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zacharias, where the king determined to attack him with his whole force. Great preparations were made on both sides. The Syrians distributed the elephants among the different divisions of the army, appointing for each elephant 1,000 men wearing coats of mail and helmets of brass, and 500 of the best horsemen; and the animals themselves bore strong wooden towers enclosing skilful archers. 'Now when the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the mountains glistened and shone like lamps of fire.' But Judas, intrepid as ever, did not hesitate to attack even so formidable an army. At his first assault, 600 men of the Syrian troops were slain. His brother Eleazar, ready to sacrifice his life for the welfare of his people, thinking that he saw the king conspicuous upon one of the elephants, dashed forward among the troops, dealing his fatal blows right and left, and forced a passage through the hostile ranks; then creeping under what he imagined to be the king's elephant, he pierced it through: the animal fell, and crushed him to death by its weight. Yet Judas thought it prudent to retreat before the immense superiority of the enemy. Antiochus advanced to Beth-zur, which town was compelled to surrender from want of corn-for it happened to be a Sabbath-year— and was forthwith garrisoned by Syrian troops. Then Antiochus besieged Jerusalem, hurling upon the walls stones and fire-brands. The Jews resisted long with wonderful bravery; yet their defeat was inevitable; for they also suffered from famine on account of the Sabbathyear, which had caused their fields to remain uncultivated.

But about this time the king's general Lysias heardthat Philippus had returned from Persia, and had taken possession of Antiochia, with a view of seizing the government. Lysias therefore prevailed upon Antiochus to conclude peace with the Jews, in order to secure his own capital. The peace was accepted, and the Jews were pro

mised the full enjoyment of their political and religious rights. But when the king entered into the citadel of Zion, and saw its strength, he treacherously commanded the walls to be pulled down and the fortifications to be dismantled. Then he went with his army to Antiochia, which he found in possession of Philippus, but which, after a short siege, he succeeded in wresting from him. Not long afterwards (160) there appeared a new claimant to the throne of the Seleucidæ. Demetrius (I.), the son of Seleucus Philopator and brother of Antiochus Epiphanes, escaped from Rome, whither he had been sent as a hostage, landed on the Syrian coast, and proclaimed himself king of the land. He was received by the people with enthu siasm, marched at once upon Antiochia, where he killed the young king and his general Lysias.

This event was welcome to those wicked Jews who bore unwillingly the strict and severe rule of the Maccabees. Among them was a perfidious priest, Alcimus, who aspired to the High-priesthood. He went with many others to Demetrius, poured the vilest calumnies into his credulous ears, and incited him to a war of conquest against Judea. Demetrius, appointing Alcimus Highpriest, sent out with him Bacchides, one of his generals, to subdue the southern provinces of Palestine. When they arrived before Jerusalem, the Jews sent messengers to Alcimus, of whom, as High-priest, they expected no evil. Alcimus made deceitful promises, but 'suddenly ordered sixty of the delegates to be massacred. The Jews gave vent to their grief and indignation in bitter laments. Bacchides now retreated from Jerusalem, and pitched his camp in Bezeth, where he seized many Jews, and cast them into pits. Then he committed the country to the care of Alcimus, leaving him a sufficient army for defence, and returned to Antiochia. The base Alcimus and his followers now raged fiercely against the opponents

of the Syrian rule; and Jerusalem especially, where all disaffected spirits assembled, became the scene of fearful bloodshed. But Judas Maccabæus, filled with wrath against the traitors, traversed the country with his faithful band, expelling everywhere the evil-disposed, and restoring the old order of things. His name and power were dreaded, and no one dared to oppose him. Alcimus, defeated on all points, deemed it prudent to leave Judea; he went to king Demetrius at Antiochia, and accused the Jews of perfidy and every crime. Demetrius, thus appealed to, at once despatched Nicanor, one of his celebrated generals, who bore a deadly hatred to the Jews, and bade him carry on a war of destruction against them. Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great force, and cunningly allured Judas and his brothers to his camp; but they fortunately became aware that their assassination was planned, and they succeeded in effecting their escape. Both armies met not much later in battle at Caphar Salama, near Jerusalem, and once again the arms of Judas were triumphant. Five thousand Syrians were slain, and Nicanor retreated into the city of Zion. He penetrated into the Temple, and, mocking and insulting the priests, he swore in fierce wrath that he would burn the Temple, unless Judas were delivered into his hands. Cries of anguish and lamentation filled the town. But soon afterwards Nicanor encamped at Beth-horon. Judas collected and reinforced his army, which amounted to 3,000 men; a great battle was fought on the 13th day of Adar, in which the Syrians were completely discomfited; they fled and were pursued as far as Gazera, and Nicanor himself was among the slain. All escape was prevented by the men of Judah, who rushed forth from their towns, and joined in the pursuit of the enemy. Immense spoil was taken. Nicanor's head and proud right hand were cut off and fixed over the gates of Jerusalem. Joy and gladness

now reigned throughout Judea; and it was ordained that the anniversary of this great victory-the 13th of Adarshould in all future times be celebrated. It was kept under the name of the Feast of Nicanor' for many centuries; but it was later abandoned because the Fast of Esther' falls on the same day.

Judas felt that it would be impossible to maintain the safety of his people without powerful allies; and having heard of the valour of the Romans, of their widely-spread power, their invincible arms, and wise statesmanship, he determined to place his own little commonwealth under the protection of their mighty name. He had heard that they were implacable enemies, but sure and steadfast friends; that they were able and willing to help their allies against formidable foes; and his sympathies were strengthened when he learnt that none of them bore a crown or was clothed in purple, to be exalted above his fellow-citizens.'

He therefore sent two trustworthy men, Eupolemus and Jason, the son of Eleazar, to Rome, to offer a treaty of friendship, and to solicit assistance against the Syrians whenever it should be required. The Roman senate accepted the proposal, and the treaty was concluded and ratified in due form (161). As an earnest of their good faith, the Romans wrote without loss of time to Demetrius in these terms: Wherefore hast thou made the yoke heavy upon our friends and confederates the Jews? If, therefore, they complain any more against thee, we will do them justice, and fight with them by sea and by land.'

But Demetrius would not leave the death of his general Nicanor unavenged. Before the treaty with Rome could have been proclaimed, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus again into Judea at the head of a large host. They first marched into Galilee, laid siege to Masaloth near Arbela, and slew many Hebrews. Then they passed southward,

and, in the month of Nisan in the year 161, they appeared before Jerusalem. But they soon removed from thence, and pitched their tents at Berea, with 20,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 horsemen ; while Judas encamped at Eleasa with 3,000 chosen men. When these saw the immense superiority of the enemy, many of them fled in fear, and 800 men only remained faithful to Judas. But even with this little band he was determined to fight the unequal battle, and he said, 'Let us arise and go up against our enemies; perhaps we may be able to withstand them.' His captains, believing resistance utterly fruitless, dissuaded him with fervour, and replied, 'We shall never be able; let us now rather save our lives, and later we will return with our brethren and fight against them; for we are but few.' Then Judas addressed his men thus: 'God forbid that I should do this thing to flee away from them: if our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and leave behind no stain upon our honour!' The battle commenced almost immediately, and it was fought with desperate obstinacy on both sides. Judas, rushing onward with his old lion-hearted courage, obtained the mastery over the right wing of the enemy, and pursued them to Mount Azotus; but then the left wing fiercely followed Judas, and closed around him and his men; a fearful struggle ensued; many were killed on either side-and among the slain was the great Judas himself.

When their leader had fallen, the small remnant of his followers fled in despair. His brothers Jonathan and Simon took him from the battle-field, and buried him in the sepulchre of his fathers in Modin. All Israel bewailed him for many days, and a song of lamentation was recited, of which this was the burden: How is the valiant man fallen that delivered Israel!' not easy to condense in an elegy all the wonderful exploits of the noble hero; and his historian, feeling this

Indeed it was

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