Eupolemus. — Palestinian Jew, son of John, mentioned in 1 Mach. 8:17 and 2 Mach. 4:11. Invited to Rome around 161 B.C. by Judas Maccabaeus, he concluded an alliance with the Romans. He is probably to be identified with the historian E., who wrote in Greek on Jewish matters, Hellenizing biblical figures strongly, and presenting, for example, Moses as a great sage who would have taught the art of writing, which was then passed on to the Phoenicians and the Greeks.
According to Flavius Josephus (Contra Apionem, 1:23), this historical Eupolemus was a pagan, but Eusebius (Hist. eccl., 6:13; PG 20, 58) and St. Jerome (De viris ill., 38; PL 23, 653) are more likely correct in identifying our Eupolemus with the Jew invited to Rome by Judas Maccabaeus.