Regarding what happened that year, the author of the book Toldot Am Yisrael [25], on p. 195, writes:
"In 167 B.C.E. Antiochus made a decisive act: he forbade the observance of the commandments of the Jewish religion in the Land of Judah... The authorities even imposed on the Jewish population idolatrous rituals and forbidden foods, first and foremost eating pork, the Temple was desecrated, and henceforth it was named after the Olympian Zeus.
Polytheism was generally considered tolerant by nature, and Antiochus himself did not resort to a method of religious coercion against other nations throughout his kingdom... Only the Jewish religion was pursued with fury..." (My emphases – Y. P.).
On p. 195, the learned authors conclude and add that "never has Judaism faced the danger of total annihilation as in the days of the systematic and uncompromising persecution of the decrees of Antiochus Epiphanes" (my emphasis – Y. P.).
See also Dubnov, Divrei Yamim Am Olam [26], on p. 31, where it is written:
"The altar of the Lord served as the basis for the altar of Zeus. In other words, Zeus sat on the throne of God, an idol instead of God, which is not the case even most Hellenists in Judaism... They were also forced to eat pork, some of them did against their will in accordance with the commandments of their afflictions, but some revolted with all their might, and some were killed for their stubbornness... A later legend tied crowns to one woman named Hannah and her seven sons who gave their lives for their faith. King Antiochus spoke to the heart of each and every son to worship idols and first of all to eat pork , and the sons refused one by one to fulfill the king's command. They were tortured terribly in front of their mother, stripped of their skins, cut off limbs from them, roasted them alive on the fire, and the mother mustered courage and encouraged her sons to endure all the torture and not to transgress God's commandments. After the boys were killed, the woman was also killed."