Who were the Macabees ?

The Maccabees were a second century BC family of priests who led the Jews in a revolt against Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

The first Temple, also known as Solomon's Temple, was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 BC. The temple was rebuilt -- as the Second Temple -- and lasted until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD following the Jewish revolt against them.

In 167 BC, following a rebellion of the Jews, which was spurred by false reports of Antiochus' death in an Egyptian battle, Antiochus, whose surname "Epiphanes" means God Manifest, made Judaism illegal and outlawed circumcision. Possession of the Torah and other Jewish religious writings was made a capitol offense. He did not destroy the Second Temple. Instead, he cleared out the Holy of Holies and installed an alter to Zeus, the Greek supreme god, in the place. And, on the alter, inside the Holy of Holies, the most holiest place to Jews, he personally sacrificed a pig, the most unclean animal to Jews, to Zeus, who was a pagan God. It is the act that is referred to as the Abomination of Desolations.

Angered by the desecration of the Holy of Holies, a village priest, Mattathias, launched a second revolt against Antiochus. The first Maccabee, which means "Hammer", was Mattathias' son, Judas, who carried on the revolt, following Mattathias' death. In 164 BC, the Maccabees conquered Jerusalem. A Seleucid attempt to retake the city was stalled when Antiochus died. The general of the Seleucid army, Lysias, headed back to Syria to take care of internal politics following the death of Antiochus. Needing peace on its borders during a time of internal unrest, Seleucid leaders agreed to restore religious freedom to the Jews. The idols to Zeus and other Greek gods were removed and the Temple cleansed.

According to tradition, when the Maccabees entered and cleansed the Temple, there was only enough oil to keep the eternal flame lit for one day and it would be eight days until they received any more oil. The tradition says they lit the flame anyway and it stayed lit until new deliveries of oil were made. This is the source of the Festival of Hanukkah, where Jews light a candle for each day the eternal flame remained lit despite not having oil.

Taking advantage of a civil war in Judea, the Romans occupied the land in 63 BC. The Romans were never liked and by the time of Jesus there was a strong nationalist movement among the Jews. This movement flared into open rebellion in 66 AD (remember, years BC -- also seen as BCE -- count down to 1 BC and years AD -- also known as CE -- count upwards through the present year).

The Roman 10th Legion, under the command of Vespasian, soon put Jerusalem under siege. After Vespasian went to Rome in 69 AD, his son, Titus Flavius, took command of the 10th Legion. In 70 AD, the 10th Legion broke through Jerusalem's walls and generally destroyed the city. They dismantled the Second Temple in such a way that not one brick was left standing on another brick.

The only remains of the Second Temple today are the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, which was a Temple wall and where observant Jews go today to pray and leave prayer notes. The actual site where the Second Temple stood is occupied by the Dome of the Rock, which is the third holiest site in Islam. Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended to heaven from the Temple Mount.

Your best source would be a Catholic bible. The two books of Macabees appear at the end of the Old Testament. Many bibles have introductions to each book containing thumbnail summaries.

The two books are possibly the most recently written of the Old Testament books.

The Macabees were a family of rebels--two brothers, primarily--who rebelled not only against Greek culture that was watering down Judiism but against the Jews who accepted that culture. They led an armed struggle against--can't remember who, an occupying force, can't remember what, probably a civ centered around modern day Syria or Iraq or Turkey. They won.

Judah was the one