under the leadership of the Hasmonean family, independence for Judea. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest of Israel by the will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.

The author is anonymous, but he probably wrote in the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom after the success of the Maccabean Revolt in the late 2nd century BC. 1 Maccabees was probably written