religion, and utterly
detested the monotheism of the Jews. So oppressed with grief was this
heathen persecutor that he took to his bed; and in addition to his
humiliation he was afflicted with a loathsome disease, called
elephantiasis, so that he was avoided and neglected by his own servants.
He now saw that he must die, and calling for his friend Philip, made
him regent of his kingdom during the minority of his son, whom he had
left at Antioch.

The Jews were thus delivered from the worst enemy that had afflicted
them since the Babylonian captivity. Neither Assyrians nor Egyptians nor
Persians had so ruthlessly swept away religious institutions. Those
conquerors were contented with conquest and its political
results,--namely, the enslavement and spoliation of the people; they did
not pollute the sacred places like the Syrian persecutor. By the rivers
of Babylon the Jews had sat down and wept when they remembered Zion, but
their sad wailing was over the fact that they were captives in a strange
land. Ground down to the dust by Antiochus, however, they bewailed not
only their external misfortunes, but far more bitterly the desecration
of their Sanctuary and the attempt to root out their religion, which was
their life.

The death of Antiochus Epiphanes was therefore a great relief and
rejoicing to the struggling Jews. He left as heir to his throne a boy
nine years of age; but though he had made his friend Philip guardian of
his son and regent of his kingdom, his lieutenant at Antioch, Lysias,
also claimed the guardianship and the regency. These rival claims of
course led to civil wars between Lysias and Philip, in consequence of
which the Jews were comparatively unmolested, and had leisure to
organize their forces, fortify their strongholds, and prepare for
complete independence. Among other things, Judas Maccabaeus attacked the
citadel or tower on Mount Zion, overlooking the Temple, in which a large
garrison of the enemy had long been stationed, and which was a perpetual
menace. The attack or siege of this strong fortress alarmed the heathen,
who made complaint to the young king, called Eupator, or more probably
to the regent Lysias, who sent an overwhelming army into Judaea,
consisting of one hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and
thirty-two elephants. But Judas did not hesitate to give battle to this
great force, and again gained a victory. It was won, however, at the
expense of his brother Eleazer. Seein