History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich
founded his hopes of ultimate success on the devotion he showed to the Syrian court, more than on his popularity among the people. Therefore he hurried to Antiochia with fresh accusations against the Hasmonæans. Demetrius thought he could easily cope with the rebellion of his Judæan subjects. He sent Nicanor, one of the warriors who had escaped with him from Rome, to Judæa, commanding him to treat the insurgents with the utmost harshness. This leader, too, considered it necessary to proceed gently at first, if only to gain time until the troops placed at his disposal arrived. It is said that having heard of the valour and heroism of the great Judæan commander, he desired to effect a reconciliation between Judas and the king, and to this end offered to send three confidential envoys to confer with Maccabæus. The proposals of Posidonius, Theodotus, and Mattathias being acceptable to Judas and his adherents, an interview took place between him and Nicanor. The latter was so enchanted with the Judæan hero, that he advised him after the conclusion of peace to take a wife, and bring an heroic race into the world. Alcimus, however, put an end to this good understanding by informing the king that Nicanor was playing a false part, that he favoured his enemy Judas, and contemplated raising him to the office of high-priest. Hereupon the king sent strict orders to Nicanor to cease all negotiations, and to send Judas in chains to Antiochia.
Meanwhile Judas, who had been cautioned not to trust Nicanor, had retreated to his mountain fastnesses, whither he was followed by Nicanor and his army. A battle ensued at Caphar-Salama, on the confines of Samaria, where Nicanor's army suffered defeat, and was driven back to the fortress of the Acra. Enraged at this repulse, the Syrian renewed hostilities with untiring energy, his chief object being to make Judas prisoner.
He repaired to the Mount of the Sanctuary, there to make known his orders that the hero should be delivered up to him. In vain did the Council come forth to meet him, assuring him of their devotion to the king, for whose welfare they offered up daily sacrifices; he treated them all with rough contempt, and swore that he would burn the Temple down, if Judas were not delivered into his hands.
In order to induce the Judæans to surrender him, Nicanor ordered that the most respected man in Jerusalem, Ragesh, or Razis, called by general consent "Father of the Judæans," should be seized and kept as a hostage, but Ragesh, it is said, committed suicide upon the approach of his intended gaoler. Nicanor was now determined to vanquish the Maccabees. He marched out from Jerusalem at the head of an immense army, pitching his camp at Bethhoron, whilst Judas, surrounded by 3,000 of his bravest followers, took up his post at Adarsa. Judæan valour was once more triumphant over the superior numbers of the Syrians. Nicanor fell on the battle-field, and his army fled in utter confusion. The inhabitants of the towns and villages poured forth in pursuit of the fugitive Syrians, and cut off their retreat to Gazara, so that not a single man reached that town. The battle of Adarsa (160) was of so decisive a character that its anniversary was afterwards celebrated under the name of the day of Nicanor. The head and one of the arms of the Syrian commander were severed from the body, and hung as trophies on the walls of Jerusalem. Judas and the Hasmonæans were once more masters of Jerusalem, since Alcimus had withdrawn even before the battle.
At this juncture, Judas, foreseeing that Demetrius would avenge the destruction of his army, and feeling the insecurity of his position, took a step of doubtful wisdom—that of making overtures to the all-powerful State of Rome. He entrusted two of his countrymen with the important mission—Eupolemus, the son of Johanan, of priestly family, and Jason, the son of Eleazar. They were both proficient in the Greek tongue. But hardly had they reached the end of their journey before Judas was obliged once more to draw his sword.
Demetrius, upon hearing of Nicanor's defeat, had sent an immense army, commanded by the merciless Bacchides, to Judæa. This general marched through Galilee, killed all the Judæans whom he met on his way, and in the spring-time of the year encamped before Jerusalem. Judas had again been obliged to leave the capital, because, stripped as she was of her walls, she afforded no shelter. He issued a proclamation to the men and youths of Judæa to come forward and fight for their fatherland, their Law, and their freedom, but only 3,000 responded to the call. Led by Judas, these troops marched southward, encamping near Eleasa, because the mountains in the north were no longer safe. Bacchides followed the Judæan army with 20,000 foot and 2,000 mounted soldiers, taking up his position at Birath, near Bethlehem. Confronted with this vast host, the Judæan warriors lost heart. They declined to give battle for the moment, but insisted upon dispersing to await reinforcements. In vain did Judas employ all his eloquence to urge steadfastness upon them. The greater number deserted, leaving only eight hundred men to support Judas. Selecting the most valiant of this little band, he successfully attacked the right wing of Bacchides, and drove the enemy to the confines of Ashdod. But the small troop of Judæan soldiers left behind, unable to withstand the desperate onslaught of the left wing of the Syrian army, was routed, and when Judas returned from the pursuit he was obliged to resume battle with the latter. He and his band of picked men performed wonders of bravery. On both sides fell the dead and wounded, and the battle lasted from morning till evening. But the Judæan army became smaller and smaller, and its survivors were entirely surrounded by the enemy. At last even Judas Maccabæus fell, sword in hand. The few remaining soldiers fled from the battle-field, the Maccabæan brothers being fortunate enough to save the body of their heroic commander from disgrace.
The defeat at Eleasa or Birath (160) seemed to have rendered ineffectual all the previous Jewish victories. The lion-hearted troop of Hasmonæans were dispersed. Alcimus once more took possession of the Temple and the Holy City, and could gloat over his antagonists.
But the long years of Maccabæan warfare had not been in vain. They had roused the nation from its torpor, and had rejuvenated it. The blood of martyrs, it is said, heals wounds. In truth, all old wounds were healed by this free-will sacrifice of so many lives. So far as the world at large was concerned, the stigma that had been fastened upon the Judæan name had vanished. The contemptuous Greeks, who had felt the force of Judas's arm, no longer derided the Judæan soldiers, and the Judæans were no longer required to prove their equality with the Greeks by joining in the Olympian games. The Judæans themselves had learnt to know their own prowess and their mission; they had proved themselves to be God's people, destined to guard His law and His teaching, and capable of defending those precious gifts. Self-devotion, taught by the prophet Elijah to a few disciples, and inculcated by the second Isaiah with fiery eloquence, had become, through the action of the Maccabæan warriors and martyrs, the recognised duty of the whole nation.
Judas Maccabæus had breathed out his heroic soul on the battle-field of Eleasa. The whole nation mourned for him, and justly, for it had become orphaned by his loss.
The sublime enthusiasm that had led to the valiant deeds of the Maccabees, that had moved singers to extol the Lord "in new songs," could not be of lasting duration. It was the result of a noble excitement, and a reaction had to follow. An entire nation, bred to farming and cattle-breeding, cannot continue in arms from year's end to year's end. Besides, the principal cause which had prompted a warlike rising had ceased to exist. It was no longer demanded of them to deny the God of Israel, or to sacrifice to Jupiter. One of the terms of the truce that Judas Maccabæus had concluded with the young king Antiochus Eupator, or with his general-guardian Lysias, was the religious freedom of the Judæans. Demetrius I. did not interfere with this concession; in the Temple at Jerusalem, the sacrifices were offered up according to law, and although the high-priest, Jakim or Alcimus, was not a favourite of the people, yet, unlike his predecessor Menelaus, he came of priestly descent.
It is true, the party of the Hellenists still held the fortress Acra in Jerusalem, whence they menaced the faithful with the destruction of their city and the violation of their Temple. The conqueror, Bacchides, after the death of Judas, had made them masters of the land, and they were resolved to use their authority in order to bring about the downfall of the pious Judæans. But such proceedings, well as they may be adapted to rouse noble natures to active measures, do not seem important enough to warrant a short-sighted, and, above all things, peace-loving people to take any decided steps against their enemy, and to hazard their own safety and that of their families, unless a voice of authority calls upon them to act.
But after the death of Judas Maccabæus there was no one left to claim such authority.
Although the Hasmonæan brothers