Antiquities of the Jews — Book 12, Chapter 9

1. About this time it was that king Antiochus, as he was going over the
upper countries, heard that there was a very rich city in Persia, called
Elymais; and therein a very rich temple of Diana, and that it was full
of all sorts of donations dedicated to it; as also weapons and
breastplates, which, upon inquiry, he found had been left there by
Alexander, the son of Philip, king of Macedonia. And being incited by
these motives, he went in haste to Elymais, and assaulted it, and
besieged it. But as those that were in it were not terrified at his
assault, nor at his siege, but opposed him very courageously, he was
beaten off his hopes; for they drove him away from the city, and went
out and pursued after him, insomuch that he fled away as far as Babylon,
and lost a great many of his army. And when he was grieving for this
disappointment, some persons told him of the defeat of his commanders
whom he had left behind him to fight against Judea, and what strength
the Jews had already gotten. When this concern about these affairs was
added to the former, he was confounded, and by the anxiety he was in
fell into a distemper, which, as it lasted a great while, and as his
pains increased upon him, so he at length perceived he should die in a
little time; so he called his friends to him, and told them that his
distemper was severe upon him; and confessed withal, that this calamity
was sent upon him for the miseries he had brought upon the Jewish
nation, while he plundered their temple, and contemned their God; and
when he had said this, he gave up the ghost. Whence one may wonder at
Polybius of Megalopolis, who, though otherwise a good man, yet saith
that "Antiochus died because he had a purpose to plunder the temple of
Diana in Persia;" for the purposing to do a thing, 23 but not actually
doing it, is not worthy of punishment. But if Polybius could think that
Antiochus thus lost his life on that account, it is much more probable
that this king died on account of his sacrilegious plundering of the
temple at Jerusalem. But we will not contend about this matter with
those who may think that the cause assigned by this Polybius of
Megalopolis is nearer the truth than that assigned by us.

2. However, Antiochus, before he died, called for Philip, who was one of
his companions, and made him the guardian of his kingdom; and gave him
his diadem, and his garment, and his ring, and charged him to carry
them, and deliver them to his son Antiochus; and desired him to take
care of his education, and to preserve the kingdom for him. 24 This
Antiochus died in the hundred forty and ninth year; but it was Lysias
that declared his death to the multitude, and appointed his son
Antiochus to be king, [of whom at present he had the care,] and called
him Eupator.

3. At this time it was that the garrison in the citadel of Jerusalem,
with the Jewish runagates, did a great deal of harm to the Jews; for the
soldiers that were in that garrison rushed out upon the sudden, and
destroyed such as were going up to the temple in order to offer their
sacrifices, for this citadel adjoined to and overlooked the temple. When
these misfortunes had often happened to them, Judas resolved to destroy
that garrison; whereupon he got all the people together, and vigorously
besieged those that were in the citadel. This was in the hundred and
fiftieth year of the dominion of the Seleucidse. So he made engines of
war, and erected bulwarks, and very zealously pressed on to take the
citadel. But there were not a few of the runagates who were in the place
that went out by night into the country, and got together some other
wicked men like themselves, and went to Antiochus the king, and desired
of him that he would not suffer them to be neglected, under the great
hardships that lay upon them from those of their own nation; and this
because their sufferings were occasioned on his father's account, while
they left the religious worship of their fathers, and preferred that
which he had commanded them to follow: that there was danger lest the
citadel, and those appointed to garrison it by the king, should be taken
by Judas, and those that were with him, unless he would send them
succors. When Antiochus, who was but a child, heard this, he was angry,
and sent for his captains and his friends, and gave order that they
should get an army of mercenaries together, with such men also of his
own kingdom as were of an age fit for war. Accordingly, an army was
collected of about a hundred thousand footmen, and twenty thousand
horsemen, and thirty-two elephants.

4. So the king took this army, and marched hastily out of Antioch, with
Lysias, who had the command of the whole, and came to Idumea, and thence
went up to the city Bethsura, a city that was strong, and not to be
taken without great difficulty. He set about this city, and besieged it.
And while the inhabitants of Bethsura courageously opposed him, and
sallied out upon him, and burnt his engines of war, a great deal of time
was spent in the siege. But when Judas heard of the king's coming, he
raised the siege of the citadel, and met the king, and pitched his camp
in certain straits, at a place called Bethzachriah, at the distance of
seventy furlongs from the enemy; but the king soon drew his forces from
Bethsura, and brought them to those straits. And as soon as it was day,
he put his men in battle-array, and made his elephants follow one
another through the narrow passes, because they could not be set
sideways by one another. Now round about every elephant there were a
thousand footmen, and five hundred horsemen. The elephants also had high
towers [upon their backs], and archers [in them]. And he also made the
rest of his army to go up the mountains, and put his friends before the
rest; and gave orders for the army to shout aloud, and so he attacked
the enemy. He also exposed to sight their golden and brazen shields, so
that a glorious splendor was sent from them; and when they shouted the
mountains echoed again. When Judas saw this, he was not terrified, but
received the enemy with great courage, and slew about six hundred of the
first ranks. But when his brother Eleazar, whom they called Auran, saw
the tallest of all the elephants armed with royal breastplates, and
supposed that the king was upon him, he attacked him with great
quickness and bravery. He also slew many of those that were about the
elephant, and scattered the rest, and then went under the belly of the
elephant, and smote him, and slew him; so the elephant fell upon
Eleazar, and by his weight crushed him to death. And thus did this man
come to his end, when he had first courageously destroyed many of his
enemies.

5. But Judas, seeing the strength of the enemy, retired to Jerusalem,
and prepared to endure a siege. As for Antiochus, he sent part of his
army to Bethsura, to besiege it, and with the rest of his army he came
against Jerusalem; but the inhabitants of Bethsura were terrified at his
strength; and seeing that their provisions grew scarce, they delivered
themselves up on the security of oaths that they should suffer no hard
treatment from the king. And when Antiochus had thus taken the city, he
did them no other harm than sending them out naked. He also placed a
garrison of his own in the city. But as for the temple of Jerusalem, he
lay at its siege a long time, while they within bravely defended it; for
what engines soever the king set against them, they set other engines
again to oppose them. But then their provisions failed them; what fruits
of the ground they had laid up were spent and the land being not
ploughed that year, continued unsowed, because it was the seventh year,
on which, by our laws, we are obliged to let it lay uncultivated. And
withal, so many of the besieged ran away for want of necessaries, that
but a few only were left in the temple.

6. And these happened to be the circumstances of such as were besieged
in the temple. But then, because Lysias, the general of the army, and
Antiochus the king, were informed that Philip was coming upon them out
of Persia, and was endeavoring to get the management of public affairs
to himself, they came into these sentiments, to leave the siege, and to
make haste to go against Philip; yet did they resolve not to let this be
known to the soldiers or to the officers: but the king commanded Lysias
to speak openly to the soldiers and the officers, without saying a word
about the business of Philip; and to intimate to them that the siege
would be very long; that the place was very strong; that they were
already in want of provisions; that many affairs of the kingdom wanted
regulation; and that it was much better to make a league with the
besieged, and to become friends to their whole nation, by permitting
them to observe the laws of their fathers, while they broke out into
this war only because they were deprived of them, and so to depart home.
When Lysias had discoursed thus to them, both the army and the officers
were pleased with this resolution.

7. Accordingly the king sent to Judas, and to those that were besieged
with them, and promised to give them peace, and to permit them to make
use of, and live according to, the laws of their fathers; and they
gladly received his proposals; and when they had gained security upon
oath for their performance, they went out of the temple. But when
Antiochus came into it, and saw how strong the place was, he broke his
oaths, and ordered his army that was there to pluck down the walls to
the ground; and when he had so done, he returned to Antioch. He also
carried with him Onias the high priest, who was also called Menelaus;
for Lysias advised the king to slay Menelaus, if he would have the Jews
be quiet, and cause him no further disturbance, for that this man was
the origin of all the mischief the Jews had done them, by persuading his
father to compel the Jews to leave the religion of their fathers. So the
king sent Menelaus to Berea, a city of Syria, and there had him put to
death, when he had been high priest ten years. He had been a wicked and
an impious man; and, in order to get the government to himself, had
compelled his nation to transgress their own laws. After the death of
Menelaus, Alcimus, who was also called Jacimus, was made high priest.
But when king Antiochus found that Philip had already possessed himself
of the government, he made war against him, and subdued him, and took
him, and slew him. Now as to Onias, the son of the high priest, who, as
we before informed you, was left a child when his father died, when he
saw that the king had slain his uncle Menelaus, and given the high
priesthood to Alcimus, who was not of the high priest stock, but was
induced by Lysias to translate that dignity from his family to another
house, he fled to Ptolemy, king of Egypt; and when he found he was in
great esteem with him, and with his wife Cleopatra, he desired and
obtained a place in the Nomus of Heliopolis, wherein he built a temple
like to that at Jerusalem; of which therefore we shall hereafter give an
account, in a place more proper for it.