Part 216 (1/2)

_Philip, pretender to Syrian crown_.

_Demetrius I., king of Syria_.

_Syrian generals under Demetrius_.

_Bacchides_, _Nicanor_,

_Alexander Bolas, A general who contested with Demetrius for the Syrian crown_.

_Demetrius II., king of Syria_.

_Antiochus, son of Bolas, pretender to the crown_.

_Tryphon, a general who supported Antiochus, and who afterward became king_.

_Antiochus VII., brother of Demetrius II., who defeated Tryphon_.

_Ptolemy, king of Egypt_.

PLACE OF THE STORY.

The action moves over nearly the whole of Palestine. Some of the places mentioned are Modin, home of the Maccabees, Jerusalem, Beth-Horon, Bethsura, Jaffa, Kedesh, Gazara.

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THE MACCABEES.

_The Story of a Village Priest and His Five Sons Who Made a Gallant Struggle for Liberty_.

(Palestine was one of the countries overrun and conquered by Alexander the Great. One of his successors, Antiochus IV., attempted to force Greek customs and wors.h.i.+p upon the people. Many Jews yielded, but some resisted. Because of this resistance the foreign soldiery ma.s.sacred many of the people, including helpless women and children. Jerusalem was destroyed, and the altars of the Lord broken down and polluted.

Then, as in the brave days of old, arose a deliverer. A priest named Mattathias lived with his five stalwart sons in the little village of Modin. They slew the king's officer who attempted to impose foreign religious rites upon the villagers, and, fleeing to the mountains, set up the standard of revolt. The greatest of the sons of the priest was called Maccabaeus, ”the Hammer,” because he smote his enemies so fiercely. From this, his family and his followers came to be called ”Maccabees.” These great warriors won many battles against great odds, and set the nation free. There is no more heroic story in all the history of Israel than theirs. The story is told in the ”Books of the Maccabees,” which are contained in what is called the ”Apocrypha.”)

[Footnote: Apocrypha--See note at the end of the volume.]

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I.

_How Alexander the Great, After He Had Conquered the World, Died, and How the Evil Antiochus Reigned in His Stead in Palestine_.

And it came to pa.s.s, after Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, came and smote Darius king of the Persians and Medes, and reigned in his stead, that he fought many battles, and won many strongholds, and slew the kings of the earth, and went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of a mult.i.tude of nations. And the earth was quiet before him, and he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up, and he gathered together an exceeding strong host, and ruled over countries and nations and princ.i.p.alities, and they became tributary unto him. And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die. And he called his generals, and he divided unto them his kingdom, while he was yet alive. And Alexander reigned twelve years, and he died. And his generals bore rule, each one in his place.

And they all put crowns upon themselves after he was dead, and so did their sons after them many years: and they multiplied evils in the earth.

In those days came there forth out of Israel transgressors of the law, and persuaded many, saying, ”Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles that are round about us; for since we were parted from them many evils have befallen us.”