historygoy

Maccabees #22 - The Romans Move East

historygoy — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:49:30 +0000

After subduing Carthage, the Romans turned their attention towards the east. They defeated King Antiochus III of the Seleucid kingdom, and warned his son, Antiochus IV, not to conquer Egypt. This humilation may have led to the decision of Antiochus IV to force the Jews to live as Gentiles. While the Maccabees fought against the Greeks, the Roman world enjoyed long periods of peace, even while Roman power extended even further to the east.

Maccabees #21 - Rise of the Roman Empire

historygoy — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:09:52 +0000

After the Romans threw off Etruscan domination, they expanded from the city of Rome. In a long series of tough wars, extending for a couple hundred years, the Romans conquered the entire Italian peninsula. Then they took on Carthage in three memorable wars, and controlled the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. Some people, however, believed that the extended empire caused the inhabitants of Rome to grow soft and weak, unlike the previous generations, who grew tough through desperate struggles.

Maccabees #20 - Origin of the Romans

historygoy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:31:25 +0000

The Romans had come to Judea. How did these people make such a powerful empire? In this episode, we take a quick look at the strengths of the Romans- their strong sense of family and their ability to adapt, to adopt new ways of thinking (as they incorporated the Greek religion) and to change their own government (as they allowed the plebeians more input).

Maccabees #19 - Romans Come to Judea

historygoy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:02:11 +0000

After Alexander Jannaeus died, his wife Salome Alexandra took over as Queen of Judea. She brought healing between the Pharisees and Sadducees. When Salome died, her two sons fought over the kingdom. Neither was strong enough to defeat the other, so they asked the Romans to step in, and they did. The Romans took one side, defeated the other, and took over Judea. The independent state of Judea came to an end.

Maccabees #18 - War Between Sadducees and Pharisees

historygoy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:37:26 +0000

King Alexander Jannaeus expanded the kingdom of Judea to its greatest size since the days of King David and Solomon, but animosity grew between the Pharisees (who lived mostly among the common people) and the Sadducees (who came from the wealthy families). A major incident happened at Sukkot one year, and then the Pharisees rebelled against their king, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives.

Maccabees #17 - Aristobulus and Alexander Jannaeus

historygoy — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:44:04 +0000

John Hyrcanus lived to an old age and died peacefully. His son, Aristobulus, became the new High Priest and King, but he murdered people in his family who might have gotten in his way. Aristobulus died after a reign of one year, and his brother, Alexander Jannaeus, became the new High Priest and King, and quickly went embarked on war- and very nearly lost Judea’s independence.

Maccabees #16 - John Hyrcanus, the High Priest

historygoy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:00:18 +0000

Simon, the brother of Judas Maccabaeus, lived to an old age but died a violent death just like his brothers. Simon’s son, John Hyrcanus, became the new High Priest, and led his people through times of despair and triumph. The Romans helped keep the Jewish state going, but a sense of secularism began to spread among the Jews.

Maccabees #15 - The Ancient Independent State of Judea

historygoy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:59:20 +0000

Jonathon the High Priest was tricked and captured by the Seleucids, and they killed him. Jonathon’s brother, Simon, became the new High Priest. The Seleucid kings kept fighting each other, each offering the Jews more concessions, until they finally gave independence to the state of Judea.

Maccabees #14 - Jonathon the High Priest

historygoy — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:01:35 +0000

After the death of Judah ha-Macabi, the Jews who opposed Hellenism were in trouble. That is, until the Seleucid kingdom faced some difficulties. Two kings struggled to control the Seleucid throne, and each one offered concessions to the Jews to gain their support. That’s how Jonathon, Judah’s brother, became the High Priest.

Maccabees #13 - Remember the Alamo!

historygoy — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:54:34 +0000

Judah Ha-Maccabi was dead. Did he throw his life away in a foolish attack against a huge enemy force? Or did his death inspire the Jews to carry on the fight against the Greeks? Perhaps the death of Judah served the same purpose as the death of the Texans in the Alamo during the fight against Mexico.

Maccabees #12 - Death of Judah Ha-Macabbi

historygoy — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:52:23 +0000

Judah continued the war against both the Seleucid kingdom and the influences of Hellenism, even though he sufferd defeats on both fronts. The Seleucid king did grant religious freedom to the Jews, but a new High Priest was appointed who favored Hellenism- he embraced the ideas of pagan Greek civilization. Many Jews supported the new High Priest, and Judah lost much of his support. In the end, Judah made one last hopeless attack against another massive Greek army, where he lost his life.

Maccabees #11 - Hellenism vs. Judaism

historygoy — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:03:59 +0000

Judah and his army had taken control of the Temple in Jerusalem and restored the worship of the Lord, but they were not able to drive the Greeks out of Jerusalem. They were also not able to drive Greek civilization out of the Jewish people. The time had come for the Jews to decide whether they were going to live as Greek gentiles or under the commands of the Torah- they could no longer do both.

Maccabees #10 - Chanukkah

historygoy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:20:43 +0000

Judah and his Jewish fighters defeated the Greeks one more time, then came to Jerusalem, where they cleansed the Temple of the statues of the Greek gods and dedicated it once more to the worship of the Lord. That’s where the Feast of Chanukkah- or Dedication- comes from.

Maccabees #9 - Judah, the Hammer

historygoy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:14:40 +0000

The Hasidim, the Pious Jews, started the rebellion against the Seleucids when Mattathias, the old priest, killed people in Modein who tried to offer sacrifices to the Greek gods. Mattathias died soon after, but his son Judah raised up a rebel army that hammered the Greeks time and time again.

Maccabees #8 - Antiochus IV Comes to Power

historygoy — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:00:58 +0000

King Antiochus III of the Seleucids took over the territory of Jerusalem and Judea from the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. His son, King Antiochus IV, in an attempt to strengthen his southern border, and to prevent rebellion, tried to destroy the Jewish religion and tried to get the Jews to worship the Greek gods. It didn’t work.

Maccabees #7 - Greek and Hebrew Culture

historygoy — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:03:56 +0000

The Greeks came to Jerusalem and set up idols and honored their gods in the dramatic presentations. This created a cultural hostility with the Jewish prohibition on graven images. Greeks, and later some Christians, viewed the physical world as lowly, even sinful, but the Jews saw creation as good because God created it.

Maccabees #6 - Alexander the Great

historygoy — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:58:43 +0000

Philip of Macedon gained hegemony over the Greek states, and his son Alexander led the Greeks on an epic campaign to conquer the Persian Empire. Alexander died at the age of 33 years old, but not before spreading Greek culture into every corner of the previous Persian Empire.

Maccabees #5 - Greek Philosophy

historygoy — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:52:09 +0000

After defeating the Persians, Athens established their empire, which was actually a hegemony, or domination of the other Greek states. This led to war against Sparta and disaster. Following the warfare, the giants of Greek philosophy emerged- Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who was the teacher of Alexander the Great.

Maccabees #4 - Ancient Greek and Modern Civilization

historygoy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:56:42 +0000

The culture of Athens lives on today in the modern world. The Greeks gave us Democracy and Dramatic Theatre, and we’re still using words from ancient Greek, and we have buildings that use principles from Greek architecture. Greek civilization, as we will see later, stands against Jewish culture.

Maccabee #3 - Persian-Greek Wars

historygoy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:50:32 +0000

King Cyrus and the Persians quickly conquered the Babylonian Empire, then they turned their attention to the Greeks. The Persians met with defeat twice, at the beach of Marathon and later in one of the greatest naval battles of all time.