Jewish priest and landowner of Modein, near Jerusalem, who in 167 defied the decree of Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria to Hellenize the Jews; he fled to the Judaean hills with his five sons and waged a guerrilla war against the Syrians, being succeeded by his son Judas Maccabeus. Because, according to Josephus, Mattathias' great-great-grandfather was called Hasmoneus, the family is often designated Hasmonean rather than Maccabee.