Editing Hasmonean dynasty (section)

===Antiochus IV===
[[File:Antiochos IV Epiphanes, Tetradrachm, 175-164 BC, HGC 9-620a.jpg|thumb|Tetradrachm with portrait of [[Antiochus IV]]. Reverse shows Zeus seated on a throne. The Greek inscription reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ (of King Antiochus, God Manifest, Bringer of Victory).]]
In spring 168 BC, after successfully invading the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, [[Antiochus IV]] was humiliatingly pressured by the Romans to withdraw. According to the Roman historian [[Livy]], the Roman senate dispatched the diplomat [[Gaius Popillius Laenas|Gaius Popilius]] to Egypt who demanded Antiochus to withdraw. When Antiochus requested time to discuss the matter Popilius "drew a circle round the king with the stick he was carrying and said, 'Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.'"{{sfn|Stuckenbruck|Gurtner|2019|p=100}}

While Antiochus was campaigning in Egypt, a rumor spread in Judah that he had been killed. The deposed high priest Jason{{Clarify|date=May 2025|reason= need more information about the Jason's deposition or rephrasing this to introduce the concept}} took advantage of the situation, attacked Jerusalem, and drove away Menelaus and his followers. Menelaus took refuge in [[Acra (fortress)|Akra]], the Seleucids fortress in Jerusalem. When Antiochus heard of this, he sent an army to Jerusalem who drove out Jason and his followers, and reinstated Menelaus as high priest;{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=15}} he then imposed a tax and established a [[Acra (fortress)|fortress]] in Jerusalem.

During this period Antiochus tried to suppress public observance of Jewish laws, apparently in an attempt to secure control over the Jews. His government set up an [[Idolatry|idol]] of [[Zeus]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://virtualreligion.net/iho/antiochus_4.html|title=Antiochus IV Epiphanes|website=virtualreligion.net}}</ref> on the [[Temple Mount]], which Jews considered to be desecration of the Mount, outlawed observance of the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] and the offering of sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple, required Jewish leaders to sacrifice to idols and forbade both circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures, on pain of death. Punitive executions were also instituted. 
According to Josephus,<blockquote>"Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar."<ref name=Whiston>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0148&redirect=true|title=Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book I, Whiston chapter pr.|website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref></blockquote>
The motives of Antiochus are unclear. He may have been incensed at the overthrow of his appointee, Menelaus,<ref name=Oesterley>Oesterley, W.O.E., ''A History of Israel'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1939</ref> he may have been responding to a Jewish revolt that had drawn on the Temple and the [[Torah]] for its strength, or he may have been encouraged by a group of radical Hellenisers among the Jews.<ref name=deLange>[[Nicholas de Lange]] (ed.), ''The Illustrated History of the Jewish People'', London, Aurum Press, 1997, {{ISBN|978-1-85410-530-1}}{{rp|needed=y|date=December 2020}}</ref>