ABSTRACT
. Two distinctly marked forces are now again at work within the life of the nation. Their interaction is the sum and substance of the history of the latter days of the Hasmoneans. They bring back under other names the ideals and the affinities of the days of Judas Maccabeus, and carry on in sad and direful fashion the old struggle between Hellenism and Judaism. The Maccabean state has attained its glory in supremacy over outside foes only to fall into ruin under the disintegrating action of internal rivalry. The question of the nation has resolved itself into this: shall a religio-political or a politico-religious force have the mastery? More and more the people themselves were being drawn into the settlement of this definite issue. The heroic service and devotion of their leaders hitherto had held them in loyal fidelity to that leadership. Now they were called upon to decide between their civil rulers and their religious teachers, and that decision involved them in civil war.
