that their cause was hopeless, but such was not the case. Though they could not forsee it, they were on the threshold of one of the most glorious epochs in their history as a nation. 18. Maccabean Dynasty One of the most remarkable ruling families in the long history of the Jewish race was the Maccabean with which we are now concerned. The father of this family was an aged priest, named Mattathias, who lived in the little town of Modein, west of Jerusalem near the Philistine border. He had five sons,