1. Plato, Apology of Socrates, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 28b. and there is no danger that it will stop with me. But perhaps someone might say: Are you then not ashamed, Socrates, of having followed such a pursuit, that you are now in danger of being put to death as a result? But I should make to him a just reply: You do not speak well, Sir, if you think a man in whom there is even a little merit ought to consider danger of life or death, and not rather regard this only, when he does things, whether the things he does are right or wrong and the acts of a good or a bad man. For according to your argument all the demigod |
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2. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 3.31-3.33, 3.35-3.37, 4.26-4.35, 4.61, 6.5-6.6, 6.18-6.42, 6.44-6.63, 9.10 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 3.31. He was greatly perplexed in mind, and determined to go to Persia and collect the revenues from those regions and raise a large fund. 3.32. He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of the kings affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. 3.33. Lysias was also to take care of Antiochus his son until he returned. 3.35. Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remt of Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place 3.36. settle aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land. 3.37. Then the king took the remaining half of his troops and departed from Antioch his capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. He crossed the Euphrates river and went through the upper provinces. 4.26. Those of the foreigners who escaped went and reported to Lysias all that had happened. 4.27. When he heard it, he was perplexed and discouraged, for things had not happened to Israel as he had intended, nor had they turned out as the king had commanded him. 4.28. But the next year he mustered sixty thousand picked infantrymen and five thousand cavalry to subdue them. 4.29. They came into Idumea and encamped at Beth-zur, and Judas met them with ten thousand men. 4.30. When he saw that the army was strong, he prayed, saying, "Blessed art thou, O Savior of Israel, who didst crush the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of thy servant David, and didst give the camp of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and of the man who carried his armor. 4.31. So do thou hem in this army by the hand of thy people Israel, and let them be ashamed of their troops and their cavalry. 4.32. Fill them with cowardice; melt the boldness of their strength; let them tremble in their destruction. 4.33. Strike them down with the sword of those who love thee, and let all who know thy name praise thee with hymns. 4.34. Then both sides attacked, and there fell of the army of Lysias five thousand men; they fell in action. 4.35. And when Lysias saw the rout of his troops and observed the boldness which inspired those of Judas, and how ready they were either to live or to die nobly, he departed to Antioch and enlisted mercenaries, to invade Judea again with an even larger army. 4.61. And he stationed a garrison there to hold it. He also fortified Beth-zur, so that the people might have a stronghold that faced Idumea. 6.5. Then some one came to him in Persia and reported that the armies which had gone into the land of Judah had been routed; 6.6. that Lysias had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews; that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils which they had taken from the armies they had cut down; 6.18. Now the men in the citadel kept hemming Israel in around the sanctuary. They were trying in every way to harm them and strengthen the Gentiles. 6.19. So Judas decided to destroy them, and assembled all the people to besiege them. 6.20. They gathered together and besieged the citadel in the one hundred and fiftieth year; and he built siege towers and other engines of war. 6.21. But some of the garrison escaped from the siege and some of the ungodly Israelites joined them. 6.22. They went to the king and said, "How long will you fail to do justice and to avenge our brethren? 6.23. We were happy to serve your father, to live by what he said and to follow his commands. 6.24. For this reason the sons of our people besieged the citadel and became hostile to us; moreover, they have put to death as many of us as they have caught, and they have seized our inheritances. 6.25. And not against us alone have they stretched out their hands, but also against all the lands on their borders. 6.26. And behold, today they have encamped against the citadel in Jerusalem to take it; they have fortified both the sanctuary and Beth-zur; 6.27. and unless you quickly prevent them, they will do still greater things, and you will not be able to stop them. 6.28. The king was enraged when he heard this. He assembled all his friends, the commanders of his forces and those in authority. 6.29. And mercenary forces came to him from other kingdoms and from islands of the seas. 6.30. The number of his forces was a hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants accustomed to war. 6.31. They came through Idumea and encamped against Beth-zur, and for many days they fought and built engines of war; but the Jews sallied out and burned these with fire, and fought manfully. 6.32. Then Judas marched away from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zechariah, opposite the camp of the king. 6.33. Early in the morning the king rose and took his army by a forced march along the road to Beth-zechariah, and his troops made ready for battle and sounded their trumpets. 6.34. They showed the elephants the juice of grapes and mulberries, to arouse them for battle. 6.35. And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes; with each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads; and five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast. 6.36. These took their position beforehand wherever the beast was; wherever it went they went with it, and they never left it. 6.37. And upon the elephants were wooden towers, strong and covered; they were fastened upon each beast by special harness, and upon each were four armed men who fought from there, and also its Indian driver. 6.38. The rest of the horsemen were stationed on either side, on the two flanks of the army, to harass the enemy while being themselves protected by the phalanxes. 6.39. When the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the hills were ablaze with them and gleamed like flaming torches. 6.40. Now a part of the kings army was spread out on the high hills, and some troops were on the plain, and they advanced steadily and in good order. 6.41. All who heard the noise made by their multitude, by the marching of the multitude and the clanking of their arms, trembled, for the army was very large and strong. 6.42. But Judas and his army advanced to the battle, and six hundred men of the kings army fell. 6.44. So he gave his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name. 6.45. He courageously ran into the midst of the phalanx to reach it; he killed men right and left, and they parted before him on both sides. 6.46. He got under the elephant, stabbed it from beneath, and killed it; but it fell to the ground upon him and he died. 6.47. And when the Jews saw the royal might and the fierce attack of the forces, they turned away in flight. 6.48. The soldiers of the kings army went up to Jerusalem against them, and the king encamped in Judea and at Mount Zion. 6.49. He made peace with the men of Beth-zur, and they evacuated the city, because they had no provisions there to withstand a siege, since it was a sabbatical year for the land. 6.50. So the king took Beth-zur and stationed a guard there to hold it. 6.51. Then he encamped before the sanctuary for many days. He set up siege towers, engines of war to throw fire and stones, machines to shoot arrows, and catapults. 6.52. The Jews also made engines of war to match theirs, and fought for many days. 6.53. But they had no food in storage, because it was the seventh year; those who found safety in Judea from the Gentiles had consumed the last of the stores. 6.54. Few men were left in the sanctuary, because famine had prevailed over the rest and they had been scattered, each to his own place. 6.55. Then Lysias heard that Philip, whom King Antiochus while still living had appointed to bring up Antiochus his son to be king 6.56. had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had gone with the king, and that he was trying to seize control of the government. 6.57. So he quickly gave orders to depart, and said to the king, to the commanders of the forces, and to the men, "We daily grow weaker, our food supply is scant, the place against which we are fighting is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom press urgently upon us. 6.58. Now then let us come to terms with these men, and make peace with them and with all their nation 6.59. and agree to let them live by their laws as they did before; for it was on account of their laws which we abolished that they became angry and did all these things. 6.60. The speech pleased the king and the commanders, and he sent to the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it. 6.61. So the king and the commanders gave them their oath. On these conditions the Jews evacuated the stronghold. 6.62. But when the king entered Mount Zion and saw what a strong fortress the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders to tear down the wall all around. 6.63. Then he departed with haste and returned to Antioch. He found Philip in control of the city, but he fought against him, and took the city by force. 9.10. But Judas said, "Far be it from us to do such a thing as to flee from them. If our time has come, let us die bravely for our brethren, and leave no cause to question our honor. |
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3. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 3.30, 5.11-6.11, 5.26, 6.18, 6.18-7.42, 6.25, 7, 7.23, 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 8.10, 8.11, 8.12, 8.13, 8.14, 8.15, 8.16, 8.17, 8.18, 8.19, 8.20, 8.21, 8.22, 8.23, 8.24, 8.25, 8.26, 8.27, 8.28, 8.29, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, 8.33, 8.34, 8.35, 8.36, 9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.11, 9.12, 9.13, 9.14, 9.15, 9.16, 9.17, 9.18, 10, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 11, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.9, 11.10, 11.11, 11.12, 11.13, 11.23, 12.23, 13, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 13.12, 13.13, 13.14, 13.15, 13.16, 13.17, 13.18, 13.19, 13.20, 13.21, 13.22, 13.23, 13.24, 13.25, 13.26, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6, 14.7, 14.8, 14.9, 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.13, 14.14, 14.15, 14.16, 14.17, 14.18, 14.19, 14.20, 14.21, 14.22, 14.23, 14.24, 14.25, 14.26, 14.27, 14.28, 14.29, 14.30, 14.31, 14.32, 14.33, 14.34, 14.35, 14.36, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9, 15.10, 15.11, 15.12, 15.13, 15.14, 15.15, 15.16, 15.17, 15.18, 15.19, 15.20, 15.21, 15.22, 15.23, 15.24, 15.25, 15.26, 15.27, 15.28, 15.29, 15.30, 15.31, 15.32, 15.33, 15.34, 15.35, 15.36 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
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4. Septuagint, 3 Maccabees, 3.27 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 3.27. But whoever shelters any of the Jews, old people or children or even infants, will be tortured to death with the most hateful torments, together with his family. |
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5. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 1.41 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.41. 5. So this Antiochus got together fifty thousand footmen, and five thousand horsemen, and fourscore elephants, and marched through Judea into the mountainous parts. He then took Bethsura, which was a small city; but at a place called Bethzacharias, where the passage was narrow, Judas met him with his army. 1.41. But the king, by the expenses he was at, and the liberal disposal of them, overcame nature, and built a haven larger than was the Pyrecum [at Athens]; and in the inner retirements of the water he built other deep stations [for the ships also]. |
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6. Seneca The Younger, Natural Questions, 3.29 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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