"... The Hasmonean dynasty figures prominently in the works of Josephus. This should not be surprising since he proudly claimed descent from them: his “royal ancestry.” Although he tells us a great deal about his ancestors, his War and Antiquities, which contain the most extensive accounts of the Hasmonean family, lack many details. This is particularly true regarding the beginning and the nature of their revolt against the Seleucid Empire. The events in Jerusalem from 169 to 167 B.C.E. that led Antiochus IV Epiphanes to issue a decree that purportedly outlawed the practice of Judaism, and which led some members of the Hasmonean family to rebel against Seleucid rule, are controversial. Five major sources document the revolt led by the Hasmonean patriarch Mattathias against this edict. (1 Maccabees 1; 2 Maccabees 3:7) How much of these stories are legend remains uncertain. According to the traditional accounts preserved in the extant sources, the Hasmonean revolt began when Mattathias defied the decree of the Seleucid monarch Antiochus IV Epiphanes that banned the observance of Jewish Law. (1 Maccabees 1:16-64; 2 Maccabees 5-7) His family’s war against the Seleucid rulers lasted for nearly twenty-five years. During the reign of his son Simon, in the Seleucid year 170 (= 143/2 B.C.E.), the Hasmoneans gained independence for Judea. His legitimacy to rule this new state largely rested in his having fought in the original revolt against the Seleucid Empire led by his father, Mattathias. All Hasmoneans in some manner sought to invoke the memory of Mattathias to show they were committed to their ancestral faith and the creation of an independent Jewish state ..."