Did you think the Macabee revolt ended when the Temple was rededicated? Well, you're wrong. The Greeks weren't driven off for another 25 years. The rededication was in 167 BCE. Demetrius II granted the Maccabees autonomy and exemption from paying tribute in 142 BCE. By then Judah was dead, having been killed in battle in 161 BCE.
The bad guy in the story is Antiochas IV. Full name: Antiochus Theos Epiphanes, or God made manifest. The DovBears of the day called him Epimanes, which means madman.
My favorite member of the family is Alexander Jannaeus, son of John Hyrcanus, son of Simon Macabee. (notice how quickly the names were Hellenized?) Old Alexander Jannaeus (just two generations after the illustrious family founders) already opposed the Rabbis, or Prishim (Pharisses) as they were called in those days. He did something wrong, one Sukkot, and at the incitement of the Rabbis, he was pelted with esrogim.
How cool is that?
