s above. The town lay
on a rounded hill about one-third of a mile in diameter that rises
abruptly in a series of steep terraces. The Wady Malakeh encircled it on
the south and west. On the northeastern side, where lies the modern town,
was a broad shoulder of land slightly lower and larger than the acropolis.
In ancient times it was probably the site of the lower city. Deep,
encircling valleys on the north and east completed the natural defences of
this border village that became the altar of Jewish freedom. To-day the
scattered ruins of the acropolis are covered in spring-time with a
luxuriant growth of grain and olive trees, making it one of the most
picturesque mounds in Palestine.

It is surprising that the revolt against the cruel tyranny of Antiochus
was led by an aged priest. Like many priests, his home was outside
Jerusalem. Evidently he was one of the chief men of Modein. He was
descended from the family of Hasmon, hence his descendants, who ultimately
became the independent rulers of their race, are sometimes called the
Hasmonians. In Mattathias the long-suppressed, hot indignation of the
Jewish race at last found expression. In slaying the apostate Jew and
Syrian official, Mattathias evoked that warlike spirit which had in
earlier days given Israel a home and a place among the nations. His
impulsive act inaugurated a new chapter in Israel's life and thought. In
its far-reaching consequences it was comparable only to Moses' impulsive
slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster.

II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious. It was fortunate that Mattathias
had five able, mature sons to support him. Simon, the eldest, was already
famous in council. Judas, who bore the surname Maccabeus (whence the word
Maccabees), soon proved himself a great military leader. Jonathan combined
the qualities of Simon and Judas with a certain craftiness that makes
him the least attractive of the three. Eleazar later proved on the
battle-field that he had the qualities that make heroes and martyrs. Among
the Judean hills, and especially in the barren, almost inaccessible
fastnesses that descend in a series of terraces from the central plateau
to the Dead Sea, Mattathias and his followers found refuge. Hither many
patriotic Jews had already fled. The Syrian mercenaries, however, led by
the relentless, apostate Jews, pursued them, and, knowing their scruples,
attacked them on the sabbath day and pitilessly slaughtered them. Learning
from this awful e