The sad declension of the nation and the ruthless persecution of Antiochus had already roused his keenest indignation, when a royal commissioner, Apelles, arrived at Modin, charged to carry out the edict against the Jewish religion, and to require the people to offer idolatrous sacrifice. Knowing his influence in the place, the commissioner used his utmost efforts to induce Mattathias to conform to heathen customs. But it was in vain. The aged priest not only declared his resolution to live and die in the faith of his fathers, but when an apostate Jew approached the altar which Apelles had erected to offer sacrifice, struck him down, and then, aided by his sons and the men of the town, rushed upon the commissioner himself, slew him and his retinue, and tore down the altar (1 Macc. ii. 15–29). The first blow thus struck, he called upon all such of his fellow-townsmen as were zealous for the Law of Moses to follow him, and, unfurling the banner of the national Faith, fled to the dark and rugged mountains of Judæa, where he was soon joined by many who feared God, and hated idolatry. Tidings of these events quickly reached the ears of the Phrygian governor at Jerusalem, and he dispatched a large force, which attacked the patriots on the Sabbath-day, when they were unlikely to offer any resistance, and slew upwards of 1000, with their wives, children, and cattle (1 Macc. ii. 31–38). This untoward incident awoke the little army of Mattathias to the conviction that they would be _rooted out of the earth_ (1 Macc. ii. 40), if they persisted in their resolve not to act in self-defence on the Sabbath-day. With the sanction, therefore, of their brave leader, they determined to break through this overscrupulous observance, and though they would not attack, they henceforth considered it lawful to defend themselves on this day. Before long, they were joined by the “Assideans,” the zealots for the Law (1 Macc. ii. 42), and by numbers flying from the persecution still going on throughout the country, and prepared to conduct the war of independence with prudence and discretion. For a time, therefore, they laid hid in their mountain fastnesses, and, as opportunity offered, poured down upon the towns, destroyed the heathen altars, enforced circumcision, punished all apostates who fell into their hands, recovered many copies of the Law from the possession of their enemies, and re-established public worship. But the hardships of the campaign did not suit the advanced age of Mattathias. Sinking under the weight of years, he called together his followers, exhorted them in noble words to constancy and devotion, and bequeathed the command of his little army to Judas, the third and most valiant of all his sons, associating with him Simon, his second son, as chief counsellor (1 Macc. ii. 49–69). Having given them this prudent advice, he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin, amidst the universal lamentations of the people, B.C. 166[28].