NICANOR. - Syrian general, son of Patroclus, elephantarch and then commander-in-chief of the army of the Seleucid kings (I Macc. 3:38; 7:26-47; II Macc. 8; 14-15). In 165 B.C., together with Gorgias and Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, he received from Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 B.C.) the task of suppressing the revolt of the Maccabees against Syria, but, defeated at Emmaus, he fled from there in disguise to Antioch (II Macc. 8:9-35).

From Antiochus's successor, Demetrius I Soter (162-150 B.C.), he received command of the troops destined for the capture of Judas Maccabeus. N. first resorted in vain to cunning, then gave battle to Judas. The final encounter on the 13th of Adar (March 161 B.C.), near Adasa, marked the tragic end of N., acknowledged as just divine punishment for his sacrilegious insolences hurled against the Temple and against God (II Macc. 14:33; 15:3).

His head and right arm were amputated: the arm was hung from a pole in front of the Temple, the skull attached to the walls of the citadel. From then on the 13th of Adar, which was also the eve of the day of Mordecai (feast of Purim), was celebrated by the Jews under the name of "day of N." With the death of N. the II Maccabees comes to an end. Cf. Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Iud., XII, 10, 5.

Bibliography

BIBL.: F.-M. Abel, Les livres des Maccabées, Paris 1949, see index.

Antonio Carrozzini

@incollection{ec8_nicanore, author = {Carrozzini, Antonio}, title = {Nicanore}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1811--1812}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/nicanore} }

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