Judaean and Seleucid politics were more convoluted than a season of House of Cards, which is part of the reason most of the context is been ignored in religious education. The usual summary, in a tweet, is this: King Antiochus prohibited the practice of Judaism and defiled the Temple. The Maccabees led a revolt, defeated the Greeks, and rededicated the Temple. Liberators find one day’s worth of oil for the Eternal Flame but miraculously it lasts eight days. –But what was behind Antiochus’s decision? First, let’s follow the money.