1. A Syrian "nobleman of the blood royal" whom Antiochus Epiphanes, when setting out for Persia, ap- pointed guardian of his son, and regent of tliat part of his kingdom which extended from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt (1 Mace, iii, 32; 2 Mace, x, 11 ; com- pare Josephus, .4?!/. xii, 7, 2 ; Appian, De rebus Syr. 46). Acting under the special orders of the king, Lysias col- lected a large force for the purpose of carrying on a war of extermination against the Jews. This army, under the command of the generals Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gor- gias, was surprised and put to flight by Judas Maccabae- us near Emmaus (1 Mace, iii, 38-iv, 18 ; Josephus, ^J^^ xii, 7, 3, 4). In the following year, B.C. 165, L.y8ias him- self invaded Judiea with a still larger army, and joined battle with Judas in the neighborhood of Bethsura. The Syrians were again defeated, and so decisively that Judas was able to accomplish his great purpose, the ]nirifiea- tion of the Temple, and the re-establishment of divine worship at Jerusalem (1 Mace, iv, 28-61 ; Josephus, ^?!<. xii, 7, 5-7). Lysias retired to Antioch, and, while pre- paring for a fresh campaign, the death of Epiphanes left him in virtual possession of the supreme power. Short- ly afterwards (probably B.C. 163), with an army equal in munljer to the former two combined, with three hundred war-chariots and two-and-thirty elephants, and accom- panied by the young king Antiochus Eupator, he again entered Judaea from the side of Idumsea. Having taken the fortified city of Bethsura, he advanced to Jerusalem and laid siege to the Temple. Meeting here with a stouter resistance than he had anticipated, and hcarmg
LYSIMACHFS
591
LYSTRA
that Philip, a rival claimant to the guardianship of the king, was returning from Persia, he hastily concluded a peace with the Jews, and set out for Antioch. On reach- ing this city he found it in the possession of his rival. In the engagement which followed Philip was defeated and slain. Another and more formidable opponent, however, soon appeared in the person of Demetrius So- ter, first cousin of the king, who, escaping from Eome, landed at Tripolis, and laitl claim to the throne. The people rose in his favor, and Antiochus and Lysias were seized and put to death (1 Blacc. vi-vii, 2 ; 2 Mace, xiii- xiv, 2 ; Joseph. A nt. xii, 9, 10 ; Appian, De rebus Syr. 41) .
In the second book of Maccabees an account is given at some length of an invasion of Juda;a by Lysias, made be/ore the final invasion, but after the death of Epipha- nes (2 Mace. xi). It is scarcely possible to reconcile this with the more trustworthy narratives of the first book, and it is clear from 2 Mace, ix, 28-x, 10, that the writer is not following a strictly chronological order in this part of his history. Internal evidence seems to fa- vor the opinion that this narrative has been compiled from separate and partial accounts of the two invasions referred to in 1 IMacc. iv-vi, the writer too hastily in- ferring that they described the same event. — Kitto. "There is no sufficient ground for believing that the events recorded are different (Patritius, Be Co7isensu Mace. § xxvii, xxxvii), for the mistake of date in 2 Mace, is one which might easily arise (compare Werns- dorf. Be fide Mace. § Ixvi ; Grimm, on 2 j\Iacc. xi, 1). The idea of Grotius that 2 Mace, xi and 2 Mace, xiii are duplicate records of the same event, in spite of Ewald's support (Geschichte, iv, 3G5, note), is scarcely tenable, and leaves half the difficulty unexplained." — Smith.
2. Claudius Lysias, the chiliarch(Y(\iapxoC)" chief captain"J who commanded the Koman troops in Jeru- salem during the latter part of the procuratorship of Felix, and by whom Paul was secured from the fury of the Jews, and sent under guard to the procurator Felix at CiBsarea (Acts xxi, 31-38; xxii, 2-4-30; xxiii, 17-30; xxiv, 7, 22). A.D. 55. Nothing more is known of him than what is stated in these passages. From his name, and from Acts xxii, 28, it may be inferred that he was a Greek who had become a Roman citizen. His proper rank appears to have been that of militar;/ tribune, and his note to his superior officer is an interesting specimen of Koman military correspondence (comp.Wernsdorf, CT. Li/sicu Oratio. Helmst. 1743). See Paul.
Lysim'achtis {Anaifiaxoc, a frequent Greek name), the name of two men mentioned in the Apocrypha.
1. "The son of Ptolema3us of Jerusalem," commonly supposed to be the translator into Greek of the Book of Esther (see the close of the Sept. version). The Apoc- ryphal " rest of the Book of Esther," A.V., says, " In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemaius and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest and Levite, and Ptolemosus his son, brought this epistle of Phurim, which they said was the same, and that Lysimachus, the son of Ptolemoeus, that was at Jerusalem, had interpreted it" (xi, 1). There is, however, no reason to suppose that the translator was also the author of the additions made to the Hebrew text. See Esther, Apocryphal Ad- ditions TO.
2. A brother of the Menelaus whom Antiochus ap- pointed high-priest (B.C. cir. 171). Menelaus left him temporarily "in his stead in the priesthood," and en- couraged him to commit many sacrileges. Thus he roused the indignation of tlie common people, who rose against liim and killed him (2 JNiacc. iv, 29, 39). The Vidgate erroneously makes him the successor instead of the deputy of Menelaus. — Kitto.