The Battle of Elasa was fought between Jewish and Seluecid armies during the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים, Makabim) were Jewish rebels who fought against the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. ... The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ...

In 160 BC, the Seleucid King Demetrios, on campaign in the east, left his general Bacchides to govern the western portion of the empire. Bacchides led an army of 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry into Judea intending to reconquer this now independant kingdom. Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC - 160s BC - 150s BC140s BC 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC Years: 165 BC 164 BC 163 BC 162 BC 161 BC - 160 BC - 159 BC 158 BC 157... Demetrius I (d. ... Bacchides was a Syrian general; friend of the Syrian king Demetrius; and ruler in the country beyond the river—Euphrates. ... Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad Judea or Judaea (יהודה Praise, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) (Greek: Ιουδαία) is a term used for the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael), an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank, and...

The Seleucid general Bacchides hastily marched through judea after carrying out a massacre in the galilee. He quickly made for Jerusalem, besieging the city and traping Judah the Macabee, the spiritual and military leader of Judea, inside. 1 Maccabees records that Judah's army consisting of 3000 men were terrified of such a large force and two thirds of them deserted, leaving Judah with 800-1000 soldiers (1 macabees, and flavius josephus respectively). Judah encouraged his remaining men and set out to meet the Seluecid army in the rough terrain surrounding Jerusalem. Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E; Hebrew: (help· info) Yerushalayim; Arabic: (help· info) al-Quds, Greek Ιεροσόλυμα), is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ... 1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible which was written by a Jewish (pre-Christian) author, probably about 100 BC, after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom. ...

Being heavily outnumbered, Judah ignored the Seleucid infantry which had deployed in the slow moving and inflexible phalanx formation, instead launching an all out attack on Bacchides himself, who was part of the Seleucid cavalry squadron on the right flank of the army. They succeded in quickly routing bacchides' cavalry, who fled into the steep hills that surround Jerusalem, with the Judeans in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, the left flank of Seleucid cavalry had been racing to meet up with the right flank, and in doing so surrounded and fought against the judeans in the hills. The Seluecid infantry may or may not have caught up. If they did catch up, despite being unable to properly deploy in phalanx formation due to the terrain, and not being trained or equipped properly for individual hand to hand combat, would have still managed to turn the battle easily with their sheer numbers. Judah was eventually killed and the remaining judeans fled.

Bezalel Bar-Kochva believes that the Judeans would have had equal numbers to the Seleucids in this battle, that Bacchides' retreat was feigned in order to lure Judah into a vulnerable position, and that the Seleucid phalanx managed to best the Judean infantry in a full-scale battle.

The Seleucids had reasserted their authority temporarily in Jerusalem, but Judas' brother Jonathan and after him Simon, continued to fight, meeting Bacchides again in later battles. Eventually, after several additional years of war under the leadership of Judas' brothers and the defeat of Bacchides several times by both Jonathan and later Simon, Seleucid control of Judea was broken. The descendants of Judas established the Hasmonean dynasty which, due largely to internal strife, would last only around 100 years. Bacchides was a Syrian general; friend of the Syrian king Demetrius; and ruler in the country beyond the river—Euphrates. ... The Hasmonean Kingdom (pronunciation) in ancient Judea and its ruling dynasty from 140 BCE to 37 BCE was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army in 165 BCE. // Recorded history The origin of the Hasmonean dynasty is recorded in the...

References

 1 Maccabees Flavius Josephus Babylonian Talmud Bezalel Bar-Kochva The Seleucid Army Cambridge University Press, 1976. http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gabrmetz/gabr0010.htm for phalanx combat training. http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gabrmetz/gabr000c.htm inability of a phalanx to pursue.