WordWeb Online

1. The name of two ancient historical books, which give accounts of Jewish affairs in or about the time of the Maccabean princes, and which are received as canonical books in the Roman Catholic Church, but are included in the Apocrypha by Protestants
    
2. Followers of Judas Maccabeus who headed a religious revolt in the reign of Antiochus IV., 168-161 BC, which led to a period of freedom for Israel

Encyclopedia: Maccabees Maccabees, The Maccabees, The Books of