<P> In the narrative of I Maccabees , after Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice , a rural Jewish priest from Modiin , Mattathias the Hasmonean , sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods . Mattathias killed a Hellenistic Jew who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias ' place . He and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judah . After Mattathias ' death about one year later in 166 BC , his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare , which at first was directed against Hellenized Jews , of whom there were many . The Maccabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages , circumcised boys and forced Hellenized Jews into outlawry . The term Maccabees as used to describe the Jewish army is taken from the Hebrew word for `` hammer '' . </P>
what specific events led to the maccabean revolt
Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice