Eupator, Demetrius, and the Wars of Bacchides

At that time Judas besieged the Syrians who were stationed in the citadel. Hard pressed by hunger and the lack of everything, they sent messengers to the king to beg for help. So Eupator came to their aid with a hundred thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry, with elephants marching in front of his line and striking enormous terror into those who saw them. Then Judas abandoned the siege, went out to meet the king, and routed the Syrians in the first battle. The king begged for peace. But because he made bad use of it, treacherous as he was by nature, vengeance followed on his treachery. [a]

Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, who, as we said above, had been handed over to the Romans as a hostage, heard that Antiochus had died. He asked the Romans to send him to take possession of the kingdom. When they refused, he fled secretly from Rome, came into Syria, and seized the supreme power, after killing the son of Antiochus, who had reigned a year and six months. It was during his reign that the Jews first asked for the friendship of the Roman people and an alliance with them. Their embassy was kindly received, and by a decree of the senate they were named allies and friends.

Meanwhile Demetrius was making war on Judas through his generals. At first the army was led by a man named Bacchides and by Alcimus, a Jew. Afterward Nicanor was put in charge of the war, and he fell in battle. Then Bacchides and Alcimus took command again, increased their forces, and fought against Judas. The Syrians won that battle and made cruel use of their victory. The Hebrews chose Jonathan, the brother of Judas, in his place. Meanwhile Alcimus, after laying Jerusalem terribly waste, died, and Bacchides, left without his ally, went back to the king. Then, after an interval of two years, Bacchides made war on the Jews again. He was beaten and asked for peace. This was granted to him on certain terms: he was to give up the deserters and the prisoners, together with everything he had taken in the war.