Lysias (Syrian chancellor)

Persian provinces to what would become the Parthian Empire

Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, Nicanor, and Gorgias to find and fight the Maccabee rebels. Using trickery and marching by night, Judas Maccabeus defeated a contingent of the Seleucid force after the Seleucids had separated their army at the Battle of Emmaus in 165 BC. Lysias himself led a second and larger expedition in 164 BC. Lysias's army and the Maccabees fought at the Battle of Beth Zur but it ended either inconclusively or with a minor Maccabee victory. However, news of Antiochus IV's death in Persia made it back to Judea shortly after Beth Zur. Lysias had to immediately return to Antioch to manage the government transition and ensure that other Seleucid rivals did not seize leadership in his absence. Judas took the opportunity to triumphantly conquer the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem and to purify the Second Temple, citing the Battle of Beth Zur as the reason that the Seleucids left.^[1]

Eleazar was slain, and Judas retreated to the safety of the mountains, abandoning Jerusalem. Lysias moved in to besiege Jerusalem afterward. However, Lysias was on a "time limit" of sorts; too long away from the capital could still lead to political trouble from internal rivals. In particular, an ambitious leader called Philip implausibly claimed that Antiochus IV had appointed him regent on his deathbed. Lysias negotiated an end to the rebellion and brought peace to Judea for a time so that he could return to face Philip. The historian Josephus wrote that Philip was caught and executed, but it is impossible to know if he had a source saying this, or was merely making an educated guess.^[2] Lysias tore down a wall in Jerusalem, presumably to reduce its future ability to rebel. He confirmed the repeal of the anti-Jewish decrees that had happened under Antiochus IV, reducing religious tensions. He also ordered the execution of despised High Priest Menelaus, and possibly appointed a replacement in Alcimus (2 Maccabees and 1 Maccabees disagree on when exactly Alcimus's appointment happened).^[3]

Roman delegation, intent on enforcing the Treaty of Apamea to weaken Seleucid power, declared that the Syrian war elephants just used at Beth Zechariah were in violation of the treaty, and hamstrung them. They also burned some Seleucid warships as allegedly in violation. Lysias allowed this to happen, fearful of stoking a new Roman-Seleucid War. Secondly, two noble women of Seleucus's line were killed, Antiochis and her daughter. Ancient sources speculate this was at Lysias's instigation, although ancient sources also tend to assume any death of a noble was an assassination.^[4] All of these events may have weakened Lysias's standing with the Greek aristocrats of Antioch, if Lysias was executing potential rivals in a fit of paranoia while submitting too easily to the Romans. This may have passed without incident, but Lysias's undoing would come from an unexpected source. Demetrius I, with the help of the Greek historian Polybius, escaped from Rome and sailed to Syria. Demetrius was a man grown in his prime, while Antiochus V was still but 11 years old. Demetrius also had an excellent claim on the throne: he should have succeeded the throne in 175 BC at the death of his father, but had been a hostage in Rome at the time, allowing Antiochus IV to succeed instead, which was seen by some as a usurpation. Demetrius landed at Tripolis