The Wars of the Maccabees by John D Grainger

The Wars of the Maccabees by John D Grainger

By the early second century BC, Israel had long been under the rule of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. But the policy of deliberate Hellenization and suppression of Jewish religious practices by Antiochus IV, sparked a revolt in 167 BC which was led initially by Judah Maccabee and later by his brothers and their descendants. Relying on guerrilla tactics the growing insurrection repeatedly took on the sophisticated might of the Seleucid army with mixed, but generally successful, results, establishing the Maccabees as the Hasmonean Dynasty of rulers over a once-more independent Israel. (It is Judah Maccabee's ritual cleansing of the Temple after his victories over the Seleucids that is celebrated by Jews every year at Hannukah). Internal disputes weakened the revived state, however, and it eventually fell victim to the Romans who replaced the Seleucids as the local superpower. John D Grainger explains the causes of the revolt and traces the course of the various campaigns of the Maccabees, first against the Seleucids and then the Romans who captured Jerusalem in 63BC and partitioned the kingdom. The last chapters consider the continued Jewish resistance to Roman rule and factional fighting, until the crowning of Herod, marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty.

John D Grainger, a former teacher, is a well-established historian with around 20 previous works across various periods, including many on the ancient period. His most recent works include Alexander the Great Failure (Hambledon Continuum, 2006) and Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars 336-31BC (Pen & Sword, autumn 2010).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781526782267
ISBN 10	152678226X
Title	The Wars of the Maccabees
Author	John D Grainger
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Year published	2020-08-13
Number of pages	208
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.