Глава VIII

The news about the Romans prompted Judas to seek an alliance with Rome (1 Mac. 8:1–16). Making an alliance (1 Mac. 8:17–32). 1 Mac.8:1-2 Judas heard about the glory of the Romans, that they were mighty and strong and received favorably everyone who turned to them, and whoever came to them they made friendship with everyone. And that they were powerful and strong, they told him about their wars, about the courageous exploits that they showed over the Galatians, how they conquered them and made them tributaries; Although the brilliant victory over Nikanor brought peace to the earth, it was only for a short time. Everything made us wait and fear that the Syrian king would try to avenge this defeat and again send an army to Judea that would suppress a small handful of Judah’s associates with its numbers, as was the last time under Antiochus Eupator (VI chapter). - In view of this, Judas hastened to take advantage of the short period of peace to conclude an alliance with the Romans, in order, thanks to this alliance, to acquire powerful protection from the danger of complete enslavement of his people that threatened from Syria. He was prompted to take this step by rumors reaching him from all sides about the unparalleled courage of the Romans and their indestructible victorious strength. - “Judas heard about the glory of the Romans...” - more precisely, the glory: “Judas heard the name of the Romans...” (άκούειν τό όνομα - like III:41). – The main sentence of this verse (“Judas heard...”) is followed by 3 others, setting out the content of the rumors about the Romans thematically, and this theme is then developed in more detail by indicating the relevant events (verses 3–16). - This is, firstly, a rumor that the Romans are “powerful and strong” - δυνατοί ίσχυί, cf. II:42: secondly, that “they receive favorably all who turn to them”; thirdly, that “whoever came to them, they made friends with everyone.” - Starting to indicate the relevant facts on the first topic, the writer repeats it again for clarity: “and that they are powerful and strong, (in confirmation of this) they told him...”. “They told” - διηγήσαντο - suggests that - before deciding to seek an alliance with the Romans - Judas made careful inquiries about the Romans. Of their “courageous deeds,” the conquest of Galatians is mentioned first. By these Galatians, some meant the Asia Minor Galates or Celts, who were united by Attalus, king of Pergamon, into a special district of Asia Minor, called Γαλατία or Graecogallia, and in 189 BC were conquered by the consul Cn. Manl. Vulso (Liv. XXXVIII, 12, 20 ss. 37 ss.). On the contrary, others find that here we are talking about cis - Alpine (on the other side of the Alps) or Italian Gauls, whose cities, wars with Rome and complete extermination are described by Polyvius (II, 14-34). This opinion has three reasons for itself: 1) only these, and not the Asia Minor Gauls, were made tributaries of the Romans; 2) these Gauls were named earlier than the Spaniards, meanwhile, the Asia Minor ones should have been mentioned later, and 3) the wars of Rome with these particular Italian Gauls were events that could have previously been spread throughout the East. To these reasons we must add the fact that Rome spent much more time and effort on the conquest of Italian Gaul than on the conquest of Asia Minor. 1 Mac.8:3 also about what they did in the country of Spain to take possession of the silver and gold mines there, “In the country of Spain...” - Spain, as you know, during the second Punic War between Rome and Carthage was the main subject of dispute and arena for struggle, and after the Battle of Zama in 201 BC, it formally moved away from Carthage to Rome, but the final assignment of this country to Rome cost the latter a great struggle and many efforts, thanks to the freedom-loving character of the inhabitants. Only in 19 BC, with the conquest of the city of Cantabra, the conquest of the entire peninsula was completed, so that by the time of our historian, the Romans were not yet the absolute rulers of the entire country. 1Mac.8:4 And by their prudence and firmness they took possession of the whole region, although that region was very far from them, and about the kings who came against them from the ends of the earth, and they crushed them and struck them with a great defeat, and the rest pay them tribute annually; By the kings who “came against them (i.e., the Romans) from the ends of the earth...” - most likely, one must mean the Spanish and especially the Carthaginian kings or simply the leaders of individual Spanish nationalities and generals, who in ancient times were often called kings. 1Mac 8:5 They also crushed in war and subjugated Philip and Perseus king of Citia, and others who rebelled against them, The Philip mentioned here is Philip III, son of Demetrius II, king of Macedonia since 221; after many years of war with the Romans, he was completely defeated by Quinctius Flaminius in 197 at the Cynoscephalian hills (in Thessaly) and was forced to conclude a humiliating peace for himself (Liv. XXXI, 5; XXXIII, 1–13, 30; Flor. II, 7). - Perseus, son and successor of Philip, was defeated by Aemilius Paulus in the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, and died 5 years later in captivity (Poliv. XXIX, 6 and 7; Liv. XLIV, 40 et c.; XLV, 4 et c.; Flor. II, 12). - “The King of Kitia...”, i.e. Macedonian, see I, 1. - “And other people who rebelled against them...”, i.e., probably, the nationalities and princes who helped Perseus, such as: Epirotes, Thessalians, Thracians and Gentians from Illyria. 1Mac.8:6-8 and Antiochus, the great king of Asia, who went out against them to war with one hundred and twenty elephants, and cavalry, and chariots, and a very great army, and was defeated by them; They took him alive and forced him to pay them a great tribute, both to him and the kings following him, to give hostages and allow division, and the country of India and Media, and Lydia, and other of his best regions, taken from him, were given to King Eumenius; The victory over Antiochus the Great is remembered. Antiochus is called “King of Asia”, as the owner of Syria and most of Asia Minor. After the Battle of Magnesia (189 BC) - all its Asian regions on this side of the Taurus went to the Romans, who then transferred part of these regions (namely Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia) to the Pergamon king Eumenius II (Liv. XXXVII, 55; XXXVIII, 39). Nevertheless, even after this, the Syrian kings of the Seleucid dynasty did not cease to be called “kings of Asia” - probably continuing their claims to the lost provinces (cf. 1 Mac XI: 13, XII: 39, XIII: 32; 2 Mac III: 3). - Antiochus goes to war against the Romans with 120 elephants. This number is not in absolute contradiction with the testimony of Livy - XXXVII, 39, that Antiochus had only 54 elephants at the Battle of Magnesia. It is known that this battle was already preceded by a significant defeat of Antiochus, and this means that if it is shown that in the last battle (at Magnesia) the king had 54 elephants, it may also be true that at the beginning of the war he had more of them. - Eumenius, the king to whom the Romans gave the best of the regions taken from Antiochus, greatly contributed to the defeat of the latter, bringing his chariots (in the battle of Magnesia) into complete confusion. The report that Antiochus was captured at the same time (καί έλαβον αύτον ζώντα) stands in contradiction with the narratives of all other classical historical writers, and spread as an exaggeration of the glory of the Romans. The tribute that Antiochus had to pay after this defeat consisted of - according to Poliv. XXI, 15, 4–6 (Liv. XXXVIII, 38) - from 15,000 Euboean talents, of which 500 were paid immediately upon the conclusion of peace, 2,500 upon ratification of the peace treaty, the remaining 12,000 over 12 years (1,000 tons annually); in fact, the payment dragged on longer, so that even Antiochus Epiphanes in 173 sought funds to pay this indemnity (Liv. XLII, 6). - “Give hostages and allow division...”, διδόναι όμηρα και διαστολήν, glory. more precisely: “to give pledge and guidance.” The meaning of the original is not particularly clear. Some here mean by διαστολή the part taken from the possessions of Antiochus, given to Eumenius - v. 8, and, in this case, καί at the beginning of this verse should be understood in the sense of “precisely.” – The naming of the country of India and Media – (χώρα ή ᾿Ινδική καί Μήδεια) among those alienated from Antiochus is erroneous. Antiochus never possessed India, and he did not undertake to give up Media, but only the provinces on this side of the Taurus, most of which (Phrygia, Mysia and Lydia) were later received by Eumenius. This inaccuracy must be explained by the insufficient information of the Jews of that time about the peoples and countries. 1Mac 8:9-10 and how the Greeks intended to come and destroy them, but this intention became known to them, and they sent one commander against them and fought against them, and many of them fell slain, and took captive their wives and their children, and plundered them, and took possession of their land, and destroyed their fortresses, and enslaved them to this day; The legend about the struggle between Greece and Rome is also in the nature of “rumors”, in which the historical course of the matter is greatly confused. Nothing is actually said anywhere about the intention of the Hellenes to “exterminate” the Romans: apparently, this generally refers to the affair of the Romans with the Greeks in the war against the Achaean League in 147 and 146 BC - Then Thebes and Chalchis were really destroyed, Corinth was taken, all the men were killed, all the women and children were sold into captivity, the cities were barbarously plundered and burned, the walls of other cities were destroyed, and soon afterwards all of Hellas was turned into a Roman province under the name of Achaia (Pausanus VII, 16, 562; Liv. Epit. LII; Flor. II, 16; Justin XXXIV, 2). – But if so, then the question is, how could the writer talk about this event in the time of Judas, when the latter died 15 years earlier than the events narrated in his time? – In explaining this anachronism, which does not violate the general reliability of the book, one must take into account - firstly - the fact that the historian wrote this book 20-25 years after the destruction of Corinth by the Romans; secondly, that the Jews of Palestine in general could not have been accurately informed enough about the historical and chronological details of this war between Rome and Greece, and finally, that our verse (10) could already present the final result of the struggle of the Greeks with Rome. 1 Mac 8:11 And they destroyed and enslaved other kingdoms and islands that ever rebelled against them. “Islands...” – this may refer to Sicily, Sardinia and the Greek islands of the Archipelago. 1Mac 8:12 And they maintained friendship with their friends and with those who trusted them and took possession of kingdoms near and far, and all who heard their name feared them. “They maintained friendship...” As far as this was consistent with the policy of Rome, he really showed himself to be faithful to friendship; but the ultimate goal of this friendship, due to the same policy of Rome, was always such that the allied country turned into a province of the Roman Empire. Over time, the Jews also learned this through bitter experience. - “And they took possession of the kingdoms near and far...” - according to the connection of speech, these words represent a direct continuation of the previous one and want to say that the Romans had such sufficient strength and authority that their allies became strong, capable of taking possession of kingdoms hostile to them. 1Mac.8:13-14 If they want to help someone and make someone king, they reign and replace whomever they want, and they have become very exalted; but for all this, none of them put a crown on themselves or put on purple to be proud of it. 1Mac 8:15-16 They have formed a council, and constantly every day three hundred and twenty people consult about everything that pertains to the people and their welfare; and every year they entrust authority over themselves and dominion over their entire land to one person, and everyone listens to one, and there is no envy or jealousy between them. Reports about the Roman government and government suffer from significant inaccuracies and errors, which show that at that time in Judea there was no sufficient information about this at all. - “They formed a council…” - βούλητήριον εποίησαν εαυτοίς - glory. more precisely: “and you will create a council chamber for yourself.” – Here, of course, is the Roman Senate. “Every day,” as they say here, he did not gather, but for the most part - on Kalends, Nones, Ides and on Fests or days of celebration; but on the other hand, he could gather more than once during the day. The number of senators under King Tarquinius Prisca was established at 300, remaining unchanged until C. Sempronius Gracchus, who in 123 BC (consequently, much later than Judas) increased this number by accepting 300 horsemen. – Indication 16 tbsp. The fact that the government of the Roman people was annually entrusted to one person could come from the fact that in the alliance treaty that followed the Senate decision, in addition to the names of the ambassadors, the name of the Senate chairman was mentioned (see according to Mottlen). - “There is no envy or jealousy between them...” - this message is as correct as the unrest of the Gracchi, the internal party struggle and discord like the long struggle between the patricians and the plebeians - were not actually an expression of the will and state of the whole. Foreign lands could hear little about this internal party struggle, and this usually had no effect on the foreign policy of Rome. 1Mac 8:17 Then Judas chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son of Akkos, and Jason the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome to make friendship and alliance with them, Judas sent Eupolemus and Jason to Rome. The father of this Eupolemus, John, according to 2 Mac IV:11, is known for the fact that, through his intercession, philanthropic royal benefits were granted to the Jewish people. - “Akkos” - (“son of Akkos”) - seems to denote the name of the family to which Eupolemus and John belonged. This kind of Akkos - from among the priestly (του Ακκως) is mentioned in Nehemiah III: 4, 21; Ezra III, 61; Wed 1 Chronicles XXIV: 10 - to which Eupolemus and John probably belonged. – Jason, son of Eleazar – nothing more is known about him; judging by the name, he could also belong to the priestly family. 1Mac 8:18 and that they remove the yoke from them, for they see that the Greek kingdom wants to enslave Israel. “The Hellenic kingdom...”, i.e., the Syrian kingdom. 1 Mac 8:19 So they set out for Rome, although the journey was very long, and they entered the council meeting and came and said: “The journey was very long...”, because this sea journey was usually not made in a straight line in the middle of the sea, but along the coast, so, for example, the ship on which St. Apostle traveled to Rome. Paul spent six months on his voyage from Palestine to Rome (Acts XXVII:1, 9, XXVIII:11-16). – The remark about the length of the journey to Rome shows that for the Jews this journey (to Rome) represented something new. 1 Maccabees 8:20–22 Judas Maccabee and his brothers and all the people of Judah sent us to you to make an alliance and peace with you, and so that you would include us among your companions and friends. And this word was pleasing in front of them. And here is a list of the message that they wrote in response on copper tablets and sent to Jerusalem, so that it would serve for them there as a monument of peace and union: The Romans wrote a written decree in response to the request of the ambassadors “on copper plates and sent them to Jerusalem...” Josephus Flavius ​​conveys this passage with the addition that the original decree was placed in the Capitol, and a copy of it was sent to the Jews. Judging by the fact that at the conclusion of a peace treaty with the Carthaginians, according to Poliv. III, 6, 1 - it was done in exactly this way - one can think that in this case the addition of Joseph is more consistent with the truth. 1 Mac.8:23-28 “May it be well with the Romans and the people of Judah on sea and on land forever; and let the sword and the enemy be far from them! If war comes first among the Romans or among all their allies throughout their entire dominion, then the people of Judah must help them with all their hearts in the war, as the time requires; and to the warring they will neither give nor deliver grain, weapons, money, or ships, for this is what the Romans want; they must fulfill their duty without receiving anything. In the same way, if first there is a war among the Jewish people, the Romans will wholeheartedly help them in the war, as the time demands, and they will not give those who help in the war either bread, weapons, money, or ships; so pleases Rome; they must fulfill their duties – and without deception.” The text of the peace treaty begins with the usual Roman formula in such cases, expressing goodwill to the contracting parties: κάλως γένοιτο ... etc. - “good be it ...!” Then follow the points - one for each contracting party with approximately the same content (24-26 articles regarding the Romans, 27-28 articles regarding the Jews). - The essence of the agreement is that both sides - firstly, pledged to help each other during the war; secondly, to do this without demanding bread, weapons, money, or ships from the warring party to help them. Thus, the Jews became “allies” of the Romans, subjecting themselves to the fate of all other Roman allies, who usually ended up submitting to the yoke of the Romans. This was Judas’s mistake, although perhaps inevitable and forced by difficult circumstances. However, some quite rightly note that if Judas had tried better to check the rumors about the Romans and had become convinced that, under the guise of friendship, they were insidiously enslaving their allies, then, of course, he would never have wished for any alliance with the Romans. This union is found to be flawed in another respect: it shows how far this time of the “people of God” has departed from the best times of its antiquity, and how its newest impulses stood below the pure animation of this antiquity: under the prophets, this method of self-defense would have been decisively protested. However, Judas did not live to see the formal conclusion of the alliance, or at least did not wait for the return of his ambassadors from Rome, having laid down “his life for his people” in the last battle with Bacchides. 1 Mac.8:29–32 On these terms the Romans entered into an alliance with the people of Judah. If, after these conditions, both of them decide to add or subtract something, let them do it according to their common will, and what they add or subtract will be valid. And about the evil that King Demetrius does to the Jews, we wrote to him like this: “Why did you impose your heavy yoke on our friends and allies - the Jews? If they still turn to us with a complaint against you, then we will do them justice and will fight against you at sea and on land.” The books of Maccabees are translated from Greek because they are not in the Hebrew text.