King ANTIOCHUS V reoccupies Jerusalem.
• He appoints a legitimate Jewish High Priest, and grants religious freedom,

The Hasidim (Assideans, 'Pious Ones', early Pharisees) disapprove of the nationalist war.

JUDAS appeals to Rome for support but they support ANTIOCHUS.
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

JUDAS' brother ELEAZAR dies under a Syrian war elephant at the battle of Beth-Zechariah and the Jewish forces retreat to the Gophna Hills.
Jewish high priest MENELAUS is executed by the Syrians (Governor of Southern Syria, BACCHIDES), who appoint ALCIMUS (JAKIM/JOACHIM) as Jewish high priest.
• High Priest ALCIMUS executes sixty Hasidim and this Jewish sect turns against him.
Beginning of the fratricidal wars among the ruling Seleucids of Syria.

JUDAS MACCABBAEUS dies at the battle of Eleasa, and is buried by his brothers in the family tomb at Modiin.
He is succeeded by his brother JONATHAN as the ruler of Judah/Judaea.
An alliance is signed with Rome recognising JONATHAN's Hasmonean rule over an independent Israel.

Syrian Governor, BACCHIDES, builds a series of fortresses around Jerusalem to strengthen Seleucid control of the city.

ALCIMUS, the last Hellenizing High Priest of Israel, dies of a stroke (or perhaps of poisoning with aconitine, an ingredient of the monkshood plant, Aconitum napellus L.; see similar death symptoms of Roman emperor Claudius in AD/CE 54).
• The high priesthood remains officially 'vacant' for 7 years until 152 BC,
but some priest would have officiated as high priest on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This person may have been the priest later called the "Teacher of Righteousness" by the separatist Qumran community in the Jordan valley south of Jericho.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

Seleucid/Syrian military intervention in the Jerusalem Temple state finally ends.
The 'Teacher of Righteousness' becomes a leader among the Hasidim, and prophet to their ultra-conservative Qumran community.

Deposed legitimate High Priest ONIAS IV (חוֹנִיּוֹ), son of Onias III, obtains PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR of Egypt's support for a Jewish temple at Leontopolis, in the Heliopolis district of Egypt, on the basis of Isaiah 19:18-19. This temple is in Jewish use until 73 AD (Jos. Wars 7.10).

• Hasmonean JONATHAN MACCABAEUS appoints himself (although not a Zadokite) as High Priest (152-143), backed by ALEXANDER BALAS the new Seleucid ruler.
Probable withdrawal of 'Teacher of Righteousness' to Qumran in the Jordan valley.

High Priest JONATHAN is recognised by King ALEXANDER BALAS as governor of Judaea.
Later his brother SIMON MACCABAEUS is appointed military governor of Palestine by general TRYPHON to gain support for ANTIOCHUS VI.
In Iberia (Portugal/Spain) – Roman General GALBA promises resettlement to the Lusitanian tribe on condition of disarmament, after which he then massacres them. A shepherd, VIRIATHUS, escapes and becomes a successful resistance leader destroying every Roman army sent against him for the next decade.

In Rome – CATO the Elder describes Carthaginians as untrustworthy, degenerate and effeminate child-sacrificers, ending every speech of his with "Delenda est Carthago" ('Carthage must be wiped out').
In North Africa – Rome begins the destruction of Carthage. (See Infant Sacrifice).
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

In North Africa – Rome continues its total destruction of Carthage.

In Palestine – High Priest JONATHAN attacks the forces of of APPOLONIUS, the General of DEMETRIUS II (the new Syrian king), defeating them between Jabneh and Ashdod. This is the first military action of a regular Jewish army outside the Jewish national state.
High Priest JONATHAN thus emerges as the strongest military power in Palestine.
He builds a fortress in the Judean desert and names it Masada.

In Greece – the Achaean League makes war with Rome inevitable by declaring war on Sparta.

In Palestine – JONATHAN MACCABAEUS is appointed general and joint ruler within the Seleucid kingdom by ANTIOCHUS VI (ALEXANDER BALAS' son).

The Syrian rival king, DEMETRIUS II attacks JONATHAN unexpectedly but he defeats the Syrians.

JONATHAN is arrested by the Syrian general TRYPHON, after his thousand-man escort is massacred in Ptolemais.
• SIMON MACCABAEUS becomes High Priest (143-134) and ruler in Jerusalem.

JONATHAN is executed at Bascama by TRYPHON, and is buried with great pomp in the family tomb at Modiin. Letters of sympathy come from Rome and Sparta.
SIMON MACCABAEUS sends a gift to confirm alliance with Rome.
DEMETRIUS II grants Judaea all previous privileges and freedom from tax and tribute, to gain support against his rebel general TRYPHON.
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

In Palestine –The Syrian garrison in Jerusalem is starved into submission and removed.
SIMON demolishes their fortress overlooking the Temple from the south, and even the hill on which it stood.
Bronze tablets on pillars are set up on Mount Zion declaring SIMON –

In Palestine –SIMON's right to rule is confirmed as hereditary. The Hasmonean dynasty is thereby founded.

In Rome – Its Jews are charged by the praetor (civil administrator) with attempting to contaminate Roman morals with their own religion (attempts at conversion to Judaism), and compelled to return to their own homes.
In Palestine – A delegation of High Priest SIMEON/SIMON returns from Rome armed with its Senate's order to the kings of Egypt, Syria, Cappadocia and Phrygia, not to harm the land of the Jews.

SIMON is murdered by his son-in-law.
• JOHN HYRCANUS I becomes Jewish leader and High Priest (rules 135-105).
Alternate date from the withdrawal of the ultra-conservative Hasidim to the Qumran settlement in the Jordan valley (as a religious withdrawal).
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year of the land.

ANTIOCHUS VII (SIDETES) leads a siege of Jerusalem, conquers the city, razes its walls, and makes JOHN HYRCANUS I his vassal and Jewish high priest but with religious autonomy.
JOHN HYRCANUS I forcibly circumcises conquered peoples, and is opposed by the Hasidim (early Pharisees).

In Rome – TIBERIUS SEMPRONIUS GRACCHUS is elected as Plebian Tribune and commences agrarian reform, in which the government would buy the land possessed by the owners of large estates in excess of 500 acres. This land would then be distributed to soldiers upon completion of their service to solve two problems: increase the number of men that could be levied for military service, and also take care of homeless war veterans whose farms had been taken over by wealthy land owners while they were in foreign service. His Lex Sempronia agraria reform law is approved in spite of strong opposition from the Senate but not implemented due to lack of funds.
In Pergamum – Its King ATTALUS dies and leaves his entire fortune to Rome, which GRACCHUS now hopes to use for his Roman agrarian reform (see 132 BC).

In Rome – TIBERIUS SEMPRONIUS GRACCHUS is murdered by his Senatorial opponents of reform (see 133 BC).

The Seleucid kingdom ceases to exist.
The Parthian Empire swallows Babylonia.

Conquests by JOHN HYRCANUS in Transjordan ensure his control of the ancient 'royal road' from Damascus to Elath.
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

JOHN HYRCANUS conquers the coastal plain (Josephus Ant.9.1), forcibly converting its populations to Judaism.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

• ARISTOBULUS I becomes king and High Priest, conquers Galilee, and forcibly converts its population to Judaism.

• ALEXANDER JANNAEUS (YANNAI) is Jewish king and High Priest, and completes his conquest of the land of Israel. He is strongly resisted by the Pharisees whom he cruelly suppresses.
The Hasmonean (Maccabean) state reach its apogee.

In Palestine – Jewish king ALEXANDER JANNAEUS' (YANNAI's) campaigns against Gaza and its colonies.
In Rome – A law is passed that Roman citizens should be able to "conduct, without peril, whatever business they desire" (according to a copy found at Delphi in Greece).
A copy of this law is sent by messengers of Rhodes to the kings of Cyprus, Alexandria, Egypt, Cyrene, and Syria informing them that no pirate is to –

JASON of Cyrene's Jewish history (summarized as the book of 'II Maccabees') is written glorifying the Jerusalem Temple and attacking Jewish Hellenizers.
The book of 'III Maccabees' is written as a propaganda piece to counteract those Jews who sought to win citizenship in Alexandria, Egypt.
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbatical Year for the land.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

In Italy – Revolt of most cities against Rome.

In Italy – Rome suppresses the revolt but extends franchise to most Italians.

In Palestine – Pharisees encourage Seleucid king DEMETRIUS III to invade Judaea. After an initial victory, he fails.
In revenge Jewish king ALEXANDER JANNAEUS (YANNAI) crucifies eight hundred Pharisees, while their wives and children are murdered at their feet. (Josephus, Antiquities 13.14.2). FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS reports of this –

A Jewish Sabbatical Year for the land.

In Greece – An earthquake damages the temple of the oracle at Delphi.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

North of the Danube – BUREBISTA becomes leader of the Dacians. He re-organizes their army, begins extending the frontiers of Dacia, subjugates the Bastarnae and the Boii (another Germanic tribe), and the Greek colonies around the Black Sea, eventually as far as Odessus (Odessa). The Dacian frontier eventually extends northward to the Carpathian Mountains, and eastward as far as the river Dniester (the present border between Moldavia and Ukraine).

In Jerusalem – Queen SALOME ALEXANDRA, widow of JANNAEUS, and friend of the Pharisees rules (on their behalf).
• Her son, HYRCANUS II, is now Jewish High Priest.

In Britain – The Belgic invasion of south-eastern Britain begins.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbatical Year for the land.
In Thrace – Apollonia (in modern Bulgaria) is conquered by the Romans and a lighthouse is built on the island.

Near Histria (Greek Black Sea colony) – The army of Dacia defeats a Roman army under ANTONIUS HYBRIDA.

In Jerusalem – Queen SALOME ALEXANDRA dies and the Jewish state is plunged into a period of civil war between her heirs HYCANUS II and ARISTOBULUS II.
HYRCANUS II is deposed by his brother ARISTOBULUS, and he (prompted by Antipater the Idumean) appeals to King Aretas of the Nabatean Arabs for aid.
• ARISTOBULUS II is now king and High Priest of Israel, and is also accused of complicity in piracy on the seas.

In Jerusalem – ONIAS the Just is stoned to death by the Jewish people because he would not take sides in prayer as they (under HYRCANUS II) besiege ARISTOBULUS in the Temple.
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

Roman general POMPEY orders a truce between HYRCANUS II and ARISTOBULUS II, and appoints HYRCANUS as Jewish ruler.

In Palestine – General POMPEY conquers the Jerusalem Temple after a siege of three months.
He takes ARISTOBULUS prisoner, enters the Holy of Holies, orders the continuance of Sacrifices
He makes Judaea a Roman province, and deprives the Hasmonean dynasty of its royal title.
• HYRCANUS II is reinstated as High Priest but without royal title (63-40).
Samaria (Hebrew: Shomron) is annexed to the Roman province of Syria.

GABINIUS, the first Roman governor of Judaea, puts down the rebellion of ALEXANDER (son of ARISTOBULUS).
He appoints HYRCANUS II to care for the Temple, and divides the Jews under five administrative councils, located at – Jerusalem, Gadara, Amathus, Jericho, and Sepphoris in Galilee. (See 57 BC).

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbatical Year for the land.

Roman Proconsul GABINIUS [CABINEUS] of Syria (proconsul 57-55 BC) establishes five regional Synhedria or Councils to regulate the internal affairs of the Jews, one of which was in Jerusalem.

ARISTOBULUS escapes from Rome and raises a Jewish army, but is crushed by GABINIUS.

In the Arabian desert – A Roman army led by MARCUS LICINIUS CRASSUS is annihilated by the superior tactics of the Parthian army which captures the Roman standards for display in its capital. (See 19 BC).

CRASSUS DIVES, second Roman governor of Judaea, plunders the Temple treasury.

In Gaul – Lutecia is devastated by fire, site of ancient Paris of the Parisii Celts on the old British tin route to North Italy.
Germanic invasions force the Helvetii to migrate southwards.

In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

The city fathers of Sardis grant Jews permission for the collection of money on behalf of the Temple authorities in Jerusalem and to live according to their own laws.

Roman Consul LENTULUS grants the request of Jews in Asia to be exempt from military service as it would violate their sabbath code. Jews consequently escape the Roman civil war.

Edomite ANTIPATER, founder of the Herodian dynasty, is appointed governor of Judaea by JULIUS CAESAR.
ANTIPATER's sons, PHASAEL and HEROD, rule Jerusalem and Galilee respectively.

JULIUS CAESAR's calendar reforms, changing the year to 365.25 days of twelve months.

The Julian Calendar begins with March, spring time, as God had commanded for Israel at their Exodus from Egypt.

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR orders the settlement and rebuilding of Corinth by freed Roman slaves as a Latin colony.
February: JULIUS CAESAR is made dictator for life by the Roman Senate.
March 15: JULIUS CAESAR is assassinated in Rome and is mourned by the Jews of the city as a benefactor of their people.
In Rome – The population of the city itself in this first century BC now reaches one million inhabitants (Baker 2006:23).
In Palestine – A Jewish Sabbath Year for the land.

In Judaea, Palestine – ANTIPATER is assassinated.
His son HEROD, of an Arab mother, suppresses the revolt.
CORNELIUS DOLABELLA reminds the city of Ephesus that Jews are exempt from military duty and enjoy freedom of religion.
Laodicea, in which DONABELLA had shut himself up, is captured by CASSIUS, and DOLABELLA commands one of his own soldiers to kill him.

Parthian armies invade Palestine with ANTIGONUS (son of ARISTOLBULUS II of the Jewish Hasmonian dynasty).
The Jews force HEROD to open Jerusalem's gates to the Parthians.
• ANTIGONUS is made king and high priest, and high priest HYRCANUS II is maimed so that he can never serve in the Temple, and is exiled.
HEROD flees via Egypt to seek aid, ultimately from the Senate in Rome (leaving his family at Masada).
MARK ANTONY persuades the Roman Senate to appoint HEROD as king of the Jews.

Winter: In Galilee – HEROD I (the Great) establishes his rule by military force.

Winter: HEROD's siege of Jerusalem begins, while he marries Hasmonean princess MARIAMNE in Samaria to give him a Jewish claim to rule, after banishing his wife and three year old son.

Summer: Jerusalem is captured by HEROD I and many of its citizens are slaughtered.
ANTIGONUS is executed by order of MARK ANTONY, ending the Hasmonean dynasty.
• HANANEL (not a Hasmonean) becomes High Priest in Jerusalem under HEROD.
This is a Jewish Sabbath Year – according to Jewish historian FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS (Joseph ben Matthias) which therefore assists our calculation of all others.

sea level is now about 2 metres (7 feet) below its present level.

Copyright © Lloyd Thomas 1997-2011. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Feel free to copy, as long as this full copyright notice is included.