Military Leaders:
Rebel forces:
Mattathias
Judas
Seleucid forces:
Seleucid garrison at Jerusalem
Apollonius (Samaritan army)
Seron (Syrian army)
Lysias (One half of the Seleucid Army)
Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias(40,000 infantry; 7000 cavalry supported by elephants, Syrian and Philistine forces assist)
Lysias (60,000 infantry; 5000 cavalry)
Timothy (Ammonite army)
Lysias, second campaign (100,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 32 elephants
Bacchides and Alcimus (Seleucid army)
Nicanor (Seleucid and Syrian forces) Bacchides and Alcimus, second campaign, 20,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry.
Major Campaigns and battles of Judas Maccabees:
The initial resistance of Mattathias was intended to be passive in nature but upon being forced to give allegiance to the king, Antiochus Epiphanes, and allow the desecration of the temple, the resistance turned to a violent nature. The revolt started in Modein where Mattathias killed a Jew making a profaned sacrifice and then killed the king's official who enforced such sacrifices. Mattathias fled to the hills with his sons. Seleucid troops from Jerusalem pursued the rebels and slaughtered a group of women and children on the Sabbath. Following this Mattathias formed an army and began low intensity raids on Seleucid places of worship.
The second significant action of the revolt comes after Judas succeeds Mattathias. Judas defeated an attack from Apollonius near Modein.
The Battle of Beth-Horon was Judas' first major battle fought against a large force of Syrian troops commanded by Seron. Judas had nothing but a small company of men under his command. The rebel forces made a charge against a large force at Beth-Horon routing them and killing 800 Syrians.
Judas gathered a large force in Mizpah then marched against the army of Lysias at Emmaus. One of Lysias generals, Gorgias, deployed a division (5000 infantry and 1000 cavalry) to ambush Jewish forces. Judas upon learning of this move made an attack upon Emmaus with 3000 men. Judas' forces killed 3000 Seleucid soldiers and pursued the others through Gazara, Idumea, Azotus, and Jamnia. Judas then turned from his pursuit and prepared to face Gorgias. Gorgias, however; upon seeing the destruction made by the small Jewish force made a hasty retreat.
One year passed before Judas again faced Lysias at Beth-Zur. Lysias was routed and lost 5000 men, he retreated to Antioch and enlisted the help of mercenaries to invade Judea at a later time. Judas then assaulted the Seleucid troops stationed at citadel in Jerusalem. He stationed a garrison on Mt. Zion and at Beth-Zur.
At this juncture, Judas began a second phase to his military operations, he conducted offensive campaigns against all gentile resistance. He first attacked to the south into Idumea where he won significant victories at Akrabattene and Baean. Next, he struck the Ammonites and Jazar in the East. After a brief return to Judah to reconstitute, Judas was summoned to help some Jewish forces besieged at Dathema in Gilead by the Ammonite forces under Timothy. Before Judas could deploy to Gilead word came that a major Seleucid counter attack was being staged at various places throughout Palestine. Primary elements of this attack were concentrated at Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, and Galilee. Judas sent 3000 men with his brother Simon to Galilee. With his brother Johnathan, Judas deployed 8000 men against the enemy forces in Gilead. He left two of his generals, Joseph and Azariah to guard Judea.
Simon attacked into Galilee relieving Ptolemais and Arbatta, and killing 3000 Seleucid soldiers. Judas and Johnathan captured Bozrah, Bosor, Chaspho, Maked, Carnaim, Maapha, and Dathema. 8000 of Timothy's forces were destroyed before they retreated. Timothy made one more attempt to crush the Jewish forces and gathered a large army of Arab forces around Raphon. Judas routed Timothy after a river crossing and returned to Judah where they met resistance at Ephron. Judas destroyed the town completely then returned to Jerusalem. While Judas was still in Gilead and Simon in Galilee, Joseph and Azariah attacked Jamnia. They were defeated by Gorgias loosing 2000 Jewish troops. After returning to Jerusalem, Judas set out to the south and captured Hebron, Marisa, and Azotus in Philistia.
Following the death of Antiochus, Judas laid siege to the Seleucid forces at the citadel. Several soldiers escaped and sought the aid of Lysias. Lysias then began his second campaign against the Jews moving his forces to BethZur. Judas responded by moving his forces to Beth Zechariah. As Lysias advanced on Beth-Zur, Jewish forces attacked killing 600 Seleucids but were soon overwhelmed and had to fall back to Jerusalem. Lysias took Beth-Zur without a fight and moved his army into Jerusalem laying siege to the Jewish forces. The Jews were forced to scatter after several days of fierce fighting because their food supply ran out. Only a handful of Jews remained in the stronghold. Internal problems within the Empire caused a distraction for Lysias and he was forced to withdraw his troops from Jerusalem. However, before he does so he made a peace offer which was accepted, the stronghold in Jerusalem was torn down.
The new Seleucid king, Demetrius I wished to settle affairs in Palestine. Demetrius sent Bacchides and Alcimus to deal with Judas under false pretensions of peace. After the slaughter of many Jews, Judas again built an army to oppose the Seleucids. Nicanor was sent with a large army to meet Judas in battle at Caphar-salama. Here Judas killed 500 Seleucids and routed the rest back to Jerusalem. Nicanor sent his forces to Beth-horon as Judas moved to Adasa with 3000 men. The following day both forces clashed in a fierce battle where Nicanor was killed. The Seleucid forces retreated closely followed by Judas who pursued them from Adasa to Gazara destroying the entire army of Nicanor. Following this victory Judas made a treaty with Rome.
Demetrius sent a follow-up force to deal with the Jews led by Baccchides and Alchimus. Their initial strike was unopposed and they destroyed the town of Mesaloth. Their second objective was Jerusalem followed by Berea. While Judas was encamped at Elasa, his scouts reported the Seleucid movements. The camp of Israel was alarmed and 2200 men fled leaving Judas with a 800 elite troops. Bacchides divided his elements and waited for the Jewish approach. Sending out advance contact units of archers flanked by cavalry Bacchides men engaged the Jewish forces. The battle raged all day but Judas was able to route the Seleucid force on the right flank. As they pursued the seleucid units to Mt. Azotus, the forces of Bacchides left flank attacked the Jews from the rear. It is here that Judas Maccabees fell in battle.
Postscript:
The forces of Judas were but a small band of men fighting guerrilla tactics against a highly organized army. Continual military campaigns by Seleucid forces eventually weakened the Jewish army. For some reason Judas felt it was better to resist and fall in battle than withdraw and enlist the newly established Roman support.
Sources used:
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version.