Parthian Empire from invading, and restore a flow of taxes to the capital. He left Lysias in charge as regent in the Seleucid capital Antioch and to raise his young son, the future Antiochus V. A Seleucid expedition to Judea was repelled in 165 BC, however, after the Maccabees won the Battle of Emmaus. The Western half of the Seleucid Empire was still deprived of many dependable Greek soldiers due to Antiochus IV's expedition to the eastern satrapies, so it appears that Lysias negotiated with the rebels for 6–9 months during the fall and winter of 165 BC and early 164 BC. Some of the documents recorded in 2 Maccabees may be communications from the time period, as Lysias offers a range of offers to placate the Maccabees. Historian Bezalel Bar-Kochva offers tentative suggestions for dates of the document in (summary of the beginning of negotiations) and (negotiations with the Romans) being from late 165 BC, and being from spring of 164 BC, a conditional amnesty offered at the request of High Priest Menelaus. However, it seems negotiations fell through, possibly after being rejected by Antiochus IV after messengers informed him of the Maccabees' demands. Lysias marshaled an army to restore order in the Judean countryside. His forces camped at Beth Zur, a fortified place near Jerusalem. Battle Little is known of the details of the battle. It appears that the Judean forces engaged in a hit-and-run raid style attack where the rebels charged a portion of the camp in a dramatic clash, but both sides withdrew in good order afterward - the Seleucids to link up with their main force, while the Jews to avoid having to fight the rest of the Seleucid army. Aftermath According to the First Book of Maccabees, the stirring victory convinced Lysias to return to Antioch to replenish his forces after sustaining heavy casualties. This account is somewhat distrusted as fitting the narrative that the pro-Hasmonean source would want to tell, however. More skeptical historians suspect that the battle was inconclusive based on the description given. The victory at Beth Zur would possibly have been a minor skirmish had Lysias been able to continue his campaign, but he was not. The death of Antiochus IV made it imperative that Lysias, now regent for the entire empire, be in the capital Antioch with as many military units loyal to him as possible so as to