1 Maccabees 3:29-31

New Catholic Bible

²⁹ Then he realized that this expenditure had exhausted the reserves in his treasury, and that the revenues from the province had dwindled as a result of the dissension and disaster he had caused for his empire by abolishing the laws that had been in effect from the earliest times. ³⁰ He thus began to fear that, as had happened on more than one occasion, he would not have sufficient funds to cover his normal expenses and the gifts that he had been accustomed to distribute more lavishly than had any of his predecessors on the throne. ³¹ Greatly concerned, he decided to go to Persia and levy tribute on those provinces and in this manner raise a large sum of money.