1 Maccabees 8:2-4

Good News Translation

² People had told him about the wars the Romans had fought and their heroic acts among the Gauls, whom they had conquered and forced to pay taxes. ³ He had been told what they had done in Spain when they captured the silver mines and the gold mines there. ⁴ By careful planning and persistence, they had conquered the whole country, even though it was far from Rome. They had overcome the kings from distant lands who had fought against them; they had defeated them so badly that the survivors had to pay annual taxes.