RESTORATION OF THE JEWISH COMMONWEALTH.

Eventful career of Judas Maccabaeus
Condition of the Jews after their return from Babylon
Condition of Jerusalem
Fanatical hatred of idolatry
Severe morality of the Jews after the captivity
The Pharisees
The Sadducees
Synagogues, their number and popularity
The Jewish Sanhedrim
Advance in sacred literature
Apocryphal Books
Isolation of the Jews
Dark age of Jewish history
Power of the high priests
The Persian Empire
Judaea a province of the Persian Empire
Jews at Alexandria
Judaea the battle-ground of Egyptians and Syrians
The Syrian kings
Antiochus Epiphanes
His persecution of the Jews
Helplessness of the Jews
Sack of Jerusalem
Desecration of the Temple
Mattathias
His piety and bravery
Revolt of Mattathias