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16 - Bacchides' second expedition and the battle of Elasa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2010

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Summary

The victory in the battle of Adasa in March 161 b.c. again gave the Hasmonaeans dominion over all of Judaea. Judas Maccabaeus took control of Jerusalem and the Seleucid garrison was confined to its stronghold in the citadel. In the course of the following year Judas Maccabaeus took steps to strengthen his position at home and abroad. The high point of his efforts was the pact between the Jews and Rome, which contained among others the formal provision concerning mutual assistance in case of war and an explicit warning to Demetrius (I Macc. 8.24–32). The agreement did not ensure military intervention in practice, but it was a signal to the Antioch authorities of growing Roman interest in events in the country, and warned of the danger in the long run to the kingdom presented by the Revolt in Judaea. At the time Demetrius was preoccupied with the suppression of the uprising in Babylonia and the eastern parts of the empire under Timarchus, satrap of Babylonia, and his brother Heraclides, satrap of Media. Timarchus, who declared himself king, was able to establish ties with Rome, while the kingship of Demetrius I in Syria had not yet gained Roman recognition. However, at the beginning of 160 b.c. Demetrius seized control of Babylonia, and it appears that the local population and the military settlers east of the Euphrates gradually accepted his rule. The suppression of the opposition in the east enabled the king to divert part of the army to dealing with the war in Judaea, in the spring of 160 b.c. (see PP- 43–5 above).

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Judas Maccabaeus
The Jewish Struggle Against the Seleucids
, pp. 376 - 402
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1989

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