This book is an account of the battles fought by Judas Maccabeus between 166 and 160 B.C. against the forces of the Seleucids during the revolt of the Jews against domination by the Seleucid empire. It reexamines the accepted assessments of Judas Maccabeus' activities and achievements and seeks to reconstruct the course of the military and political events of his time. Part I examines the composition and strength of the armies on both sides, their armaments and operating methods, and discusses the extent of Judas Maccabeus' success. Following an introduction evaluating the Jewish writings...

This is a 1976 study of the organization and tactics of the Seleucid armies from 312 to 129 BC. The first part of the book discusses the numerical strength of the armies, their sources of manpower, the contingents of the regular army, their equipment and historical development, the chain of command, training and discipline. The second part reconstructs the great campaigns in order to examine the Seleucid tactics. The book provides a lesson in Hellenistic and military history and discusses several questions: how did the Hellenistic armies develop after Alexander? What distinguished the...

This landmark contribution to ongoing debates about perceptions of the Jews in antiquity examines the attitudes of Greek writers of the Hellenistic period toward the Jewish people. Among the leading Greek intellectuals who devoted special attention to the Jews were Theophrastus (the successor of Aristotle), Hecataeus of Abdera (the father of "scientific" ethnography), and Apollonius Molon (probably the greatest rhetorician of the Hellenistic world). Bezalel Bar-Kochva examines the references of these writers and others to the Jews in light of their literary output and personal background;...

Debate over the authenticity of "On the Jews" has persisted for nearly 1,900 years. Bezalel Bar-Kochva attempts to overcome this stalemate in his finely detailed and convincingly argued study that proves the forgery of the book and suggests not only a source for the text, but also a social, political, and cultural setting that explains its conception.

Bar-Kochva argues that the author of this treatise belonged to the moderate conservative Jews of Alexandria, whose practices were contrary to the contemporary trends of Hellenistic Judaism. They rejected the application of Greek philosophy...

This is a 1976 study of the organization and tactics of the Seleucid armies from 312 to 129 BC. The first part of the book discusses the numerical strength of the armies, their sources of manpower, the contingents of the regular army, their equipment and historical development, the chain of command, training and discipline. The second part reconstructs the great campaigns in order to examine the Seleucid tactics. The book provides a lesson in Hellenistic and military history and discusses several questions: how did the Hellenistic armies develop after Alexander? What distinguished the...

This landmark contribution to ongoing debates about perceptions of the Jews in antiquity examines the attitudes of Greek writers of the Hellenistic period toward the Jewish people. Among the leading Greek intellectuals who devoted special attention to the Jews were Theophrastus (the successor of Aristotle), Hecataeus of Abdera (the father of "scientific" ethnography), and Apollonius Molon (probably the greatest rhetorician of the Hellenistic world). Bezalel Bar-Kochva examines the references of these writers and others to the Jews in light of their literary output and personal background;...