Seleucid family members hostage was one of the terms of the Treaty of Apamea that had ended the Roman-Seleucid War. His father was likely murdered by his finance minister Heliodorus in 175 BC; his uncle Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lysias (Syrian Chancellor)
Lysias (; ; ; died 162 BC) was a 2nd-century BC general and governor of Syria under the Seleucid Empire. Biography The Seleucid Empire of the 2nd century BC was huge; it possessed two heartlands, the capital at Antioch in Syria, and a secondary capital at Babylon in Mesopotamia. Seleucid rulers had to aggressively remind their client rulers of their loyalty lest the client rulers drift towards independence, as happened with various subkingdoms over time. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes left Antioch around summer of 165 BC on an expedition to the eastern satrapies; he would see to affairs in Babylonia, dismiss corrupt or overly independent officials, and attempt to exercise control over the drifting Persian provinces to what would become the Parthian Empire. Antiochus IV left Lysias in charge of the government of the Western half of the empire as regent. Lysias also took guardianship of Antiochus's son who continued to be raised in Antioch. Antiochus then went east with a loyal Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from arou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menelaus (High Priest)
Menelaus () was High Priest in Jerusalem from about 172 BC to about 161 BC. He was high priest at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt (167-160). He was the successor of Jason, the brother of Onias III. The sources are divided as to his origin. According to II Maccabees, he belonged to the Tribe of Benjamin and was the brother of the Simeon who had denounced Onias III to Seleucus IV Philopator, and revealed to the Syrians the existence of the treasure of the Temple; according to Flavius Josephus, Menelaus was the brother of Onias III and Jason, his two predecessors as High Priest, and also bore the name Onias. It is possible that Josephus confused Simeon, the brother of Menelaus, with Simeon, the father of Onias and Jason. Hellenizing tendencies Although during the three years of his pontificate Jason had given many proofs of his attachment to the Hellenistic party (by building a gymnasium in Jerusalem and by introducing many Greek customs) the Hellenists of the stamp of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Elasa
The Battle of Elasa was fought in April 160 BCE during the Maccabean Revolt between Judean rebels led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and an army of the Seleucid Empire under the command of Bacchides. The battle resulted in the triumph of the Greek Syrian forces, the defeat of the Maccabees, and the death of Judas Maccabeus. The leadership of the Maccabees passed to Judas's brother Jonathan Apphus (Yonatan), who continued to fight against Bacchides for the remainder of 160 BCE. The Seleucids largely triumphed; control of the cities was restored to them, including Jerusalem, hostages of important Jewish families were taken, and Greek-aligned garrisons were placed around Judea. Despite this setback, unrest continued in the countryside. The Hasmonean sons of Mattathias continued to oppose the government in the following eight years, and eventually succeeded in gaining allies both among Seleucid rulers and the Romans that would allow for autonomy. Judas's brother Simon Thas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
