less than 8000 slain on the spot. Judas, after returning from the pursuit of the enemy, set his brethren at liberty, and then marched his army from place to place where he understood that a great number of Jews were imprisoned, whom he released, and treated their persecutors in the same manner he had done those of Bassora. Having thus reduced the principal places in Gilead, and rescued a great number of his brethren, who must otherwise have falled victims to the malice and rage of the enemy, he returned with his victorious army in triumph to Jerusalem.

When Judas and his brother Jonathan arrived at Jerusalem, they received a very disagreeable piece of intelligence, which arose from the misconduct of Joseph, who had been left there with the remainder of the army to secure the place. Hearing of the great successes of his brothers in Gilead, and animated thereat, he, contrary to the orders that had been given him, led forth his forces on an ill-projected expedition against Jamnia, a sea-port on the Mediterranean, thinking to take the place. But Gorgias, who commanded in those parts for the king of Syria, and who had under him a very considerable army, attacked Joseph so forcibly that his troops were thrown into the utmost disorder, two thousand were killed on the spot, and he, with the rest, obliged to save themselves by flight, and return with all expedition to Jerusalem.

In the mean time Simon was no less successful in Galilee than his brothers Judas and Jonathan had been in Gilead. He defeated the enemy in several encounters, drove them out of the country, and pursued them with great slaughter as far as the very gates of Ptolemais. In his way to, and at all the places he reduced, he gathered together the Jews, men, women and children, whom, on his return, he left in different parts of Judea, to occupy those places which had been desolated by the enemy, during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes.

When Lysias (the chief commander of the Syrian forces, and at this time regent of the kingdom) heard of the great success of Judas and his brothers Jonathan and Simon, he vowed revenge against the Jews, and imme. diately raising an army of eighty thousand men, marched towards Jerusalem, in order to give Judas battle, and, if possible, make himself master of the city. In his way

thither, coming to Bethsura, he thought it necessary to take that place first, and therefore laid siege to it; but while he was on this business, Judas (who had heard of his intentions and situation) marched against him, and immediately attacking his army killed no less than eleven thousand foot, sixteen hundred horse, and put the rest to flight. Lysias, with great difficulty, escaped to Antioch, from whence, considering the distracted state of his affairs, and despairing of being able to raise fresh recruits, he sent terms of accommodation to Judas and his people. By these terms, which were readily accepted, the decree of Antiochus Epiphanes, obliging the Jews to conform to the customs and maxims of the Greeks, was rescinded, and the Jews were permitted to live according to their own laws and religion.

This peace, however, was of very short duration, for though it received the royal sanction, being ratified by Antiochus himself, yet it was greatly disapproved of by the governors of the several neighboring places round Antioch. The people about Joppa were the first that broke it, by drowning in the sea two hundred of the Jews who lived among them in that city. As soon as Judas heard of this cruelty and perfidy, he executed a severe revenge, for falling on them by night, he destroyed their shipping, and such as escaped the fire, he put to the sword. Hearing likewise that the people of Joppa had very ill treated the Jews in that place, he set fire to the town, and not a single ship that then lay there escaped the flames.

Among those governors who were dissatisfied with the peace made between Lysias and the Jews, was Timotheus, who was so irritated that he assembled together an army of 120,000 foot and 2,500 horse, with a resolution of going into Gilead, and destroying all the Jews who resided in that country. Judas, being informed of the design of Timotheus, immediately marched against him, and having defeated a strong party of wandering Arabs in his way and made peace with them, he first laid siege to the city of Caspis (which was formerly called Hesbon, and belonged to the tribe of Reuben) and soon making himself master of it, slew the inhabitants and reduced the place to ashes. From thence he proceeded to Caraca, where Timotheus had left a garrison of ten thousand men, and having

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proved equally successful there, he put all to the sword. At length he came up with Timotheus at a place called Raphon, and immediately giving him battle, slew thirty thousand men, and took him prisoner. He, however, gave him both his life and liberty on these conditions, namely, that he should immediately release all the Jews, who were captives in any places under his jurisdiction. Judas, understanding that the forces of Timotheus who had fled for safety had taken shelter in Carnión, a city in Arabia, he pursued them thither, and having soon made himself master of the place, slew no less than 25,000, so that Timotheus was totally disabled from making any attempts against the Jews in any of those parts of the country over which he had the command.

farther

In this expedition Judas exercised the like good policy his brother Simon had done after his conquests in Galilee. All the Jews whom he rescued from the hands of the enemy he took with him, and on his return into the land of Judea, left them to inhabit and fortify such cities as were not already sufficiently peopled. Judas, on his return home, was obliged to pass through Ephron, a large city in the hands of Lysias, and defended by a very strong garrison. On his arrival there the people refused to open the gates, upon which he immediately assaulted the place, and having, in a short time, taken it by storm, he put all the males, amounting to about 25,000, to the sword, took their spoils, and reduced the city to ashes.

Encouraged by these repeated successes, Judas resolved to carry the war into the Southern parts of Idumea, and therefore marched with his army into that part of the country. The first place of which he possessed himself in this expedition was Hebron, the metropolis, from whence he went into the land of the Philistines, and laid siege to Azotus, formerly called Ashdod.

The inhabitants stood out for some time, but were at length reduced, and great numbers of them put to the sword; after which Judas pulled down all the heathen altars, burnt their carved images, and totally demolished the place. Having done the like to all the other cities in that part of the country of which he had made himself master, he returned to Jerusalem, his victorious army

being laden with abundance of rich spoils which they had taken from the enemy.

But notwithstanding these great successes, yet Judas could not, strictly speaking, yet call himself master of Jerusalem. The citadel, or fortress of Acra, still held out for the king of Syria, and the_garrison, which consisted of Macedonians and renegado Jews, was very troublesome to such as resorted to the temple. To remove these inconveniences, Judas thought it advisable to attempt the reduction of the place: He therefore having prepared proper engines and machines for the better executing his design, forcibly attacked it and proved so successful as greatly to straiten the enemy, though he could not so far reduce them as to make himself master of the place.

In the mean time the besieged found means to inform king Antiochus of their distress, and to request that he would either immediately come himself, or send some proper person, to their assistance. Antiochus faithfully promised to relieve them himself, and for that purpose raised a very powerful army, consisting of 110,000 foot, 20,000 horse, 3000 armed chariots, and thirty-two elephants with castles on their backs full of archers.

With this formidable army Antiochus marched to the relief of the fortress of Acra, in his way to which he laid siege to Bethsura, not doubting but he should easily reduce the inhabitants to obedience. In this first enterprize, however, he found himself greatly mistaken, for the people, being resolute, defeated all his efforts, and burnt and destroyed his battering engines, so that he spent a great deal of time to very little purpose.

While Antiochus was before Bethsura, Judas was pressing the siege of Acra with all his might; but being fearful lest the Bethsurians should be forced to submit to the superior force of the enemy, he relinquished the siege, and marched with his army to their assistance. His intent was, to surprize the king's forces, and therefore marching in the night he fell upon one quarter of the enemy in the dark, killed four thousand, and then retreated without sus. taining any loss.

Early the next morning Antiochus left Bethsura, and having marched within sight of Judas's army, encamped near a place called Bethzachiariah. Here he directed his

troops to arrange themselves in proper order for battle; but the narrowness of the place obliged them to go in de files, one elephant preceding a thousand foot and five hundred horse; while the other troops ascended the hills under the command of officers of the most experienced valor.. When they came to the open part where Judas's army was encamped, and which was on an eminence, they began the attack with the loudest acclamations, so that the vallies re-echoed with the noise. This, however, did not in the least intimidate Judas and his men, who immediately fell with great fierceness on the enemy, and at the first attack killed six hundred of the king's best troops. During the engagement Eleazar (a brother of Judas) observing one of the elephants more richly caparisoned than the rest, and presuming it was the king who rode the beast, resolved to make one bold stroke, by which he might not only deliver his country, but gain to himself immortal honor. To effect this he forced himself through the guards, killed several of his opponents, and getting under the king's elephant stuck his spear into its belly, so that the creature fell down dead, which proved fatal to Eleazar, for before he could get from under the beast he dropped, and crushed him to death.

Judas, however, finding the number too great for him, withdrew from the fight, and made a safe retreat to Jerusalem. Antiochus followed with one part of his army, leaving the other to carry on the siege of Bethsura, the inhabitants of which, seeing no prospect of relief from their friends, were at length forced to surrender, but on condition that they should not be treated with any violence. The general of Antiochus's forces agreed to this, and preserved his engagement, as far as saving their lives, but he drove them naked from the town, and placed some of his own people in their stead.

The king's forces having reduced Bethsura marched towards Jerusalem, in order to join the party under Antiochus, and assist him in the reduction of that city. When the whole army appeared before the place, Judas was alarmed from the great superiority of their number, and as the most proper place of security, retired with his friends into the temple. They obstinately defended the place for some time, and counter-worked every attack