Excerpt from Judas Maccabaeus, and the Jewish War of Independence In the following pages, I have attempted not only to narrate the bare facts of the short career of Judas, but also to give a sketch of the gradual development of the nation during the period of independence, from Ezra to the Herodian age, with some account of their habits of life, their manners, and their religious contests and tendencies, and with an estimate of the true value of the achievements of Judas, as influencing the later history of the Jews. From a study of the condition and habits of the nation, we obtain a clear view of the immediate causes of the revolt, and the real importance of the struggle will be seen to lie in the development of the national character and religion, which was the result of the freedom obtained by the efforts of Judas. In order to understand the causes of the revolt, it is necessary, first, briefly to review the history of the nation from the time of their return from captivity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.