Antiochus's lavish § 203. Early Promises and Later Demands of Antiochus Sidetes, History of the Hasmoneans I Mac. 151-37 I Mac. 15 1And Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea to Simon the priest and governor of the Jews, and to all prom- the nation; 2and their contents were as follows: ises His of Try and Dor King Antiochus to Simon the chief priest and governor, and to the Jewish nation, greeting. 3Since certain infamous fellows have made themselves masters of the kingdom of our fathers, my purpose is to claim the kingdom that I may restore it to its former conditions; and moreover I have raised a multitude of troops, and have prepared warships. 4And I am planning to land in the country that I may punish those who have destroyed our country and those who have made many cities in the kingdom desolate. 5Now, therefore, I confirm to you all the taxes which the kings who were before me remitted to you and whatever gifts beside they remitted to you, and I give you leave to coin money for your country with your own stamp. 7And Jerusalem and the sanctuary shall be free, and all the arms which you have prepared, and the strongholds which you have built, and which you hold in your possession, let them remain yours. And everything due to the kinga and the things that shall be due the king from now and for evermore, let them be remitted to you. Moreover, when we shall have established our kingdom, we will bestow great honor upon you and your nation and the temple, so that your glory shall be made manifest in all the earth. 10In the one hundred and seventy-fourth year, Antiochus went forth into pursuit the land of his fathers, and all the forces came together to him, so that there phon were few men with Tryphon. 11Then King Antiochus pursued him, and siege of he came, as he fled, to Dor, which is on the sea, 12for he knew that troubles had come upon him all at once and that his forces had forsaken him. 13Then Antiochus laid siege to Dor, and with him were a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and eight thousand cavalry. 14And he surrounded the city, and the ships joined in the attack from the sea, and he harassed the city by land and sea and allowed no one to go out or in. Rome's 15Then Numenius and his companions came from Rome, having letters to protec- the kings and to the countries, in which were written these things: tion of the Jews 16 Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greeting. 17The ambassadors of the Jews came to us as our friends and confederates, to renew the old treaty of alliance, having been sent from Simon the high priest and from the people of the Jews. 18Moreover they brought a shield of gold weighing a thousands minas. 19It pleased us therefore to write to the kings and to the countries, that they should not seek their hurt, nor fight against them and their cities and their country, nor be allied with those who fight against them. 20 Moreover it seemed good to us to receive the shield from them. 21If therefore any seditious fellows have fled from their country to you, § 203 Antiochus VII Sidetes was the son of Demetrius I and the brother of Demetrius II, who was held as captive by the Parthians. a 15 The reference is probably to the contributions of soldiers and support in time of war. 1510 138 B.C. 1518 So 1424 Gk.A, five thousand. History of the Hasmoneans give them up to Simon the high priest that he may take vengeance on them according to their law. 22 And the same things he wrote to Demetrius the king, to Attalus, 23to Arathes, to Arsaces, and to all the countries, to Sampsames, to the Spartans, to Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene. 24 And the copy of them they sent in writing to Simon the high priest." t chus's Simon 25 And Antiochus the king besieged Dor the second day, continually bring- Antioing his forces closer to it and making engines of war, he shut up Tryphon demand from going in or out. 26Then Simon sent him two thousand picked men that to fight on his side and silver and gold and instruments of war in abundance. pay a huge 27 But he would not accept them, and he broke all the treaties which he had tribute made with him before and was estranged from him. 28 And he sent to him Athenobius, one of his Friends to communicate with him, saying, You hold possession of Joppa and Gazara and the citadel that is in Jerusalem, cities of my kingdom. 29You have laid waste their territories, and have done great harm in the land and gained the mastery of many places in my kingdom. 30Now therefore, give up the cities which you have taken and the tributes of the places of which you have gained the mastery outside of the borders of Judea, 31or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver, and for the harm that you have done and the tributes of the cities, another five hundred talents, or else we will come and conquer you. reply 32 And when Athenobius the king's Friend came to Jerusalem and saw the Simon's splendor of Simon, and the cupboard of gold and silver vessels, and his great attendance, he was amazed. Then he reported to him the king's words. 33 And Simon replied to him, We have neither taken other men's land, nor have we possession of that which belongs to others, but of the inheritance of our fathers, which was in the possession of our enemies wrongfully for a certain time. 34Now we, having opportunity, hold fast the inheritance of our fathers. 35 And with regard to your demand about Joppa and Gazara, they did great harm among the people throughout our country. We will give a hundred talents for them. Antio And he answered him not a word, 36but returned in a rage to the king, Rage of and reported to him these words, and the splendor of Simon and all that he chus had seen, and the king was very angry. 37 And Tryphon, embarking on board a ship, fled to Orthosia. § 204. Defeat of the Syrian Army, I Mac. 1538–1610 History of the Hasmoneans of the I Mac. 15 38Then the king appointed Cendebaeus commander-in-chief Attacks of the sea-coast, and gave him forces of infantry and cavalry, 39and com- Syrian manded him to encamp before Judea, and ordered him to fortify Kidron com tions. 1523 This list includes states, islands, and cities. u 1515-24 These verses break the close connection between 14 and 25 and may be later inser mand er John's victory over Syrian forces History of the Hasmoneans and to make the gates strong, and to fight against the people; but the king pursued Tryphon. 40And Cendebaeus came to Jamnia and began to irritate the people, and to invade Judea and to take the people captive and to slay them. 41And he fortified Kidron, and placed horsemen and infantry there in order that, issuing out, they might make sallies upon the highways of Judea, as the king commanded him. 16 1Then John went up from Gazara and told Simon his father what Cendebaeus was doing. 2And Simon called his two eldest sons, Judas and the John, and said to them, I and my brothers and my father's house have fought the battles of Israel from our youth, even to this day and we have repeatedly succeeded in delivering Israel. 3But now I am old, while you, by the mercy of God, are in the prime of life. Take my brother's place and mine and go forth and fight for our nation, and may the help which is from Heaven be with you. And he chose out of the country twenty thousand infantry and cavalry, and they went against Cendebaeus, passing the night at Modein. 5And rising up in the morning, they went into the plain and there a great host came to meet them of footmen and horsemen. And there was a brook between them. 6Then he with his people encamped directly opposite them. And when he saw that the people were afraid to cross the brook, he passed over first, and the men saw him and passed over after him. 7Then he divided the people, with the horsemen in the midst of the footmen. The enemies' horsemen, however, were very numerous. And they blew a signal blast with the trumpets, and Cendebaeus and his army were put to flight, and there fell many of them mortally wounded, but those who were left fled to the stronghold. That was the time when Judas, John's brother, was wounded. But John pursued them until he came to the Kidron which Cendebaeus had fortified. 10Now they fled to the towers which are in the fields of Azotus, and he burned it," and there fell of them about one thousand men. And he returned into Judea with success. Ptol emy's das plot $ 205. The Treacherous Murder of Simon, I Mac. 1611-24 History of the Hasmoneans I Mac. 16 11Now Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed commander over the plain of Jericho. He possessed much silver and gold, 12for tardly he was the high priest's son-in-law. 13Then he grew ambitious and determined to make himself master of the country. So he formed treacherous plots against Simon and his sons, to make away with them. 14Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country and providing for their good management. And he went down to Jericho with Mattathias and Judas his sons, in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, a in the eleventh month, that is the month Sebat. 15Then the son of Abubus received them 1610 So Gk. B. and A. Other Gk. versions, two thousand; Syr. and Luc., three thousand. a 1614 135 B.C. History of the Hasmoneans treacherously in a little stronghold that is called Dok,b which he had built, and made them a great banquet, and his men were there. 16And when Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his men rose up and took their weapons, and rushing in upon Simon in the banquet hall, they slew him and his two sons, and some of his servants. 17Thus he committed a great act of treachery and paid back evil for good. failure John 18Then Ptolemy wrote what had happened, and asked the king to send His forces to aid him, and promised to hand over to him their country and the to murcities. 19 And he sent others to Gazara to make away with John. And to der the officers commanding thousands he sent letters to come to him, that he Hyrcamight give them silver and gold and gifts. 20And others he sent to take nus possession of Jerusalem and the temple-mount. 21 But some ran before to Gazara and told John that his father and brothers had perished, and they said, He has sent to slay you too. 22And when he heard, he was dumb with amazement, but he seized the men who came to destroy him, and slew them, for he saw that they were seeking to destroy him. 23 Now the rest of the acts of John, and the account of his wars, and of the Record d of valiant deeds which he did, and of the building of the walls which he rebuilt,d John's and of his achievements, 24behold, they are recorded in the chronicles of his achievehigh priesthood, from the time that he was made high priest after his father. ments b 1615 A little northwest of Jericho. e 1617 Gk.A, impiety. d 1623 Cf. Jos. Ant. XIII, 83. The reference is to the rebuilding of the wall destroyed by Antiochus Sidetes in 134 B.C. |