A family known as the Maccabees rebelled and won independence from Greek rulers who tried to ban important parts of Judaism. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees and their reclaiming of the Temple. After Mattathias' death about one year later in 166 BC, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare, which at first was directed against Hellenized Jews, of whom there were many.
