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183-696: 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

366-434: A Hellenic culture , "the true essence of which he can scarcely be said to have appreciated". Whether Antiochus' policy was directed at extermination of Judaism as a culture and a religion, though, is debatable on the grounds that his persecution was limited to Judea and Samaria (Jews in the diaspora were exempt), and that Antiochus was hardly an ideologically motivated Hellenizer. Erich S. Gruen suggests that, instead, he

549-590: A civil war. In 168 BC, Antiochus led a second attack on Egypt and also sent a fleet to capture Cyprus . Before he reached Alexandria, his path was blocked by a single elderly Roman ambassador named Gaius Popillius Laenas who delivered a message from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies from Egypt and Cyprus or consider himself in a state of war with the Roman Republic. Antiochus said he would discuss it with his council, whereupon

732-502: A commission appointed by the Greek government reported that a third of the villages of Greece should have their names changed, often because of their non-Greek origin. In other instances, names were changed from a contemporary name of Greek origin to the ancient Greek name. Some village names were formed from a Greek root word with a foreign suffix or vice versa. Most of the name changes took place in areas populated by ethnic Greeks in which

915-788: A deal with the Seleucids involved first defeating them militarily and attaining functional independence. In 2 Maccabees, intended for an audience of Egyptian Jews who still lived under Greek rule, peaceful coexistence was possible, but misunderstandings or troublemakers forced the Jews into defensive action. Josephus wrote over two centuries after the revolt, but his friendship with the Flavian dynasty Roman emperors meant he had access to resources undreamt of by other scholars. Josephus appears to have used 1 Maccabees as one of his main sources for his histories, but supplements it with knowledge of events of

1098-428: A defeat suffered by other commanders named Joseph and Azariah as because "they did not listen to Judas and his brothers. But they did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel." 2 Maccabees is an abridgment by an unknown Egyptian Jew of a lost five-volume work by an author named Jason of Cyrene. It is a separate work from 1 Maccabees and not a continuation of it. 2 Maccabees has

1281-538: A foreign power. Written after the revolt was complete, the books urged unity among the Jews; they describe little of the Hellenizing faction other than to call them lawless and corrupt, and downplay their relevance and power in the conflict. While many scholars still accept this basic framework, that the Hellenists were weak and dependent on Seleucid aid to hold influence, this view has since been challenged. In

1464-680: A general named Cendebeus, but it was repulsed. The Hasmonean leaders did not immediately call themselves "king" or establish a monarchy; Simon called himself merely " nasi " (in Hebrew, "Prince" or "President") and " ethnarch " (in Koine Greek, "Governor"). In 135 BCE, Simon and two of his sons (Mattathias and Judas) were murdered by his son-in-law, Ptolemy son of Abubus , at a feast in Jericho . All five sons of Mattathias were now gone with Simon joining his brothers in death, leaving leadership to

1647-410: A government response to formal independence of the new state difficult. New Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes refused an offer of help from Simon's troops while pursuing their mutual enemy Diodotus Tryphon, and made demands for both tribute and for Simon to cede control of the border towns Joppa and Gazara . Antiochus VII sent an army to Judea at some point between 139 and 138 BCE under command of

1830-555: A great humiliation for Antiochus IV that unhinged him for a time. Some more modern historians conjecture that Antiochus may have been more reconciled to this than ancient sources indicate, as the Roman intervention meant that Antiochus had been given an excuse to not undertake a potentially long and costly siege of Alexandria. He could instead return with treasure and loot having weakened the Egyptian state at little risk and cost compared to

2013-658: A great impact on Jewish nationalism, as an example of a successful campaign to establish political independence and resist governmental anti-Jewish suppression. Beginning in 338 BCE, Alexander the Great began an invasion of the Persian Empire . In 333–332 BCE, Alexander's Macedonian forces conquered the Levant and Palestine . At the time, Judea was home to many Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon thanks to

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2196-404: A great swine at the image of Moses, and at the altar of God that stood in the outward court, and sprinkled them with the blood of the sacrifice. He commanded likewise that the books, by which they were taught to hate all other nations, should be sprinkled with the broth made of the swine's flesh. And he put out the lamp (called by them immortal) which burns continually in the temple. Lastly he forced

2379-594: A guarantee of good behavior. Judas's younger brother Jonathan Apphus (Hebrew: Yonatan) became the new leader of the Maccabees. A new tragedy struck the Hasmonean family when Jonathan's brother John Gaddi was seized and killed while on a mission in Nabatea . Jonathan fought Bacchides and his troops for a time, but the two eventually made a pact for a cease-fire. Bacchides then returned to Syria in 160 BCE. While

2562-540: A guerrilla movement in the Judean countryside, raiding towns and terrorizing Greek officials far from direct Seleucid control, but it eventually developed a proper army capable of attacking the fortified Seleucid cities. In 164 BCE, the Maccabees captured Jerusalem, a significant early victory. The subsequent cleansing of the temple and rededication of the altar on 25 Kislev is the source of the festival of Hanukkah . The Seleucids eventually relented and unbanned Judaism, but

2745-529: A large bribe to secure the office. In 168 BC, when Antiochus was campaigning in Egypt, a rumor spread in Judea that he had been killed. Jason gathered a force of 1,000 soldiers and made a surprise attack on the city of Jerusalem . Menelaus was forced to flee Jerusalem during the ensuing riot. Jason's intention may have been to retake his former office by force and present his reassumption of power as fait accompli to

2928-553: A larger-scale invasion. The Seleucids, like the Ptolemies before them, held a suzerainty over Judea : they respected Jewish culture and protected Jewish institutions. This policy was drastically reversed by Antiochus IV, seemingly after what was either a dispute over leadership of the Temple in Jerusalem and the office of High Priest , or possibly a revolt whose nature was lost to time after being crushed. Local revolts against

3111-465: A more directly religious focus than 1 Maccabees, crediting God and divine intervention for events more prominently than 1 Maccabees; it also focuses personally on Judas rather than other Hasmoneans. It has a special focus on the Second Temple: the controversies over the position of High Priest, its pollution by Menelaus into a Greek-Jewish mix, its eventual cleansing, and the threats by Nicanor at

3294-444: A past Albanian Muslim population living amongst them. There are no monolingual Arvanitika-speakers, as all are today bilingual in Greek. However, while Arvanites are bilingual in Greek and Arvanitika, Arvanitika is considered an endangered language as it is in a state of attrition due to the large-scale language shift towards Greek among the descendants of Arvanitika-speakers in recent decades, becoming monolingual Greek speakers in

3477-424: A place of primacy in Judea and fostered the new sense of Jewish nationalism that had sprouted during the revolt. The dynasty would last until 37 BCE, when Herod the Great , making use of heavy Roman support, defeated the last Hasmonean ruler to become a Roman client king . Both sides were influenced by Hellenistic army composition and tactics. The basic Hellenistic battle deployment consisted of heavy infantry in

3660-512: A political compromise that revoked Antiochus IV's ban on Jewish practices. This proved a wise decision: many Hellenized Jews had cautiously supported the revolt due to the suppression of their religion. With the ban retracted, their religious goals were accomplished, and the Hellenized Jews could more easily be potential Seleucid loyalists again. The Maccabees did not consider their goals complete, however, and continued their campaign for

3843-461: A quick rate, and proper colonies in the traditional sense were established in the form of predominantly Greek city-states ( πόλεις , póleis ). Extensive trade between mainland Greece and the Hellenistic portions of Anatolia was underway by the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, with fish, grain, timber, metal, and often slaves being exported from the land. It is believed that this kind of contact with

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4026-523: A rival of Diodotus Tryphon and claimant to the Seleucid throne. Demetrius II exempted Judea from payment of taxes in 142 BCE, essentially acknowledging its independence. The Seleucid settlement and garrison in Jerusalem, the Acra, finally came under Simon's control, peacefully, as did the remaining Seleucid garrison at Beth-Zur. Simon was appointed High Priest around 141 BCE, but he did so by acclamation from

4209-456: A rumor that Antiochus had perished, and launched an attempted coup against Menelaus in Jerusalem. Hearing of this, Antiochus, who was not dead, apparently interpreted this factional infighting as a revolt against his personal authority, and sent an army to crush Jason's plotters. From 168–167 BCE, the conflict spiraled out of control, and government policy radically shifted. Thousands in Jerusalem were killed and thousands more were enslaved;

4392-684: A sacrifice at the Temple. For the reprieve and donation, Antiochus VII was referred to as "Eusebes" ("Pious") by the grateful populace. With the suzerainty briefly re-established, Judea sent troops to aid Antiochus VII in his campaigns in Persia. After Antiochus VII's death in 129 BCE, the Hasmoneans ceased offering aid or tribute to the remnants of the declining Seleucid Empire. John Hyrcanus and his children would go on to centralize power more than Simon had done. Hyrcanus's son Aristobulus I called himself " basileus " (king), abandoning pretensions that

4575-424: A self-governing polis , albeit with Jason able to control the citizenship lists of who would be able to vote and hold political office. These changes did not immediately appear to rouse any particular complaint from the majority of the citizenry in Jerusalem, and presumably he still kept the basic Jewish laws and tenets. Three years later, a newcomer named Menelaus offered an even larger bribe to Antiochus IV for

4758-446: A ship and fled to the coastal cities. Wherever he came the people rebelled and called him "The Fugitive," so he drowned himself in the sea. This story is from the 2nd century, however, much further removed from the event than Polybius or 2 Maccabees. It is generally considered secondary and unlikely to be accurate. Antiochus IV is remembered as a major villain and persecutor in the Jewish traditions associated with Hanukkah , including

4941-556: A slow rate from the 6th to 4th century. The Lydians had been particularly receptive to Greek culture, as were the 4th century dynasties of Caria and Lycia as well as the inhabitants of the Cilician plain and of the regions of Paphlagonia . The local population found their desires for advancement a stimulus to learn Greek. The indigenous urban settlements and villages in Anatolia coalesced, on their own initiative, to form cities in

5124-466: A small jug of oil that had remained pure and uncontaminated by virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain the Menorah for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days, by which time further oil had been procured. During the era of the Hasmonean kingdom, Hanukkah was observed prominently; it acted as a "Hasmonean Independence Day " to commemorate the success of the revolt and

5307-483: A starker break from Greek influence and full political independence. The rebels suffered a loss of support from moderates as a result. With the rebels now in control of most of Jerusalem and its environs, a second phase of the revolt began. The rebellion had additional resources, but also additional responsibilities. Rather than being able to retreat to the mountains, the rebels now had territory to defend; abandoning cities would leave their loyalists open to reprisals if

5490-472: A stratum of foreign or divergent toponyms had accumulated over the centuries. However, in some parts of northern Greece, the population was not Greek-speaking, and many of the former toponyms had reflected the diverse ethnic and linguistic origins of their inhabitants. The process of the change of toponyms in modern Greece has been described as a process of Hellenisation. A modern use is in connection with policies pursuing "cultural harmonization and education of

5673-532: A vague agreement of potential support. While this would be cause for caution to the Seleucid Empire in the long term, it was not a particular concern in the short term, as the Romans would be unlikely to intervene if the Judean unrest could be decisively crushed. In 160 BCE, Seleucid King Demetrius I went on campaign in the east to fight the rebellious Timarchus . He left his general Bacchides to govern

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5856-469: A violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery. After restoring Menelaus, Antiochus IV issued decrees aimed at helping the most enthusiastically pro-Greek faction of Jews (usually called "Hellenizers") against the traditionalists. He outlawed Jewish religious rites and traditions and the Temple in Jerusalem was changed to a syncretic Greek-Jewish cult that included worship of Zeus . The Greek historian Diodorus wrote that Antiochus "sacrificed

6039-600: Is a lack of evidence from Hellenistic Syria; concerning this, most scholars view it as a case of "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". The Bactrians , an Iranian ethnic group who lived in Bactria (northern Afghanistan ), were Hellenised during the reign of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and soon after various tribes in northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent underwent Hellenisation during

6222-504: Is ambivalent toward the Maccabees. The book of 1 Maccabees is considered mostly reliable, as it was seemingly written by an eyewitness early in the reign of the Hasmoneans, most likely during John Hyrcanus's reign. Its depictions of battles are detailed and seemingly accurate, although it portrays implausibly large numbers of Seleucid soldiers, to better emphasize God's aid and Judas's talents. The book also acts as Hasmonean dynasty propaganda in its editorial slant on events. The new rule of

6405-655: Is believed to have favored the Zadokite line of succession to the High Priesthood. The commentary ( pesher ) describes a situation wherein a " Righteous Teacher " is unfairly driven from their post and into exile by a " Wicked Priest " and a "Man of the Lie" (possibly the same person). Many figures have been proposed as the identity of the people behind these titles; one theory goes that the Righteous Teacher

6588-401: Is featured in plays of the playwrights Aharon Ashman  [ he ] , Ya'akov Cahan , and Moshe Shamir . Various organizations in the modern state of Israel name themselves after the Maccabees and the Hasmoneans or otherwise honor them. Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( c. 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic King who ruled

6771-552: Is generally credited as popularizing this alternative viewpoint in 1937, and other historians such as Martin Hengel have continued the argument. For example, Josephus's account directly blames Menelaus for convincing Antiochus IV to issue his anti-Jewish decrees. Alcimus, Menelaus's replacement as High Priest, is blamed for instigating a massacre of devout Jews in 1 Maccabees, rather than the Seleucids directly. The Maccabees themselves fight and exile Hellenists as well, most clearly in

6954-638: Is in its depiction of the king of the north desecrating the temple with an abomination of desolation , and stopping the tamid , the daily sacrifice at the Temple; these agree with the depictions in 1 and 2 Maccabees of the changes at the Second Temple. Other works appear to have at least been influenced by the Maccabean Revolt include the Book of Judith , the Testament of Moses , and parts of

7137-448: Is literary evidence from Philo about the extravagance of Alexandrian Jewish banquets, and The Letter of Aristeas discusses Jews dining with non-Jews as an opportunity to share Jewish wisdom. Pamphylia is a plain located between the highlands of Lycia and Cilicia . The exact date of Greek settlement in the region is not known; one possible theory is that settlers arrived in the region as part of Bronze Age maritime trade between

7320-505: Is speculated that diaspora Jews in countries hostile to the Seleucids, such as Ptolemaic Egypt and Pergamon , may have joined the cause as volunteers, bringing their own local talents to the rebel army. The rebel forces grew with time. There were 6,000 men in Judas's army near the start of the revolt, 10,000 men at the Battle of Beth Zur, and possibly as many as 22,000 soldiers by the time of

7503-544: Is the Greek historian Polybius , generally considered one of the highest-quality sources on the time period. Polybius paints a negative picture of him, and other surviving accounts have as well. The negative accounts of the Jews in the Books of the Maccabees are also influential. On the basis of this, Antiochus IV has generally been judged poorly. There are historians who think that these hostile depictions deserve some skepticism, however. Not all ancient accounts are hostile;

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7686-476: The Acra ; it might resolve a seeming contradiction between Josephus's account of the Acra's fate (he claimed it was torn down) and 1 Maccabees's account (it was merely occupied) in favor of the 1 Maccabees version. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple following Judas Maccabeus's victory over the Seleucids. According to rabbinic tradition , the victorious Maccabees could only find

7869-736: The Aegean , Levant and Cyprus , while another attributes it to population movements during the instability of the Bronze Age Collapse . The Greek dialect established in Pamphylia by the Classical period was related to Arcado-Cypriot . Mopsus is a legendary founder of several coastal cities in southwestern Anatolia, including Aspendos , Phaselis , Perge and Sillyon . A bilingual Phoenician and neo-Hittite Luwian inscription found at Karatepe , dated to 800 BC, says that

8052-725: The Ambraciots , which shows that the word perhaps already referred to more than language. The similar word Hellenism , which is often used as a synonym, is used in 2 Maccabees (c. 124 BC) and the Book of Acts (c. AD 80–90) to refer to clearly much more than language, though it is disputed what that may have entailed. By the 4th century BC, the process of Hellenization had started in southwestern Anatolia's Lycia , Caria and Pisidia regions. (1st century fortifications at Pelum in Galatia , on Baş Dağ in Lycaonia and at Isaura are

8235-807: The Argeads , the Antigonids claimed descent from Heracles , the Seleucids from Apollo , and the Ptolemies from Dionysus . The Seuthopolis inscription was very influential in the modern study of Thrace . The inscription mentions Dionysus, Apollo and some Samothracian gods . Scholars have interpreted the inscription as evidence of Hellenisation in inland Thrace during the early Hellenistic, but this has been challenged by recent scholarship. However, Hellenization had its limitations. For example, areas of southern Syria that were affected by Greek culture mostly entailed Seleucid urban centres, where Greek

8418-451: The Battle of Adasa led to an annual festival as well, albeit one less prominent and remembered than Hanukkah. The defeat of Seleucid general Nicanor is celebrated on 13 Adar as Yom Nicanor . The traumatic time period helped define the genre of the apocalypse and heightened Jewish apocalypticism . The portrayal of an evil tyrant like Antiochus IV attacking the holy city of Jerusalem in

8601-403: The Battle of Beth Zechariah next, with the Seleucids defeating the Maccabees. Judas's younger brother Eleazar Avaran died in battle after bravely attacking a war elephant and being crushed. Lysias's army next besieged Jerusalem. With supplies of food short on both sides and reports of a political rival returning from the eastern provinces to Antioch, Lysias decided to sign an agreement with

8784-417: The Book of Enoch . The Book of Judith is a historical novel that describes Jewish resistance against an overwhelming military threat. While the parallels are not as stark as Daniel, some of its depictions of oppression seem influenced by Antiochus's persecution, such as General Holofernes demolishing shrines, cutting down sacred groves, and attempting to destroy all worship other than of the king. Judith,

8967-456: The Books of the Maccabees and the " Scroll of Antiochus ". Rabbinical sources refer to him as הרשע harasha ("the wicked"). The Jewish Encyclopedia concluded that "[s]ince Jewish and heathen sources agree in their characterization of him, their portrayal is evidently correct", summarizing this portrayal as one of a cruel and vainglorious ruler who tried to force on all the peoples of his realm

9150-647: The Jews of Judea and Samaria , and the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees . Antiochus's accession to the throne was controversial, and he was seen as a usurper by some. After the death of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator in 175 BC, the "true" heir should have been Seleucus's son Demetrius I . However, Demetrius I was very young and a hostage in Rome at the time, and Antiochus seized the opportunity to declare himself king instead, successfully rallying enough of

9333-651: The Kingdom of Armenia . His campaign went through Ecbatana and he and his forces attacked Persepolis but were driven off by the populace. On his return home, he died at Isfahan in 164 BC. Various religious explanations exist for Antiochus IV's death. Apparently, he attacked a temple of the Mesopotamian deity Nanaya in Persia shortly before his demise, and his death was possibly attributed to impiety and punishment by Nanaya in some quarters. Jewish sources gave credit for Antiochus's death to his earlier impiety at

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9516-485: The Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great . Originally named Mithridates (or possibly its earlier, alternative form Mithradates ), he assumed the name Antiochus either after the death of his elder brother Antiochus or when he ascended the throne. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt , his persecution of

9699-656: The Sixth Syrian War between the Seleucids and the Ptolemaic Egyptians arose. Antiochus IV led an army to attack Egypt. On his way back through Jerusalem after the successful campaign, High Priest Menelaus allegedly invited Antiochus inside the Second Temple (in violation of Jewish law), and he raided the temple treasury for 1800 talents . Tensions with the Ptolemaic dynasty continued, and Antiochus rode out on campaign again in 168 BCE. Jason heard

9882-604: The Temple of Zeus at Athens and the altar at Delos ; put all his Western military forces on a massive parade at Daphne , a suburb of Antioch; and held opulent banquets with the aristocracy using the best spices, clothing, and food. He also supplemented the Seleucid army with mercenaries. All of this cost the Seleucid treasury, but the Empire was apparently able to raise enough taxes to pay for it. His eccentric behavior and unexpected interactions with common people such as appearing in

10065-603: The ancient period , colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous peoples; in the Hellenistic period , many of the territories which were conquered by Alexander the Great were Hellenized. The first known use of a verb that means "to Hellenize" was in Greek (ἑλληνίζειν) and by Thucydides (5th century BC), who wrote that the Amphilochian Argives were Hellenised as to their language by

10248-494: The deuterocanonical books of First Maccabees and Second Maccabees , as well as Josephus 's The Jewish War and Book XII and XIII of Jewish Antiquities . The authors were not disinterested parties; the authors of the books of Maccabees were favorable to the Maccabees, portraying the conflict as a divinely sanctioned holy war and elevating the stature of Judas and his brothers to heroic levels. In comparison, Josephus did not want to offend Greek pagan readers of his work, and

10431-512: The mishnah , the writings of the Tannaim , after these Jewish defeats. Rabbinical displeasure with the later rule of the Hasmoneans after the revolt also contributed to this; even when stories were explicitly set during the Maccabean period, references to Judas by name were explicitly removed to avoid hero-worship of the Hasmonean line. The books of Maccabees were downplayed and relegated in

10614-623: The "Book of Dreams", was likely written after the Revolt had at least partially succeeded; it portrays the events of the revolt in the form of prophetic dream visions. A more uncertain work that has nevertheless attracted much interest is the Qumran Habakkuk Commentary , part of the Dead Sea Scrolls . The Qumran religious community was not on good terms with the Hasmonean religious establishment in Jerusalem, and

10797-471: The "Great Revolt") and the Bar Kochba revolt from 132 to 136 CE. After the failure of these revolts, Jewish interpretation of the Maccabean Revolt became more spiritual; it instead focused on stories of Hanukkah and God's miracle of the oil, rather than practical plans for an independent Jewish polity backed by armed might. The Maccabees were also discussed less as time went on; they appear only rarely in

10980-440: The "king of the north" and describes his earlier actions, such as being repelled and humiliated by the Romans in his second campaign in Egypt, but also that the king of the north would "meet his end". Additionally, all those who had died under the king of the north would be revived, with those who suffered rewarded while those who had prospered would be subjected to shame and contempt. The main historical items taken away from Daniel

11163-481: The 'Antiochene crises' for the Jews. Traditionally, as expressed in the First and Second Books of the Maccabees, the Maccabean Revolt was painted as a national resistance to a foreign political and cultural oppression. In modern times, however, scholars have argued that Antiochus IV was more intervening in a civil war between the traditionalist Jews in the country and the Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem. Scholars think

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11346-669: The 1821 Tripolitsa Massacre of Muslim Albanians, while some Muslim Albanian speakers in the region of Bardounia remained after the war, converting to Orthodoxy. In recent times, Arvanites have expressed mixed opinions towards recent Albanian settlers within Greece. Other Arvanites during the late 1980s and early 1990s expressed solidarity with Albanian immigrants, due to linguistic similarities and being politically leftist. Relations too between Arvanites and other Orthodox Albanian-speaking communities such as those of Greek Epirus are mixed, as they are distrusted regarding religious matters due to

11529-549: The 1st century BC. Ionian , Aeolian and Doric settlers along Anatolia's Western coast seemed to have remained culturally Greek and some of their city-states date back to the Archaic Period . On the other hand, Greeks who settled in the southwestern region of Pisidia and Pamphylia seem to have been assimilated by the local culture. Panticapaeum (modern day Kerch ) was one of the early Greek colonies in Crimea . It

11712-404: The 2nd century BC. Finds from the abandoned Hellenistic era settlement include imported and locally produced imitation Greek-style terracotta figurines and ceramics. Inscriptions show that some of the inhabitants had Greek names, while others had Anatolian or possibly Celtic names. Many Phrygian cult objects were Hellenised during the Hellenistic period, but worship of traditional deities like

11895-640: The 4th century BC this population quickly started to become Hellenised. Little is known about Pisidia prior to the 3rd century BC, but there is quite a bit of archeological evidence that dates to the Hellenistic period . Literary evidence, however, including inscriptions and coins are limited. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, native regional tongues were abandoned in favour of koine Greek and settlements began to take on characteristics of Greek polis . The Iron Age Panemoteichos I may be an early precursor to later regional Hellenistic settlements including Selge , Termessos and Sagalassos (believed to be

12078-495: The Arvanites. The common Orthodox Christian faith they shared with the rest of the local population was one of the main reasons that led to their assimilation. Other reasons for assimilation are large-scale internal migration to the cities and subsequent intermingling of the population. Although sociological studies of Arvanite communities still used to note an identifiable sense of a special "ethnic" identity among Arvanites,

12261-546: The Book of Daniel became a common theme during later Roman rule of Judea, and would contribute to Christian conceptions of the Antichrist . The persecution of the Jews under Antiochus, and the Maccabees response, would influence and create new trends in Jewish strains of thought with regard to divine rewards and punishments. In earlier Jewish works, devotion to God and adherence to the law led to rewards and punishments in life:

12444-570: The Book of Daniel describing a future resurrection of the dead, or 2 Maccabees describing in detail the martyrdom of a woman and her seven sons under Antiochus, but who would be rewarded after their deaths. As a victory of the "few over the many", the revolt served as inspiration for future Jewish resistance movements, such as the Zealots . The most famous of these later revolts are the First Jewish–Roman War in 66–73 CE (also called

12627-571: The Divine Nature; while the further assertion 'these three are One', which the modern mind finds paradoxical, was no more than commonplace to those familiar with Stoic notions. The Greek East was one of the two main cultural areas of the Roman Empire and began to be ruled by an autonomous imperial court in AD 286 under Diocletian . However, Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts of

12810-403: The Greek manner. The local kings of Asia Minor adopted Greek as their official language and sought to imitate other Greek cultural forms. The first properly Greek settlements in Anatolia originated shortly after the end of the Bronze age, around the 11th century BCE. Mycenaean settlements at Halicarnassus , Miletus , and Colophon existed before this, but Mycenaean colonization in the region

12993-470: The Greek ruling class in Antioch to support his claim. This helped set a destabilizing trend in the Seleucid Empire in subsequent generations, as an increasing number of claimants tried to usurp the throne. After his own death, power struggles between competing lines of the ruling dynasty heavily contributed to the collapse of the empire. Antiochus's often eccentric behavior and capricious actions during his interactions with common people, such as appearing in

13176-548: The Hasmonean takeover: the first Essenes . The date of the work is unknown, and others scholars have proposed different candidates as possible identities of the Wicked Priest, so the identification with Jonathan is only a possibility, yet an intriguing and plausible one. In the First and Second Books of the Maccabees, the Maccabean Revolt is described as a collective response to cultural oppression and national resistance to

13359-597: The Hasmoneans was not without its own internal enemies; the office of High Priest had been occupied for generations by a descendant of the High Priest Zadok . The Hasmoneans, while of the priestly line ( Kohens ), were seen by some as usurpers, did not descend from Zadok, and had taken the office originally only via a deal with a Seleucid king. As such, the book emphasizes that the Hasmoneans' actions were in line with heroes of older scripture; they were God's new chosen and righteous rulers. For example, it dismisses

13542-529: The Hellenisation of Judaism in the pre-Christian Period (1980, German original 1976) and The 'Hellenisation' of Judaea in the First Century after Christ (1989, German original 1989), the tide began to turn decisively. Hengel argued that virtually all of Judaism was highly Hellenised well before the beginning of the Christian era, and even the Greek language was well known throughout the cities and even

13725-613: The High Priest managing political matters was a temporary arrangement. The Hasmoneans exiled leaders on the council or gerusia that they felt might threaten their power. The council of elders – which some see as a precursor to the Sanhedrin – ceased to be an independent check on the monarchy. After the success of the Maccabean Revolt, leaders of the Hasmonean dynasty continued their conquest to surrounding areas of Judea, especially under Alexander Jannaeus . The Seleucid Empire

13908-443: The Jewish people rather than appointment by the Seleucid king. Both Jonathan and now Simon had maintained diplomatic contact with the Roman Republic; official recognition by Rome came in 139 BCE, as the Romans were eager to weaken and divide the Greek states. This new Hasmonean-Roman alliance was also worded more firmly than Judas Maccabeus's hazy agreement 22–23 years earlier. Continuing strife between rival Seleucid rulers made

14091-472: The Jewish religion; subjects were required to eat pork and violate Jewish dietary law , work on the Jewish Sabbath, cease circumcising their sons, and so on. The policy of tolerance of Jewish worship was at an end. For Antiochus the unexpected conquest of the city ( Jerusalem ), the looting, and the wholesale slaughter were not enough. His psychopathic tendency was exacerbated by resentment at what

14274-580: The Jewish tradition and not included in the Jewish Tanakh (Hebrew Bible); it would be Christians who would produce more art and literature referencing the Maccabees during the medieval era, as the books of Maccabees were included in the Catholic and Orthodox Biblical canon . Medieval Christians during the Carolingian era esteemed the Maccabees as early examples of chivalry and knighthood, and

14457-419: The Jews are threatened with death, they face it calmly, and are saved in the end, a relevant message among Jewish opposition to Antiochus IV. The final chapters of the book of Daniel include apocalyptic visions of the future. One of the motives for the author was to give heart to devout Jews that their victory was foreseen by prophecy 400 years earlier. Daniel's final vision refers to Antiochus Epiphanes as

14640-485: The Jews. Shortly afterward, both regent Lysias and 11-year old king Antiochus V were executed after losing a succession struggle with Demetrius I Soter , who became the new Seleucid king. In the winter of late 162 BCE to early 161 BCE, Demetrius I appointed a new high priest, Alcimus , to replace Menelaus and sent an army led by general Bacchides to enforce Alcimus's station. Judas did not give battle, perhaps still rebuilding after his defeat at Beth Zechariah. Alcimus

14823-511: The Judaism of the diaspora was thought to have succumbed thoroughly to its influences. Bultmann thus argued that Christianity arose almost completely within those Hellenistic confines and should be read against that background, as opposed to a more traditional Jewish background. With the publication of Martin Hengel 's two-volume study Hellenism and Judaism (1974, German original 1972) and subsequent studies Jews, Greeks and Barbarians: Aspects of

15006-526: The Judean countryside. A rural Jewish priest from Modein , Mattathias (Hebrew: Matityahu) of the Hasmonean family, sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods at Modein's new altar. Mattathias killed a Jew who had stepped forward to take Mattathias' place in sacrificing to an idol as well as the Greek officer who was sent to enforce the sacrifice. He then destroyed

15189-468: The Maccabees as examples of independence and victory. Proponents of Jewish nationalism of that era saw past events, such as the Maccabees, as a hopeful suggestion to what was possible, influencing the nascent Zionist movement. A British Zionist organization formed in 1896 is named the Order of Ancient Maccabeans , and the Jewish sporting organization Maccabi World Union names itself after them. The revolt

15372-432: The Maccabees did eventually train a standing army similar to the Seleucids, complete with Hellenic-style heavy infantry phalanxes, horse-mounted cavalry, and siege weaponry. However, while manufacturing the mostly wooden sarissa would have been easy for the rebels, their body armor was lower quality. They likely used simple leather armor due to a paucity of metals and craftsmen capable of making Greek-style metal armor. It

15555-488: The Maccabees had lost control of the cities, they seem to have built a rival government in the countryside from 160–153 BCE. The Maccabees avoided direct conflict with the Seleucids, but the internal Jewish civil struggle continued: the rebels harassed, exiled, and killed Jews seen as insufficiently anti-Greek. According to 1 Maccabees, "Thus the sword ceased from Israel. Jonathan settled in Michmash and began to judge

15738-520: The Maccabees in where they could be surrounded and defeated, their own retreat cut off. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, the Seleucids regained their formation and trapped the rebel army with their own left flank. Judas was eventually killed and the remaining Judeans fled. The Seleucids had reasserted their authority in Jerusalem. Bacchides fortified cities across the land, put allied Greek-friendly Jews in command in Jerusalem, and ensured children of leading families were held as hostages as

15921-526: The Maccabees were invoked in the later Middle Ages as holy warriors to emulate during the Crusades . In the 14th century, Judas Maccabeus was included in the Nine Worthies , medieval exemplars of chivalry for knights to model their conduct on. The Jewish downplaying of the Maccabees would be challenged centuries later in the 19th century and early 20th century, as Jewish writers and artists held up

16104-769: The Persians. Alexander's empire was partitioned in 323 BCE after Alexander's death, and after the Wars of the Diadochi , the territory was taken by what would become Ptolemaic Egypt in 302–301 BCE. Another of the Greek successor states, the Seleucid Empire , would conquer Judea from Egypt during a series of campaigns from 235–198 BCE. During both Ptolemaic and Seleucid rule, many Jews learned Koine Greek , especially upper class Jews and Jewish minorities in towns further afield from Jerusalem and more attached to Greek trading networks. Greek philosophical ideas spread through

16287-651: The Phrygian mother goddess persisted. Greek cults attested to include Hermes , Kybele , the Muses and Tyche . Greek art and culture reached Phoenicia by way of commerce before any Greek cities were founded in Syria. but Hellenisation of Syrians was not widespread until it became a Roman province . Under Roman rule in the 1st century BC there is evidence of Hellenistic style funerary architecture, decorative elements, mythological references, and inscriptions. However, there

16470-528: The Roman envoy drew a line in the sand around Antiochus and said: "Before you leave this circle, give me a reply that I can take back to the Roman Senate." This implied Rome would declare war if the King stepped out of the circle without committing to leave Egypt immediately. Weighing his options, Antiochus decided to withdraw. Only then did Popillius agree to shake hands with him. Ancient sources and traditional historiography describe this "Day of Eleusis" as

16653-554: The Seleucid Empire from Greek histories as well as unknown other sources. Josephus seems to be familiar with the work of historians Polybius and Strabo , as well as the mostly lost works of Nicolaus of Damascus . The Book of Daniel appears to have been written during the early stages of the revolt around 165 BCE, and would eventually be included in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. While

16836-483: The Seleucid Empire were not unusual, but most were not successful. The revolt that Antiochus IV ultimately triggered in Judea was unusually well chronicled and preserved, however. According to the book of 2 Maccabees , the crisis had its origins in the years leading up to the Sixth Syrian War . In 171 BC, Antiochus had deposed the High Priest Jason and replaced him with Menelaus , who had offered Antiochus

17019-478: The Seleucid Empire, but continuing civil wars gave the Maccabees considerable autonomy. Jonathan was given official authority to build and maintain an army in exchange for his aid. During this period, the legitimized armies of Jonathan fought in these civil wars and border struggles to maintain the favor of allied Seleucid leaders. The Seleucids did send an army back into Judea during this period, but Jonathan evaded it and refused battle until it eventually returned to

17202-442: The Seleucid heartland. In 143 BCE, regent Diodotus Tryphon , perhaps eager to reassert control over the restive province, invited Jonathan to a conference. The conference was a trap; Jonathan was captured and executed, despite Jonathan's brother Simon raising the requested ransom and sending hostages. This betrayal led to an alliance between the new leader of the Maccabees, Simon Thassi (Hebrew: Simeon), and Demetrius II Nicator ,

17385-419: The Seleucids in 175 BCE, and did not change this policy. He appears to have done little to antagonize the region at first, and the Jews were largely content under his rule. One element that would come to later prominence was Antiochus IV replacing the high priest Onias III with his brother Jason after Jason offered a large sum of money to Antiochus. Jason also sought and received permission to make Jerusalem

17568-519: The Temple of Jerusalem. According to 2 Maccabees, he died from divinely-inflicted disease: But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him with an incurable and invisible blow. As soon as he stopped speaking he was seized with a pain in his bowels, for which there was no relief, and with sharp internal tortures—and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions. Yet he did not in any way stop his insolence, but

17751-404: The Temple. 2 Maccabees also represents an attempt to take the cause of the Maccabees outside Judea, as it encourages Egyptian Jews and other diaspora Jews to celebrate the cleansing of the temple (Hanukkah) and revere Judas Maccabeus. In general, 2 Maccabees portrays the prospects of peace and cooperation more positively than 1 Maccabees. In 1 Maccabees, the only way for the Jews to honorably make

17934-432: The altar. Afterwards, he and his five sons fled to the nearby mountains, which sat directly next to Modein. After Mattathias' death about one year later in 166 BCE, his son Judas Maccabeus (Hebrew: Judah Maccabee) led a band of Jewish dissidents that would eventually absorb other groups opposed to Seleucid rule and grow into an army. While unable to directly strike Seleucid power at first, Judas's forces could maraud

18117-405: The attack and had prepared more thoroughly. He had already built his forces and moved them into position; as soon as the Egyptian forces left Pelusium they were attacked and defeated by Antiochus IV and his Seleucid army. The Seleucids then seized Pelusium, giving them supplies and access to all of Egypt. He advanced into Egypt proper, conquering all but Alexandria and capturing King Ptolemy. This

18300-472: The authority of Enoch , the great-grandfather of Noah . One section, the "Apocalypse of Weeks", is hypothesized to have been written around 167 BCE, just after Antiochus's persecution began. Similar to Daniel, after the Apocalypse of Weeks recounts world history up to the point of the persecution, it predicts that the righteous will eventually triumph, and encourages resistance. Another section of Enoch,

18483-574: The authors did not identify or never identified a sense of 'belonging to Albania or to the Albanian nation'. Many Arvanites find the designation "Albanians" offensive as they identify nationally and ethnically as Greeks and not Albanians. Because of this, relations between Arvanites and other Albanian-speaking populations have diverged over time. During the onset of the Greek war of Independence, Arvanites fought alongside Greek revolutionaries against Muslim Albanians. For example, Arvanites participated in

18666-448: The battles of the rebellion. They may have been supplemented by local Seleucid-allied militias and garrisons, however. The Maccabees started as a guerrilla force that likely used the traditional weapons effective in small unit combat in mountainous terrain: archers , slingers , and light infantry peltasts armed with sword and shield. Later writers would romantically portray the Maccabees as ordinary people fighting as irregulars , but

18849-748: The center, mounted cavalry on the flanks, and mobile skirmishers in the vanguard. The most common infantry weapon used was the sarissa , the Macedonian pike . The sarissa was a powerful weapon; it was held in two hands and had great reach (approximately ~6 meters), making it difficult for opponents to approach a phalanx of sarissa-wielding infantry safely. Hellenistic cavalry also used pikes, albeit slightly shorter ones. The Seleucids also had access to trained war elephants imported from India, who sported natural armor in their thick hides and could terrify opposing soldiers and their horses. Rarely, they also made use of scythed chariots . In terms of army size,

19032-409: The city was attacked twice; new Greek governors were sent; the government seized land and property from Jason's supporters; and the Temple in Jerusalem was made the site of a syncretic Greek-Jewish religious group, polluting it in the eyes of the devout Jews. A new citadel garrisoned by Greeks and pro-Seleucid Jews, the Acra , was built in Jerusalem. Antiochus IV issued decrees officially suppressing

19215-405: The claim that Menelaus stole temple vessels to pay for a bribe to Antiochus is merely aimed at delegitimizing them both. John Ma argues that the Temple was restored in 164 BCE upon petition by Menelaus to Antiochus, not liberated and rededicated by the Maccabees. These views have attracted partial support, but have not become a new consensus themselves. Modern defenders of more direct readings of

19398-416: The contributions of Semitic-speaking and other Near Eastern cultures. The twentieth century witnessed a lively debate over the extent of Hellenisation in the Levant , particularly among the ancient Jews , which has continued until today. Interpretations on the rise of Early Christianity , which was applied most famously by Rudolf Bultmann , used to see Judaism as largely unaffected by Hellenism, and

19581-497: The countryside and attack Hellenized Jews, of whom there were many. The Maccabees destroyed Greek altars in the villages, forcibly circumcised boys, burnt villages, and drove Hellenized Jews off their land. Judas's nickname "Maccabee", now used to describe the Jewish partisans as a whole, is probably taken from the word "hammer" (Aramaic: maqqaba ; Hebrew: makebet ); the term "Maccabee" or "Maccabeus" would later be used as an honorific for Judas's brothers as well. Judas's campaign in

19764-480: The countryside became a full-scale revolt. Maccabean forces employed guerrilla tactics emphasizing speed and mobility. While less trained and under-equipped for pitched battles, the Maccabees could control which battles they took and retreat into the wilderness when threatened. They defeated two minor Seleucid forces at the Battle of the Ascent of Lebonah in 167 BCE and the Battle of Beth Horon in 166 BCE. Toward

19947-543: The countryside. Eventually, internal division among the Seleucids and problems elsewhere in their empire would give the Maccabees their chance for proper independence. In 141 BCE, Simon Thassi succeeded in expelling the Greeks from their citadel in Jerusalem . An alliance with the Roman Republic helped guarantee their independence. Simon would go on to establish an independent Hasmonean kingdom . The revolt had

20130-417: The death of Antiochus IV in Persia, the Seleucid troops returned to Syria. The Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph. They ritually cleansed the Second Temple , reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there; 25 Kislev , the date of the cleansing in the Hebrew calendar, would later become the date when the festival of Hanukkah begins. Regent Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agreed to

20313-724: The defeat at Elasa. In several battles, the rebels may have had numerical superiority to compensate for shortfalls in training and equipment. After Jonathan was legitimized as high priest and governor by the Seleucid rulers, the Hasmoneans had easier access to recruitment; 20,000 soldiers are reported as repulsing Cendebeus in 139 BCE. Much of the combat in the revolt took place in hilly and mountainous terrain, which complicated warfare. Seleucid phalanxes trained for mountain combat would fight at somewhat greater distance from each other compared to packed lowland formations, and used slightly shorter but more maneuverable Roman-style pikes . The most detailed contemporaneous writings that survived were

20496-513: The depictions of Seleucid religious oppression are misleading and likely false. She advances the view that the loss of civil rights by the Jews in 168 BCE was an administrative punishment in the aftermath of local unrest over increased taxes; that the struggle was fundamentally economic, and merely interpreted as religiously driven in retrospect. She also argues that the moralistic slant of the sources means that their depictions of impious acts by Hellenists cannot be trusted as historical. For example,

20679-656: The diminution of the community of Corfiot Italians , which had lived in Corfu since the Middle Ages; by the 1940s, there were only 400 Corfiot Italians left. Arvanites are descendants of Albanian settlers who came to the present southern Greece in the late 13th and early 14th century. With participation in the Greek War of Independence and the Greek Civil War , this has led to increasing assimilation amongst

20862-641: The doctrine of the Trinity, the ecclesiastical conception of Father, Word, and Spirit finds its germ in the different Stoic names of the Divine Unity. Thus Seneca , writing of the supreme Power which shapes the universe, states, 'This Power we sometimes call the All-ruling God, sometimes the incorporeal Wisdom, sometimes the holy Spirit, sometimes Destiny.' The Church had only to reject the last of these terms to arrive at its own acceptable definition of

21045-596: The east, seizing the city of Herat in 167 BC and disrupting the direct trade route to India, effectively splitting the Greek world in two. Antiochus recognized the potential danger in the east but was unwilling to give up control of Judea. He sent a commander named Lysias to deal with the Maccabees , while Antiochus himself led the main Seleucid army against the Parthians. Antiochus had initial success in his eastern campaign, capturing king Artaxias and reconquering

21228-440: The educated upper class, something of an elitist. So stories related by Polybius such as those of Antiochus IV frolicking with commoners at taverns may have soured his reputation in antiquity, even though modern values would find this kind of behavior unobjectionable. The historian Dov Gera writes in defense of Antiochus IV that he was a "talented and accomplished politician" and that "the negative portrait of him painted by Polybius

21411-444: The embassy secured a renewed treaty of friendship and alliance with Rome, greatly helped by the fact Antiochus had come to power with the help of Eumenes II , Rome's principal ally in the region. The guardians of King Ptolemy VI Philometor demanded the return of Coele-Syria in 170 BC, declaring war on the Seleucids on the assumption that the kingdom was divided after Antiochus' murder of his nephew. However, Antiochus had warning of

21594-679: The empire, and Latin was the state language. When the Western Empire fell and the Roman Senate sent the regalia of the Western Emperor to the Eastern Emperor Zeno in AD 476, Constantinople ( Byzantium in Ancient Greek ) was recognised as the seat of the sole Emperor. A process of political Hellenisation began and led, among other reforms, to the declaration of Greek as the official language. In 1909,

21777-428: The end of summer in 165 BCE, Antiochus IV departed for Babylonia in the eastern half of his empire, and left Lysias in charge of the western half as regent. Shortly afterward, the Maccabees won a more substantial victory at the Battle of Emmaus . The factions attempted to negotiate a compromise, but failed; a large Seleucid army was sent to quash the revolt. After the Battle of Beth Zur in 164 BCE as well as news of

21960-475: The final expulsion from the Acra, but also in the earlier countryside struggles against the Tobiad clan of Hellenist-friendly Jews. In general, scholarly opinion is that Hellenistic historians were biased, but also that the bias did not result in excessive distortion or fabrication of facts, and they are mostly reliable sources once the bias is removed. There exist revisionist scholars who are inclined to discount

22143-424: The first century CE, but it is at least possible it was written much earlier, in the Maccabean or Hasmonean era, and then appended onto with first century CE updates. Even if it was entirely written in the first century CE, it was still likely influenced by the experience of Antiochus IV's reign. The Book of Enoch's early chapters were written around 300–200 BCE, but new sections were appended over time invoking

22326-415: The hatred of the Maccabees after reports surfaced that he had blasphemed in the Temple and threatened to burn it. Nicanor took his forces into the field, and fought the Maccabees first at Caphar-salama, and then at the Battle of Adasa in late winter of 161 BCE. Nicanor was killed early in the fight, and the rest of his army fled afterward. Judas had been negotiating with the Roman Republic and extracted

22509-481: The high mountains in a balance, was brought down to earth and carried in a litter, making the power of God manifest to all. And so the ungodly man's body swarmed with worms, and while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away, and because of the stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay. According to the later rabbinical work, the scroll of Antiochus ( Megillat Antiochus ), when Antiochus heard that his army had been defeated in Judea, he boarded

22692-455: The high priest and the other Jews to eat swine's flesh." These decrees were a departure from typical Seleucid practice, which did not attempt to suppress local religions in their empire, though they may be similar to other instances in the Hellenistic era when local polities were punished for revolt against their imperial suzerain by having their autonomy and local laws repealed and local shrines removed from their control. The city of Jerusalem

22875-399: The historian Appian does not say anything particularly bad about Antiochus IV, in contrast. Polybius does not appear to be neutral on this issue, as he was good friends with Antiochus IV's nephew and rival Demetrius I ; the two both spent years in exile in Rome. The Achaean League which Polybius hailed from was also traditionally hostile to the Seleucid Empire. Polybius was, like many of

23058-439: The king's rich food; the prophet Daniel and his companions keep kosher and eat a diet of vegetables and water, yet emerge healthier than all the king's courtiers. The message is clear: defy Antiochus's decree and keep Jewish dietary law. Daniel predicts the king will go insane; Antiochus's title, "Epiphanes" ("Chosen of God"), was mocked by his enemies as "Epimanes" ("Madman"), and he was known to keep odd habits. When Daniel and

23241-431: The king, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting

23424-522: The kingdom's founding to 436 BC, when the Spartocid dynasty replaced the ruling Archaeanactids. The Hellenistic Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms that formed after Alexander's death were particularly relevant to the history of Judaism . Located between the two kingdoms, Judea experienced long periods of warfare and instability. Judea fell under Seleucid control in 198 BC. By the time Antiochus IV Epiphanes became king of Judea in 175 BC, Jerusalem

23607-516: The land the Maccabees held. In 162 BCE, Judas began a long siege of the fortified Acra citadel in Jerusalem, still controlled by Seleucid loyalist Jews and a Greek garrison. Regent Lysias, having dealt with rivals back in Antioch, returned to Judea with an army to aid the Seleucid forces. The Seleucids besieged Beth-Zur and took it without a fight, as it was a fallow year and food supplies were meager. They battled Judas's forces in an open fight at

23790-422: The legitimacy of the Hasmonean rulers. Diaspora Jews celebrated it as well, fostering a sense of Jewish collective identity: it was a liberation day for all Jews, not merely Judean Jews. As a result, Hanukkah outlasted Hasmonean rule, although its importance receded as time passed. Hanukkah would gain new prominence in the 20th century and rekindle interest in its origins in the Maccabees. The Jewish victory at

23973-518: The linguistic minorities resident within the modern Greek state" - the Hellenisation of minority groups in modern Greece. The term Hellenisation (or Hellenization) is also used in the context of Greek opposition to the use of the Slavic dialects of Greece . In 1870, the Greek government abolished all Italian schools in the Ionian islands , which had been annexed to Greece six years earlier. That led to

24156-427: The more radical Maccabees, not content with merely reestablishing Jewish practices under Seleucid rule, continued to fight, pushing for a more direct break with the Seleucids. Judas Maccabeus died in 160 BCE at the Battle of Elasa against the Greek general Bacchides , and the Seleucids reestablished direct control for a time, but remnants of the Maccabees under Judas's brother Jonathan Apphus continued to resist from

24339-405: The next generation. Simon's third son, John Hyrcanus , became High Priest of Israel. King Antiochus VII would personally invade and besiege Jerusalem in 134 BCE, but after Hyrcanus paid a ransom and ceded the cities of Joppa and Gazara, the Seleucids left peacefully. The conflict ceased, and Hyrcanus and Antiochus VII joined themselves in an alliance, with Antiochus making a respectful donation of

24522-436: The observant would prosper, and disobedience would result in disaster. The persecution of Antiochus IV directly contradicted this teaching: for the first time, Jews were suffering precisely because they refused to violate Jewish law, and thus the most devout and observant Jews were the ones suffering the most. This resulted in literature suggesting that those who suffered in their earthly life would be rewarded afterward, such as

24705-506: The only known Hellenistic-style structures in central and eastern Anatolia ). When it was advantageous to do so, places like Side and Aspendos invented Greek-themed origin myths; an inscription published in SEG shows that in the 4th century BC Aspendos claimed ties to Argos , similar to Nikokreon of Cyprus who also claimed Argive lineage. (Argos was home to the Kings of Macedon .) Like

24888-438: The people from future killings. Bacchides advanced toward Jerusalem, while Judas encamped on the rough terrain at Elasa to intercept the Seleucid army. Judas opted to attack the right flank of the Seleucid army hoping to kill the commander, similar to the victory over Nicanor at Adasa. The elite horsemen on the right retreated, and the rebels pursued. This may have been a tactic from Bacchides, however, to feign weakness and draw

25071-473: The people; and he destroyed the godless out of Israel." The Maccabees were handed an opportunity as the Seleucids broke into infighting in a series of civil wars, the Seleucid Dynastic Wars . The Seleucid rival claimants to the throne needed all their troops elsewhere, and also wished to deny possible allies to other claimants, thus giving the Maccabees leverage. In 153–152 BCE, a deal

25254-489: The position of high priest. Jason, resentful, turned against Antiochus IV; additionally, a rumor spread that Menelaus had sold golden temple artifacts to help pay for the bribe, leading to unhappiness, especially among the city council Jason had established. This conflict was largely political rather than cultural; all sides, at this point, were "Hellenized", content with Seleucid rule, and primarily divided over Menelaus's alleged corruption and sacrilege. In 170–168 BCE,

25437-623: The pro-Seleucid forces were allowed to take control again. As such, they focused on being able to win open battles, with additional trained heavy infantry. A civil struggle of low-level violence, reprisals, and murders arose in the countryside, especially in more distant areas where Jewish people were in the minority. Judas launched expeditions to these regions outlying Judea to fight non-Jewish Idumeans, Ammonites, and Galileans. He recruited devout Jews and sent them into Judea to concentrate his allies where they could be protected, although this influx of refugees would soon create food scarcity issues in

25620-624: The public bathhouses and applying for municipal offices, led some of his contemporaries to call him Epimanes (Ἐπιμανής, Epimanḗs , "The Mad"), a wordplay on his title Epiphanes. Antiochus, born around 215 BC, was a son of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great . As a potential successor to the throne, he became a political hostage of the Roman Republic under the terms of the Treaty of Apamea , concluded in 188 BC. After his older brother Seleucus IV Philopator succeeded their father onto

25803-417: The public bath houses and applying for municipal offices led his detractors to call him Epimanes (Ἐπιμανής, Epimanḗs , "The Mad"), a word play on his title Epiphanes ("God Manifest"). After his ascension Antiochus took care to maintain good relations with the Roman Republic, sending an embassy to Rome in 173 BC with a part of the unpaid indemnity still owed from the 188 BC Treaty of Apamea . While there

25986-547: The rabbis, and elements that violated the halakha and midrash were prohibited. One example is the elimination of some aspects of Hellenistic banquets, such as the practice of offering libations to the gods, while incorporating certain elements that gave the meals a more Jewish character. Discussion of Scripture , the singing of sacred songs and attendance of students of the Torah were encouraged. One detailed account of Jewish-style Hellenistic banquets comes from Ben Sira . There

26169-491: The rebels and confirm the repeal of the anti-Jewish decrees; the rebels, in return, abandoned their siege of the Seleucid Acra. Lysias and his army then returned to Antioch, with the province officially at peace, but neither the Hellenized Jews nor the Maccabees laid down their arms. At some point from 163–162 BCE, Lysias ordered the execution of despised High Priest Menelaus as another gesture of reconciliation to

26352-440: The reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis, to which he offered a large number of marble columns as dedication to the goddess. It was in the towns that Hellenisation made its greatest progress, with the process often being synonymous with urbanisation. Hellenisation reached Pisidia and Lycia sometime in the 4th century BC, but the interior remained largely unaffected for several more centuries until it came under Roman rule in

26535-492: The regency that would take power in the wake of the king's death, assuming that they would allow him to stay in power rather than invite further conflict during a delicate political moment. But Antiochus was still alive, and returned from Egypt enraged by the reverse he had suffered at the hands of the Romans and by the Jews' rejection of his chosen candidate for High Priest; he attacked Jerusalem and restored Menelaus, then executed many Jews. When these happenings were reported to

26718-594: The region as well. A Greek translation of the scriptures, the Septuagint , was also created during the third century BCE. Many Jews adopted dual names with both a Greek name and a Hebrew name, such as Jason and Joshua. Still, many Jews continued to speak the Aramaic language , the language that descended from what was spoken during the Babylonian exile. In general, the ruling Greek policy during this time period

26901-609: The reign of the Indo-Greek Kingdom . The periodisation of the Hellenistic Age , between the conquests of Alexander the Great up to Octavian ' s victory at the Battle of Actium , has been attributed to the 19th-century historian J. G. Droysen . According to this model the spread of Greek culture during this period made the rise of Christianity possible. Later, in the 20th century, scholars questioned this 19th-century paradigm for failing to account for

27084-489: The reliability of the primary histories more aggressively, however. Daniel R. Schwartz argues that Antiochus IV's initial attacks on Jerusalem from 168–167 BCE were not out of pure malice, as 1 Maccabees depicts, or a misunderstanding as 2 Maccabees depicts (and most scholars accept), but rather suppressing an authentic rebellion whose members were lost to history, as the Hasmoneans wished to show only themselves as capable of bringing victory. Sylvie Honigman argues that

27267-467: The respected historian Polybius reports that in 165 BCE, a military parade near the Seleucid capital Antioch held by Antiochus IV consisted of 41,000 foot soldiers and 4,500 cavalrymen. These soldiers were preparing to fight in an expedition to the east, not in Judea, but give a rough estimate to the total size of the Seleucid forces in the Western part of their empire capable of being deployed wherever

27450-410: The revisionist view, the heroes and villains were both Jews: a majority of the Jews cautiously supported Hellenizing High Priest Menelaus; Antiochus IV's edicts only came about due to pressure from Hellenist Jews; and the revolt was best understood as a civil war between traditionalist Jews in the countryside and Hellenized Jews in the cities, with only occasional Seleucid intervention. Elias Bickerman

27633-484: The revolt also led to the writing of the Book of Daniel , where a villain called the "King of the North" is generally considered to be a reference to Antiochus IV. The portrayal of Antiochus there attacking the holy city of Jerusalem but eventually meeting his end would influence later Christian depictions of the Antichrist . King Mithridates I of Parthia took advantage of Antiochus' western problems and attacked from

27816-414: The ruler needed them, not including local auxiliaries and garrisons. Antiochus IV appears to have augmented the size of his army by hiring additional mercenaries , at cost to the Seleucid treasury. Most of the forces at that parade would be deployed on matters more important to the Seleucid leadership than suppressing the Judean rebellion, however, and as such only a portion of them likely participated in

27999-561: The ruling dynasty there traced their origins to Mopsus. Mopsus, whose name is also attested to in Hittite documents, may originally have been an Anatolian figure that became part of the cultural traditions of Pamphylia's early Greek settlers. Attested to in Linear B texts, he is given a Greek genealogy as a descendant of Manto and Apollo . For centuries the indigenous population exerted considerable influence on Greek settlers, but after

28182-401: The setting of the book is 400 years earlier in Babylon, the book is a literary response to the situation in Judea during the revolt ( Sitz im Leben ); the writer chose to move the setting either for esoteric reasons or to evade scrutiny from would-be censors. It urges its readers to remain steadfast in the face of persecution. For example, Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar orders his court to eat

28365-454: The siege had cost him, and he tried to force the Jews to violate their traditional codes of practice by leaving their infant sons uncircumcised and sacrificing pigs on the altar. These orders were universally ignored, and Antiochus had the most prominent recusants butchered. In the aftermath of Antiochus IV issuing his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice, a campaign of land confiscations paired with shrine and altar-building took place in

28548-485: The smaller towns of Jewish Palestine. Scholars have continued to nuance Hengel's views, but almost all believe that strong Hellenistic influences were throughout the Levant, even among the conservative Jewish communities, which were the most nationalistic. In his introduction to the 1964 book Meditations , Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth discussed the profound influence of Stoic philosophy on Christianity: Again in

28731-415: The sources cite that evidence of such an unrecorded popular rebellion is thin-to-nonexistent. Assuming that Antiochus IV would not have started an ethno-religious persecution for irrational reasons is an ahistorical position in this criticism, as many leaders both ancient and modern clearly were motivated by religious concerns. Later scholars and archaeologists have found and preserved various artifacts from

28914-485: The spread of Hellenistic culture, religion, and ideas in Anatolia was a peaceful process. Worship of the Greek pantheon of gods was practiced in Lydia. Lydian king Croesus often invited the wisest Greek philosophers, orators and statesmen to attend his court. Croesus himself often consulted the famous oracle at Delphi-bestowing many gifts and offerings to this and other religious sites for example. He provided patronage for

29097-420: The story's heroine, also bears the feminine form of the name "Judas". The Testament of Moses, similar to the Book of Daniel, provides a witness to Jewish attitudes leading up to the revolt: it describes persecution, denounces impious leaders and priests as collaborators, praises the virtues of martyrdom, and predicts God's retribution upon the oppressors. The Testament is usually considered to have been written in

29280-655: The three most prominent cities of Hellenistic Pisidia). The site is evidence of "urban organisation" that predates the Greek polis by 500 years. Based on Panemoteichos I and other Iron Age sites, including the Phrygian Midas şehri and the Cappadocian fortification of Kerkenes , experts believe that "behind the Greek influence that shaped the Hellenistic Pisidian communities there lay a tangible and important Anatolian tradition." According to

29463-607: The throne in 187 BC, Antiochus was exchanged for his nephew Demetrius , the son and heir of Seleucus. After this Antiochus lived in Athens and was there when his brother was assassinated in 175 BC by the government minister Heliodorus . Heliodorus proclaimed himself regent afterward, essentially giving himself control of the government. This arrangement did not last long. With the help of king Eumenes II of Pergamum, Antiochus IV traveled from Athens through Asia Minor and reached Syria by November 175 BC. Seleucus' legitimate heir Demetrius

29646-452: The time period and analyzed them, which have informed historians on the plausibility of various elements in the books. For recent examples, a stele (the " Helidorus stele ") was discovered and deciphered in 2007 that dated from around 178 BCE, and gives insight to Seleucid government appointments and policy in the era immediately preceding the revolt. The Givati Parking Lot dig in Jerusalem from 2007–2015 has found possible evidence of

29829-476: The true numbers were larger and possibly as many as 22,000 soldiers, and the author downplayed their strength in an attempt to explain the defeat. The Seleucid army marched through Judea after carrying out a massacre in the Galilee . This tactic would force Judas to respond in open battle, lest his reputation be damaged by inaction and Alcimus's faction gain strength by claiming he was better positioned to protect

30012-406: The western part of the empire. Bacchides led an army of 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry into Judea on a second expedition intending to reconquer the restive province before it grew too used to autonomy. The size of the rebel army facing them is disputed; 1 Maccabees implausibly claims that Judas's army at Elasa was tiny, with 3,000 men of which only 800–1,000 would fight. Historians suspect

30195-405: The writings of Arrian the population of Side , who traced their origins to Aeolian Cyme , had forgotten the Greek language by the time Alexander arrived at the city in 334 BC. There are coins and stone inscriptions that attest to a unique script from the region but the language has only been partially deciphered. The latest dateable coins found at the Phrygian capital of Gordion are from

30378-420: Was accepted into Jerusalem, and proved more effective at rallying moderate Hellenists to the pro-Seleucid faction than Menelaus had been. Still, violent tensions between the Maccabees and the Hellenized Jews continued. Bacchides returned to Syria, and a new general, Nicanor , was appointed military governor of Judea. A truce was briefly made between Nicanor and the Maccabees, but was soon broken. Nicanor gained

30561-472: Was already somewhat Hellenized. In 170 BC, both claimants to the High Priesthood, Jason and Menelaus , bore Greek names. Jason had established institutions of Greek education and in later years Jewish culture started to be suppressed including forbidding circumcision and observance of the Sabbath . Hellenization of members of the Jewish elite included names and clothes, but other customs were adapted by

30744-648: Was commonly spoken. The countryside, on the other hand, was largely unaffected, with most of its inhabitants speaking Syriac and clinging to their native traditions. By itself, archaeological evidence only gives researchers an incomplete picture of Hellenization; it is often not possible to state with certainty whether particular archaeological findings belonged to Greeks, Hellenized indigenous peoples, indigenous people who simply owned Greek-style objects or some combination of these groups. Thus, literary sources are also used to help researchers interpret archaeological findings. Greek cultural influence spread into Anatolia in

30927-598: Was driven more by pragmatics such as the need to gather income from Judea. Antiochus was the first Seleucid king to use divine epithets on coins, perhaps inspired by the Bactrian Hellenistic kings who had earlier done so, or else building on the ruler cult that his father Antiochus the Great had codified within the Seleucid Empire. These epithets included Θεὸς Ἐπιφανής "manifest god", and, after his defeat of Egypt, Νικηφόρος "bringer of victory". The most important ancient non-Jewish source on Antiochus IV

31110-422: Was even more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against the Jews, and giving orders to drive even faster. And so it came about that he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body. Thus he who only a little while before had thought in his superhuman arrogance that he could command the waves of the sea, and had imagined that he could weigh

31293-607: Was founded by Miletus around 600 BC on a site with good terrain for a defensive acropolis . By the time the Cimmerian colonies had organised into the Bosporan Kingdom much of the local native population had been Hellenized. Most scholars date the establishment of the kingdom to 480 BC, when the Archaeanactid dynasty assumed control of Panticapaeum, but classical archaeologist Gocha R. Tsetskhladze has dated

31476-532: Was granted the title of both High Priest and strategos by Alexander, essentially acknowledging that the Maccabee faction was a more relevant ally to would-be Seleucid leaders than the Hellenist faction. Jonathan's forces fought against Demetrius I, who would die in battle in 150 BCE. From 152–141 BCE, the rebels achieved a state of informal autonomy akin to a suzerain . The land was de jure part of

31659-407: Was influenced by political considerations of his friends... and should not be trusted." There is also some evidence on this: historian Nick Sekunda notes that Alexander Balas successfully challenged King Demetrius for leadership of the Seleucid Empire decades later in 152 BC while claiming to be an unknown son of Antiochus IV. This claim appears to have been useful to him, suggesting Antiochus IV

31842-447: Was made the site of a syncretic Pagan-Jewish cult. This repression triggered exactly the revolt that Antiochus IV had feared, with a group of Jewish fighters led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and his family rebelling in 167 BCE and seeking independence. The rebels as a whole would come to be known as the Maccabees, and their actions would be chronicled later in the books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees . The rebellion started as

32025-565: Was partially achieved because Rome (Ptolemaic Egypt's traditional ally) was embroiled in the Third Macedonian War and was not willing to become involved elsewhere. To avoid alarming Rome, Antiochus allowed Ptolemy VI to continue ruling as a puppet king from Memphis. Upon Antiochus' withdrawal, the city of Alexandria chose a new king, one of Ptolemy's brothers, also named Ptolemy (VIII Euergetes) . The Ptolemy brothers reconciled and agreed to rule Egypt jointly instead of fighting

32208-416: Was remembered fondly by at least some. Even 1 Maccabees, an extremely hostile source, has Antiochus IV wonder on his deathbed why calamity has struck him when he was "well-loved in the day of my power". [REDACTED] Media related to Antiochus IV at Wikimedia Commons Hellenization Hellenization is the adoption of Greek culture , religion , language , and identity by non-Greeks. In

32391-470: Was sacked a second time in the disorder. Antiochus established a military Greek citadel called the Acra in Jerusalem to serve as a stronghold for Hellenized Jews and a Greek military garrison. This happened from 168–167 BC. Such steps triggered a revolt against his rule, known as the Maccabean Revolt . Scholars of Second Temple Judaism therefore sometimes refer to Antiochus' reign as

32574-538: Was sporadic at best and not on the same scale as the later Greek colonization of Anatolia. These initial posts in the 2nd millenium BCE, however, were less colonies in the traditional sense and more akin to the factories of the Age of Discovery ; that is, that they were trading posts initially established to conduct trade with Anatolian locals. By the beginning of the Archaic period , settlement of Anatolia had begun to grow at

32757-467: Was still a hostage in Rome, so Antiochus seized the throne for himself, proclaiming himself co-regent with another son of Seleucus, an infant named Antiochus . (Antiochus, son of Seleucus IV would later die in 170 BC, possibly murdered by Antiochus IV). Antiochus IV cultivated a reputation as an extravagant and generous ruler. He scattered money to common people in the streets of Antioch; gave unexpected gifts to people he did not know; contributed money to

32940-436: Was struck between Jonathan and Demetrius I. King Demetrius was fending off a challenge from Alexander Balas , and agreed to withdraw Seleucid forces from the fortified towns and garrisons in Judea, barring Beth-Zur and Jerusalem. The hostages were also released. Seleucid control over Judea was weakened, and then weakened further; Jonathan promptly betrayed Demetrius I after Alexander Balas offered an even better deal. Jonathan

33123-405: Was to let Jews manage their own affairs and not interfere overtly with religious matters. Greek authors in the third century BCE who wrote about Judaism did so mostly positively. Cultural change did happen, but was largely driven by Jews themselves inspired by ideas from abroad; Greek rulers did not undertake explicit programs of forced Hellenization . Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to the throne of

33306-421: Was too riven with internal unrest to stop this, and Ptolemaic Egypt maintained largely friendly relations. The Hasmonean court at Jerusalem would not make a sharp break from Hellenic culture and language, and continued with a blend of Jewish traditions and Greek ones. They continued to be known by Greek names, would use both Hebrew and Greek on their coinage, and hired Greek mercenaries, but also restored Judaism to

33489-496: Was whoever held the High Priest position after Alcimus's death in 159 BCE, perhaps a Zadokite. If this person even existed, they lost their position after Jonathan Apphus, backed by his Maccabee army and his new alliance with Seleucid royal claimant Alexander Balas, took over the High Priest position in 152 BCE. Thus, the Wicked Priest would be Jonathan, and the Qumran community of the era would have consisted of religious opposition to

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