Bacchides (general)

Bacchides ( ) was a Hellenistic Greek general; friend of the Syrian-Greek king Demetrius ; and "ruler in the country beyond the river "— Euphrates . Demetrius sent him in 161 BCE to Judea with a large army, in order to invest the recreant Alcimus with the office of high priest ( I Macc. vii. 8, 9). The peaceable Assideans credulously expected friendship from him; but, contrary to oath and covenant, he cruelly slew sixty of them (ib. vii. 16). Leaving Jerusalem , he made a slaughter-house of Bezeth (Bethzecha), and after handing the country over to Alcimus, returned to the king (ib. vii. 19, 20). Demetrius sent Bacchides back to Judea . A Greek army, under General Nicanor , had been defeated by Judas Maccabeus (ib. vii. 26-50) at the Battle of Adasa . Bacchides was sent with Alcimus and an army of twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry. Bacchides met Judas at The Battle of Elasa (Laisa) . Judas was killed and his army defeated. Bacchides now established the Hellenists as rulers in Judea; and the persecuted patriots (ib. ix. 25-27), under Jonathan , brother of Judas, fled beyond the Jordan River . Bacchides came upon them there on a Sabbath, and but suffered defeat, losing one thousand men (ib. ix. 43-49). He returned to Jerusalem, and, in order to subdue the Jews, fortified not only the Acra , but also Jericho , Emmaus , Beth-horon , Beth-el , Thamnata (Timnatha) , Pharathon , Tephon , Beth-zur , and Gazara (ib. ix. 50-52). Soon after, Alcimus died, and Bacchides, having made a fruitless attack upon Jonathan, returned to the king. At the instigation of the Hellenists, he moved a third time against the Jews. Only after he had been defeated several times by Simon , brother of Judas and Jonathan, did he conclude an enforced treaty of peace with Jonathan, and depart into his own land (ib. ix. 58-73; Josephus , Ant. xii. 10, § 13; xiii. 1). The representation of Bacchides by Josephus ( B.J. i. 1, §§ 2, 3) as barbarous by nature, and the statement that he was slain by Mattathias , are both erroneous. In the Syriac translation of the Book of the Maccabees , Bacchides, through an error in transcription, is called "Bicrius" instead of "Bacdius"; and in the Jewish version of the Hanukkah story ( Megillat Antiochus ) he is called Bagris, or Bogores (see Moses Gaster 's edition of the Megillah ); forms corrupted, according to Bacher.

General and governor of the Greek Seleucid Empire Bacchides ( ) ( fl. 2nd-century BCE) was a Syrian-Greek general and governor ( strategos ) and friend and advisor ( philoi ) of King Demetrius I Soter of the Seleucid Empire . The Seleucid Empire was one of the Greek successor states ( diadochi ) founded after the conquests of Alexander the Great , and was centered in Syria and Babylonia in the Hellenistic era . Bacchides is only known from the books of Maccabees ( 1 Maccabees , possibly 2 Maccabees as well) and the works of the historian Josephus .

General and governor of the Greek Seleucid Empire Bacchides ( Greek : Βακχίδης ) ( fl. 2nd-century BCE) was a Syrian-Greek general ( strategos ), governor, friend and advisor ( philos ) of King Demetrius I Soter of the Seleucid Empire . The Seleucid Empire was one of the Greek successor states (ruled by the diadochi ) founded after the conquests of Alexander the Great , and was centered in Syria and Babylonia in the Hellenistic era . Bacchides is only known from the books of Maccabees ( 1 Maccabees , possibly 2 Maccabees as well) and the works of the historian Josephus .