to another, and calls Gorgias "governor of Idumaea" (xii. 32), which seems to be more correct than "of Jamnia." He set out with 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry, and killed a number of Jews; whereupon a certain Dositheus of Tobiene (so the correct reading of the Syrian translation), one of those whom Judas had protected against the pagans, threw himself upon Gorgias and seized his mantle, intending to take him prisoner; but a Thracian horseman cut off Dositheus' arm and so saved Gorgias. The last-named then retired to Marissa (ib. verse 35; comp. "Ant." xii. 8, § 6), after which he is lost to view. Willrich assumes ("Judaica," p. 33) from the description of the booty in 1 Maccabees iv. 23 that Holofernes in the Book of Judith represents Gorgias. Later on 164 BC he held a garrison in Jamnia, and gained a victory over the forces of Joseph and Azarias who, envying the glory of Judas and Jonathan, in direct disobedience of the orders of Judas, attacked Gorgias and were defeated. Jamnia as given in Josephus, Ant, XII, viii, 6, is probably the correct reading for Idumaea in 2 Macc 12:32. The actions of Gorgias in 2 Macc are recorded with some confusion. He was regarded with special hostility by the Jews. In 2 Macc 12:35 he is described as "the accursed man." References Hutchinson, J. (1915). Gorgias. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Eds. Orr, James, M.A., D.D. Retrieved December 9, 2005. Sources Heinrich Graetz, Geschichte ii. 343, 357; Emil Schürer, Geschichte 3d ed., i. 205, 212; Benediktus Niese, in Hermes, xxxv. 466.G. S. Kr. External links The Maccabees at the Catholic Encyclopedia Seleucid people in the books of the Maccabees Seleucid generals 2nd-century BC people