1.) _The revolt of Mat-ta-thi'as._ In the year B. C. 170 an aged priest, Mat-ta-thi'as, unfurled the banner of independence from the Syr'i-an yoke. He did not at first aim for political freedom, but religious liberty; but after winning a few victories over the Syr'i-an armies he began to dream of a free Jew'ish state. He died in the beginning of the war, but was succeeded by his greater son, Ju'das Mac-ca-be'us. 2.) _Ju'das Mac-ca-be'us_ gained a greater success than had been dreamed at the beginning of the revolt. Within four years the Jews recaptured Je-ru'sa-lem and reconsecrated the temple. The anniversary of this event was ever after celebrated in the Feast of Dedication (John 10. 22). Ju'das ranks in history as one of the noblest of the Jew'ish heroes, and deserves a place beside Josh'u-a, Gid'e-on, and Sam'u-el as a liberator and reformer. 3.) _The Mac-ca-be'an dynasty._ Ju'das refused the title of king, but his family established a line of rulers who by degrees assumed a royal state, and finally the royal title. In the year B. C. 143 Jew'ish liberty was formally recognized, and the Mac-ca-be'an princes ruled for a time over an independent state. Between B. C. 130 and 110 E'dom, Sa-ma'ri-a, and Gal'i-lee were added to Ju-de'a. The latter province had been known as "Gal'i-lee of the Gen'tiles" (Isa. 9. 1); but by degrees the foreigners withdrew, and the province was occupied by Jews who were as devoted and loyal as those of Je-ru'sa-lem. 4.) _The rise of the sects._ About B. C. 100 the two sects, or schools of thought, the Phar'i-sees and Sad'du-cees, began to appear, though their principles had long been working. The Phar'i-sees ("separatists") sought for absolute separation from the Gen'tile world and a strict construction of the law of Mo'ses, while the Sad'du-cees "moralists") were liberal in their theories and in their lives. 4. =The Ro'man period=, B. C. 40 to A. D. 70. It is not easy to name a date for the beginning of the Ro'man supremacy in Pal'es-tine. It began in B. C. 63, when Pom'pey the Great (afterward the antagonist of Ju'li-us Cae'sar) was asked to intervene between two claimants for the Jew'ish throne, Hyr-ca'nus and Ar-is-to-bu'lus. Pom'pey decided for Hyr-ca'nus, and aided him by a Ro'man army. In his interest he besieged and took Je-ru'sa-lem, and then placed Hyr-ca'nus in power, but without the title of king. From this time the Ro'mans were practically, though not nominally, in control of affairs. 1.) _Her'od the Great._ We assign as the date of the Ro'man rule B. C. 40, when Her'od (son of An-tip'a-ter, an E'dom-ite, who had been the general of Hyr-ca'nus) received the title of king from the Ro'man Senate. From this time Pal'es-tine was regarded as a part of the Ro'man empire. Her'od was the ablest man of his age and one of the most unscrupulous. He ruled over all Pal'es-tine, I-du-me'a (ancient E'dom), and the lands south of Da-mas'cus.