Josippon

Antiochus bore a grudge against Shimon for killing his chiefs, and, mustering an army numerous as the sand of the sea, he invaded Judaea with a mighty hand in the fourth year of his reign, which was the first year of Hyrcanus, king of Judaea. Hyrcanus closed up the city, and he laid siege to Jerusalem for many days, but he could not prevail against her due to the height of the walls, the fortification of the towers, and the strength of the youths who inhabited the city. Antiochus built 130 towers to the north of the city, each with turrets, and he put warriors from his troops on their turrets, and, mining the wall of Jerusalem, he collapsed it. The Jews charged quickly toward the fallen wall and smote all the Makedonian warriors who dared to invade the city. They left through the breach in the wall and fought with Antiochus's force; they chased him from the camp and overturned the towers that Antiochus had made. Antiochus retreated twenty stadia from the city and made his camp there.

The holiday of Sukkoth arrived, in which it is the law for the people of God to offer up burnt offerings, to sacrifice qorbanoth and thanksgiving offerings, and to praise the name of God with four kinds of trees. Hyrcanus sent messengers to Antiochus, saying: "Give us a truce for eight days, and let us celebrate the festival of the Lord our God." He replied and said: "Celebrate your festival, but let me have a portion in it with you." Antiochus sent an offering to God: one bull, its horns adorned with pure gold, and he sent gold and silver, vessels full of spices, all this an offering to the Temple of the great God.

The gatekeepers took this offering and brought it to the priests, and the priests hoisted it in the temple. This Antiochus acted better than Antiochus Epiphanes, for Epiphanes set his heart against Jerusalem; and when he had taken Jerusalem, he entered the Temple of God, but he did not act well, for he slaughtered the pig in the Temple and fouled the altar and threw the pig's flesh in every corner of the Temple. For this, God struck him with a sickness, and he died of his evil diseases, as we wrote above, while this Antiochus, called Pius, acted righteously and honored the Temple of God. Hence, the Jews rebelled against Epiphanes and did not serve him further, but this one was called Pius for he was a merciful man.

Hyrcanus saw that he had set his heart to worship God, so he sent envoys to him to make a treaty with him, and he made a treaty with him. He received him in Jerusalem, making a great feast for him and all his servants; he gave him three hundred talents of gold, and he left to go to his land. King Hyrcanus claimed the hidden gold in Jerusalem; he opened one of the graves of David, king of Israel, and took from there three thousand talents of pure gold, but he left there much gold.

King Antiochus departed from Jerusalem and went to fight with King Arsak (Arsaces) of Persia, and King Hyrcanus was with him. Joseph ben Gurion said in his book: "On this matter I found as witnesses other writers who wrote books; I found written thus in the book of Nicolaus of Damascus: 'Now King Antiochus went out against Arsaces, Hyrcanus accompanying him, and they came to the Lyko (Lycus) River and fought against Indat (Indates), general of the army of Arsaces, king of Persia, forcing him to flee, and he smote the Persian force, and many died. Antiochus built there a great construction as a trophy for this exploit.'"

They traveled from there to go to Arsaces, but Hyrcanus stayed on the road for two days because of the Sabbath and the holy day of Shavuoth that followed upon the Sabbath; for this reason, Hyrcanus stayed on the road for two days. Antiochus went by himself with his camp and did not wait for Hyrcanus, so that Hyrcanus would not gain honor for warring against the Persian king. Antiochus attacked Arsaces, king of Persia, and fought with him, and many Greeks fell in that battle, and King Antiochus ended his days in that battle.