24. In the morning Vespasian got his army together, in order to take the

city [by storm], after a little recreation upon the hard pains they had

been at the night before; and as he was desirous to draw off those that

opposed him from the places where the wall had been thrown down, he made

the most courageous of the horsemen get off their horses, and placed

them in three ranks over against those ruins of the wall, but covered

with their armor on every side, and with poles in their hands, that

so these might begin their ascent as soon as the instruments for such

ascent were laid; behind them he placed the flower of the footmen; but

for the rest of the horse, he ordered them to extend themselves over

against the wall, upon the whole hilly country, in order to prevent any

from escaping out of the city when it should be taken; and behind these

he placed the archers round about, and commanded them to have their

darts ready to shoot. The same command he gave to the slingers, and to

those that managed the engines, and bid them to take up other ladders,

and have them ready to lay upon those parts of the wall which were yet

untouched, that the besieged might be engaged in trying to hinder their

ascent by them, and leave the guard of the parts that were thrown down,

while the rest of them should be overborne by the darts cast at them,

and might afford his men an entrance into the city.

25. But Josephus, understanding the meaning of Vespasian's contrivance,

set the old men, together with those that were tired out, at the sound

parts of the wall, as expecting no harm from those quarters, but set the

strongest of his men at the place where the wall was broken down, and

before them all six men by themselves, among whom he took his share

of the first and greatest danger. He also gave orders, that when the

legions made a shout, they should stop their ears, that they might not

be affrighted at it, and that, to avoid the multitude of the enemy's

darts, they should bend down on their knees, and cover themselves with

their shields, and that they should retreat a little backward for a

while, till the archers should have emptied their quivers; but that When

the Romans should lay their instruments for ascending the walls, they

should leap out on the sudden, and with their own instruments should

meet the enemy, and that every one should strive to do his best,

in order not to defend his own city, as if it were possible to be

preserved, but in order to revenge it, when it was already destroyed;

and that they should set before their eyes how their old men were to be

slain, and their children and wives were to be killed immediately by the

enemy; and that they would beforehand spend all their fury, on account

of the calamities just coming upon them, and pour it out on the actors.

26. And thus did Josephus dispose of both his bodies of men; but then

for the useless part of the citizens, the women and children, when they

saw their city encompassed by a threefold army, [for none of the usual

guards that had been fighting before were removed,] when they also saw,

not only the walls thrown down, but their enemies with swords in their

hands, as also the hilly country above them shining with their weapons,

and the darts in the hands of the Arabian archers, they made a final

and lamentable outcry of the destruction, as if the misery were not only

threatened, but actually come upon them already. But Josephus ordered

the women to be shut up in their houses, lest they should render the

warlike actions of the men too effeminate, by making them commiserate

their condition, and commanded them to hold their peace, and threatened

them if they did not, while he came himself before the breach, where his

allotment was; for all those who brought ladders to the other places,

he took no notice of them, but earnestly waited for the shower of arrows

that was coming.

27. And now the trumpetersAnd now the trumpeters of the several Roman legions sounded

together, and the army made a terrible shout; and the darts, as

by order, flew so fast, that they intercepted the light. However,

Josephus's men remembered the charges he had given them, they stopped

their ears at the sounds, and covered their bodies against the darts;

and as to the engines that were set ready to go to work, the Jews ran

out upon them, before those that should have used them were gotten

upon them. And now, on the ascending of the soldiers, there was a great

conflict, and many actions of the hands and of the soul were exhibited;

while the Jews did earnestly endeavor, in the extreme danger they were

in, not to show less courage than those who, without being in danger,

fought so stoutly against them; nor did they leave struggling with

the Romans till they either fell down dead themselves, or killed

their antagonists. But the Jews grew weary with defending themselves

continually, and had not enough to come in their places, and succor

them; while, on the side of the Romans, fresh men still succeeded

those that were tired; and still new men soon got upon the machines for

ascent, in the room of those that were thrust down; those encouraging

one another, and joining side to side with their shields, which were a

protection to them, they became a body of men not to be broken; and as

this band thrust away the Jews, as though they were themselves but one

body, they began already to get upon the wall.

28. Then did Josephus take necessity for his counselor in this utmost

distress, [which necessity is very sagacious in invention when it is

irritated by despair,] and gave orders to pour scalding oil upon those

whose shields protected them. Whereupon they soon got it ready, being

many that brought it, and what they brought being a great quantity also,

and poured it on all sides upon the Romans, and threw down upon them

their vessels as they were still hissing from the heat of the fire: this

so burnt the Romans, that it dispersed that united band, who now tumbled

clown from the wall with horrid pains, for the oil did easily run down

the whole body from head to foot, under their entire armor, and fed upon

their flesh like flame itself, its fat and unctuous nature rendering it

soon heated and slowly cooled; and as the men were cooped up in their

head-pieces and breastplates, they could no way get free from this

burning oil; they could only leap and roll about in their pains, as they

fell down from the bridges they had laid. And as they thus were beaten

back, and retired to their own party, who still pressed them forward,

they were easily wounded by those that were behind them.

29. However, in this ill success of the Romans, their courage did

not fail them, nor did the Jews want prudence to oppose them; for the

Romans, although they saw their own men thrown down, and in a miserable

condition, yet were they vehemently bent against those that poured

the oil upon them; while every one reproached the man before him as a

coward, and one that hindered him from exerting himself; and while the

Jews made use of another stratagem to prevent their ascent, and poured

boiling fenugreek upon the boards, in order to make them slip and fall

down; by which means neither could those that were coming up, nor

those that were going down, stand on their feet; but some of them fell

backward upon the machines on which they ascended, and were trodden

upon; many of them fell down upon the bank they had raised, and when

they were fallen upon it were slain by the Jews; for when the Romans

could not keep their feet, the Jews being freed from fighting hand to

hand, had leisure to throw their darts at them. So the general called

off those soldiers in the evening that had suffered so sorely, of whom

the number of the slain was not a few, while that of the wounded was

still greater; but of the people of Jotapata no more than six men were

killed, although more than three hundred were carried off wounded. This

fight happened on the twentieth day of the month Desius [Sivan]. 30.

Hereupon Vespasian comforted his army on occasion of what happened, and

as he found them angry indeed, but rather wanting somewhat to do than

any further exhortations, he gave orders to raise the banks still

higher, and to erect three towers, each fifty feet high, and that they

should cover them with plates of iron on every side, that they might

be both firm by their weight, and not easily liable to be set on fire.

These towers he set upon the banks, and placed upon them such as could

shoot darts and arrows, with the lighter engines for throwing stones and

darts also; and besides these, he set upon them the stoutest men among

the slingers, who not being to be seen by reason of the height they

stood upon, and the battlements that protected them, might throw their

weapons at those that were upon the wall, and were easily seen by them.

Hereupon the Jews, not being easily able to escape those darts that were

thrown down upon their heads, nor to avenge themselves on those whom

they could not see, and perceiving that the height of the towers was so

great, that a dart which they threw with their hand could hardly reach

it, and that the iron plates about them made it very hard to come at

them by fire, they ran away from the walls, and fled hastily out of the

city, and fell upon those that shot at them. And thus did the people of

Jotapata resist the Romans, while a great number of them were every day

killed, without their being able to retort the evil upon their enemies;

nor could they keep them out of the city without danger to themselves.

31. About this time it was that Vespasian sent out Trajan against a city

called Japha, that lay near to Jotapata, and that desired innovations,

and was puffed up with the unexpected length of the opposition of

Jotapata. This Trajan was the commander of the tenth legion, and to him

Vespasian committed one thousand horsemen, and two thousand footmen.

When Trajan came to the city, he found it hard to be taken, for besides

the natural strength of its situation, it was also secured by a double

wall; but when he saw the people of this city coming out of it, and

ready to fight him, he joined battle with them, and after a short

resistance which they made, he pursued after them; and as they fled to

their first wall, the Romans followed them so closely, that they fell

in together with them: but when the Jews were endeavoring to get again

within their second wall, their fellow citizens shut them out, as being

afraid that the Romans would force themselves in with them. It was

certainly God therefore who brought the Romans to punish the Galileans,

and did then expose the people of the city every one of them manifestly

to be destroyed by their bloody enemies; for they fell upon the gates in

great crowds, and earnestly calling to those that kept them, and that

by their names also, yet had they their throats cut in the very midst of

their supplications; for the enemy shut the gates of the first wall, and

their own citizens shut the gates of the second, so they were enclosed

between two walls, and were slain in great numbers together; many of

them were run through by swords of their own men, and many by their own

swords, besides an immense number that were slain by the Romans. Nor

had they any courage to revenge themselves; for there was added to the

consternation they were in from the enemy, their being betrayed by their

own friends, which quite broke their spirits; and at last they died,

cursing not the Romans, but their own citizens, till they were all

destroyed, being in number twelve thousand. So Trajan gathered that the

city was empty of people that could fight, and although there should a

few of them be therein, he supposed that they would be too timorous to

venture upon any opposition; so he reserved the taking of the city to

the general. Accordingly, he sent messengers to Vespasian, and desired

him to send his son Titus to finish the victory he had gained. Vespasian

hereupon imagining there might be some pains still necessary, sent his

son with an army of five hundred horsemen, and one thousand footmen. So

he came quickly to the city, and put his army in order, and set Trajan

over the left wing, while he had the right himself, and led them to the

siege: and when the soldiers brought ladders to be laid against the wall

on every side, the Galileans opposed them from above for a while; but

soon afterward they left the walls. Then did Titus's men leap into the

city, and seized upon it presently; but when those that were in it were

gotten together, there was a fierce battle between them; for the men of

power fell upon the Romans in the narrow streets, and the women threw

whatsoever came next to hand at them, and sustained a fight with them

for six hours' time; but when the fighting men were spent, the rest of

the multitude had their throats cut, partly in the open air, and partly

in their own houses, both young and old together. So there were no males

now remaining, besides infants, which, with the women, were carried as

slaves into captivity; so that the number of the slain, both now in the

city and at the former fight, was fifteen thousand, and the captives

were two thousand one hundred and thirty. This calamity befell the

Galileans on the twenty-fifth day of the month Desius [Sivan.] 32. Nor

did the Samaritans escape their share of misfortunes at this time; for

they assembled themselves together upon the mountain called Gerizzim,

which is with them a holy mountain, and there they remained; which

collection of theirs, as well as the courageous minds they showed, could

not but threaten somewhat of war; nor were they rendered wiser by

the miseries that had come upon their neighboring cities. They also,

notwithstanding the great success the Romans had, marched on in an

unreasonable manner, depending on their own weakness, and were disposed

for any tumult upon its first appearance. Vespasian therefore thought

it best to prevent their motions, and to cut off the foundation of their

attempts. For although all Samaria had ever garrisons settled among

them, yet did the number of those that were come to Mount Gerizzim, and

their conspiracy together, give ground for fear what they would be at;

he therefore sent thither Cerealis, the commander of the fifth legion,

with six hundred horsemen, and three thousand footmen, who did not think

it safe to go up to the mountain, and give them battle, because many of

the enemy were on the higher part of the ground; so he encompassed all

the lower part of the mountain with his army, and watched them all that

day. Now it happened that the Samaritans, who were now destitute of

water, were inflamed with a violent heat, [for it was summer time, and

the multitude had not provided themselves with necessaries,] insomuch

that some of them died that very day with heat, while others of them

preferred slavery before such a death as that was, and fled to the

Romans; by whom Cerealis understood that those which still staid

there were very much broken by their misfortunes. So he went up to the

mountain, and having placed his forces round about the enemy, he, in the

first place, exhorted them to take the security of his right hand, and

come to terms with him, and thereby save themselves; and assured them,

that if they would lay down their arms, he would secure them from any

harm; but when he could not prevail with them, he fell upon them and

slew them all, being in number eleven thousand and six hundred. This was

done on the twenty-seventh day of the month Desius [Sivan]. And these

were the calamities that befell the Samaritans at this time.

33. But as the people of Jotapata still held out manfully, and bore

up under their miseries beyond all that could be hoped for, on the

forty-seventh day [of the siege] the banks cast up by the Romans were

become higher than the wall; on which day a certain deserter went to

Vespasian, and told him how few were left in the city, and how weak they

were, and that they had been so worn out with perpetual watching, and as

perpetual fighting, that they could not now oppose any force that came

against them, and that they might be taken by stratagem, if any one

would attack them; for that about the last watch of the night, when they

thought they might have some rest from the hardships they were under,

and when a morning sleep used to come upon them, as they were thoroughly

weary, he said the watch used to fall asleep; accordingly his advice

was, that they should make their attack at that hour. But Vespasian had

a suspicion about this deserter, as knowing how faithful the Jews were

to one another, and how much they despised any punishments that could be

inflicted on them; this last because one of the people of Jotapata had

undergone all sorts of torments, and though they made him pass through a

fiery trial of his enemies in his examination, yet would he inform them

nothing of the affairs within the city, and as he was crucified, smiled

at them. However, the probability there was in the relation itself

did partly confirm the truth of what the deserter told them, and they

thought he might probably speak truth. However, Vespasian thought they

should be no great sufferers if the report was a sham; so he commanded

them to keep the man in custody, and prepared the army for taking the

city.

34. According to which resolution they marched without noise, at the

hour that had been told them, to the wall; and it was Titus himself that

first got upon it, with one of his tribunes, Domitius Sabinus, and had

a few of the fifteenth legion along with him. So they cut the throats of

the watch, and entered the city very quietly. After these came Cerealis

the tribune, and Placidus, and led on those that were tinder them. Now

when the citadel was taken, and the enemy were in the very midst of the

city, and when it was already day, yet was not the taking of the city

known by those that held it; for a great many of them were fast asleep,

and a great mist, which then by chance fell upon the city, hindered

those that got up from distinctly seeing the case they were in, till the

whole Roman army was gotten in, and they were raised up only to find the

miseries they were under; and as they were slaying, they perceived the

city was taken. And for the Romans, they so well remembered what they

had suffered during the siege, that they spared none, nor pitied any,

but drove the people down the precipice from the citadel, and slew them

as they drove them down; at which time the difficulties of the place

hindered those that were still able to fight from defending themselves;

for as they were distressed in the narrow streets, and could not keep

their feet sure along the precipice, they were overpowered with the

crowd of those that came fighting them down from the citadel. This

provoked a great many, even of those chosen men that were about

Josephus, to kill themselves with their own hands; for when they saw

that they could kill none of the Romans, they resolved to prevent being

killed by the Romans, and got together in great numbers in the utmost

parts of the city, and killed themselves.

35. However, such of the watch as at the first perceived they were

taken, and ran away as fast as they could, went up into one of

the towers on the north side of the city, and for a while defended

themselves there; but as they were encompassed with a multitude of

enemies, they tried to use their right hands when it was too late, and

at length they cheerfully offered their necks to be cut off by those

that stood over them. And the Romans might have boasted that the

conclusion of that siege was without blood [on their side] if there had

not been a centurion, Antonius, who was slain at the taking of the city.

His death was occasioned by the following treachery; for there was one

of those that were fled into the caverns, which were a great number,

who desired that this Antonius would reach him his right hand for his

security, and would assure him that he would preserve him, and give

him his assistance in getting up out of the cavern; accordingly, he

incautiously reached him his right hand, when the other man prevented

him, and stabbed him under his loins with a spear, and killed him

immediately.

36. And on this day it was that the Romans slew all the multitude

that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the

hiding-places, and fell upon those that were under ground, and in the

caverns, and went thus through every age, excepting the infants and

the women, and of these there were gathered together as captives twelve

hundred; and as for those that were slain at the taking of the city,

and in the former fights, they were numbered to be forty thousand. So

Vespasian gave order that the city should be entirely demolished, and

all the fortifications burnt down. And thus was Jotapata taken, in the

thirteenth year of the reign of Nero, on the first day of the month

Panemus [Tamuz].

CHAPTER 8.

How Josephus Was Discovered By A Woman, And Was Willing To

Deliver Himself Up To The Romans; And What Discourse He Had

With His Own Men, When They Endeavored To Hinder Him; And

What He Said To Vespasian, When He Was Brought To Him; And

After What Manner Vespasian Used Him Afterward.

1. And now the Romans searched for Josephus, both out of the hatred they

bore him, and because their general was very desirous to have him taken;

for he reckoned that if he were once taken, the greatest part of the war

would be over. They then searched among the dead, and looked into the

most concealed recesses of the city; but as the city was first taken,

he was assisted by a certain supernatural providence; for he withdrew

himself from the enemy when he was in the midst of them, and leaped into

a certain deep pit, whereto there adjoined a large den at one side of

it, which den could not be seen by those that were above ground;

and there he met with forty persons of eminency that had concealed

themselves, and with provisions enough to satisfy them for not a few

days. So in the day time he hid himself from the enemy, who had seized

upon all places, and in the night time he got up out of the den and

looked about for some way of escaping, and took exact notice of the

watch; but as all places were guarded every where on his account, that

there was no way of getting off unseen, he went down again into the den.

Thus he concealed himself two days; but on the third day, when they

had taken a woman who had been with them, he was discovered. Whereupon

Vespasian sent immediately and zealously two tribunes, Paulinus and

Gallicanus, and ordered them to give Josephus their right hands as a

security for his life, and to exhort him to come up.

2. So they came and invited the man to come up, and gave him assurances

that his life should be preserved: but they did not prevail with him;

for he gathered suspicions from the probability there was that one who

had done so many things against the Romans must suffer for it, though

not from the mild temper of those that invited him. However, he was

afraid that he was invited to come up in order to be punished, until

Vespasian sent besides these a third tribune, Nicanor, to him; he

was one that was well known to Josephus, and had been his familiar

acquaintance in old time. When he was come, he enlarged upon the natural

mildness of the Romans towards those they have once conquered; and told

him that he had behaved himself so valiantly, that the commanders rather

admired than hated him; that the general was very desirous to have him

brought to him, not in order to punish him, for that he could do though

he should not come voluntarily, but that he was determined to preserve a

man of his courage. He moreover added this, that Vespasian, had he been

resolved to impose upon him, would not have sent to him a friend of his

own, nor put the fairest color upon the vilest action, by pretending

friendship and meaning perfidiousness; nor would he have himself

acquiesced, or come to him, had it been to deceive him.

3. Now as Josephus began to hesitate with himself about Nicanor's

proposal, the soldiery were so angry, that they ran hastily to set fire

to the den; but the tribune would not permit them so to do, as being

very desirous to take the man alive. And now, as Nicanor lay hard at

Josephus to comply, and he understood how the multitude of the enemies

threatened him, he called to mind the dreams which he had dreamed in the

night time, whereby God had signified to him beforehand both the

future calamities of the Jews, and the events that concerned the Roman

emperors. Now Josephus was able to give shrewd conjectures about the

interpretation of such dreams as have been ambiguously delivered by God.

Moreover, he was not unacquainted with the prophecies contained in

the sacred books, as being a priest himself, and of the posterity of

priests: and just then was he in an ecstasy; and setting before him the

tremendous images of the dreams he had lately had, he put up a secret

prayer to God, and said, "Since it pleaseth thee, who hast created the

Jewish nation, to depress the same, and since all their good fortune is

gone over to the Romans, and since thou hast made choice of this soul

of mine to foretell what is to come to pass hereafter, I willingly give

them my hands, and am content to live. And I protest openly that I do

not go over to the Romans as a deserter of the Jews, but as a minister

from thee."

4. When he had said this, he complied with Nicanor's invitation. But

when those Jews who had fled with him understood that he yielded to

those that invited him to come up, they came about him in a body, and

cried out, "Nay, indeed, now may the laws of our forefathers, which

God ordained himself, well groan to purpose; that God we mean who hath

created the souls of the Jews of such a temper, that they despise death.

O Josephus! art thou still fond of life? and canst thou bear to see the

light in a state of slavery? How soon hast thou forgotten thyself! How

many hast thou persuaded to lose their lives for liberty! Thou

hast therefore had a false reputation for manhood, and a like false

reputation for wisdom, if thou canst hope for preservation from those

against whom thou hast fought so zealously, and art however willing

to be preserved by them, if they be in earnest. But although the good

fortune of the Romans hath made thee forget thyself, we ought to take

care that the glory of our forefathers may not be tarnished. We will

lend thee our right hand and a sword; and if thou wilt die willingly,

thou wilt die as general of the Jews; but if unwillingly, thou wilt die

as a traitor to them." As soon as they said this, they began to thrust

their swords at him, and threatened they would kill him, if he thought

of yielding himself to the Romans.

5. Upon this Josephus was afraid of their attacking him, and yet thought

he should be a betrayer of the commands of God, if he died before they

were delivered. So he began to talk like a philosopher to them in the

distress he was then in, when he said thus to them: "O my friends, why

are we so earnest to kill ourselves? and why do we set our soul and

body, which are such dear companions, at such variance? Can any one

pretend that I am not the man I was formerly? Nay, the Romans are

sensible how that matter stands well enough. It is a brave thing to die

in war; but so that it be according to the law of war, by the hand of

conquerors. If, therefore, I avoid death from the sword of the Romans,

I am truly worthy to be killed by my own sword, and my own hand; but if

they admit of mercy, and would spare their enemy, how much more ought

we to have mercy upon ourselves, and to spare ourselves? For it is

certainly a foolish thing to do that to ourselves which we quarrel with

them for doing to us. I confess freely that it is a brave thing to die

for liberty; but still so that it be in war, and done by those who take

that liberty from us; but in the present case our enemies do neither

meet us in battle, nor do they kill us. Now he is equally a coward who

will not die when he is obliged to die, and he who will die when he is

not obliged so to do. What are we afraid of, when we will not go up

to the Romans? Is it death? If so, what we are afraid of, when we

but suspect our enemies will inflict it on us, shall we inflict it on

ourselves for certain? But it may be said we must be slaves. And are we

then in a clear state of liberty at present? It may also be said that

it is a manly act for one to kill himself. No, certainly, but a most

unmanly one; as I should esteem that pilot to be an arrant coward, who,

out of fear of a storm, should sink his ship of his own accord. Now

self-murder is a crime most remote from the common nature of all

animals, and an instance of impiety against God our Creator; nor indeed

is there any animal that dies by its own contrivance, or by its own

means, for the desire of life is a law engraven in them all; on which

account we deem those that openly take it away from us to be our

enemies, and those that do it by treachery are punished for so doing.

And do not you think that God is very angry when a man does injury to

what he hath bestowed on him? For from him it is that we have received

our being, and we ought to leave it to his disposal to take that being

away from us. The bodies of all men are indeed mortal, and are created

out of corruptible matter; but the soul is ever immortal, and is a

portion of the divinity that inhabits our bodies. Besides, if any one

destroys or abuses a depositum he hath received from a mere man, he is

esteemed a wicked and perfidious person; but then if any one cast out

of his body this Divine depositum, can we imagine that he who is thereby

affronted does not know of it? Moreover, our law justly ordains that

slaves which run away from their master shall be punished, though the

masters they run away from may have been wicked masters to them. And

shall we endeavor to run away from God, who is the best of all masters,

and not guilty of impeity? Do not you know that those who depart out of

this life according to the law of nature, and pay that debt which was

received from God, when he that lent it us is pleased to require it back

again, enjoy eternal fame; that their houses and their posterity are

sure, that their souls are pure and obedient, and obtain a most holy

place in heaven, from whence, in the revolutions of ages, they are again

sent into pure bodies; while the souls of those whose hands have acted

madly against themselves are received by the darkest place in Hades,

and while God, who is their Father, punishes those that offend against

either of them in their posterity? for which reason God hates such

doings, and the crime is punished by our most wise legislator.

Accordingly, our laws determine that the bodies of such as kill

themselves should be exposed till the sun be set, without burial,

although at the same time it be allowed by them to be lawful to bury our

enemies [sooner]. The laws of other nations also enjoin such men's

hands to be cut off when they are dead, which had been made use of in

destroying themselves when alive, while they reckoned that as the

body is alien from the soul, so is the hand alien from the body. It is

therefore, my friends, a right thing to reason justly, and not add to

the calamities which men bring upon us impiety towards our Creator. If

we have a mind to preserve ourselves, let us do it; for to be preserved

by those our enemies, to whom we have given so many demonstrations of

our courage, is no way inglorious; but if we have a mind to die, it is

good to die by the hand of those that have conquered us. For my part, I

will not run over to our enemies' quarters, in order to be a traitor to

myself; for certainly I should then be much more foolish than those that

deserted to the enemy, since they did it in order to save themselves,

and I should do it for destruction, for my own destruction. However, I

heartily wish the Romans may prove treacherous in this matter; for if,

after their offer of their right hand for security, I be slain by

them, I shall die cheerfully, and carry away with me the sense of their

perfidiousness, as a consolation greater than victory itself."

6. Now these and many the like motives did Josephus use to these men to

prevent their murdering themselves; but desperation had shut their ears,

as having long ago devoted themselves to die, and they were irritated at

Josephus. They then ran upon him with their swords in their hands, one

from one quarter, and another from another, and called him a coward, and

everyone of them appeared openly as if he were ready to smite him;

but he calling to one of them by name, and looking like a general to

another, and taking a third by the hand, and making a fourth ashamed

of himself, by praying him to forbear, and being in this condition

distracted with various passions, [as he well might in the great

distress he was then in,] he kept off every one of their swords

from killing him, and was forced to do like such wild beasts as are

encompassed about on every side, who always turn themselves against

those that last touched them. Nay, some of their right hands were

debilitated by the reverence they bare to their general in these his

fatal calamities, and their swords dropped out of their hands; and not

a few of them there were, who, when they aimed to smite him with their

swords, they were not thoroughly either willing or able to do it.

7. However, in this extreme distress, he was not destitute of his usual

sagacity; but trusting himself to the providence of God, he put his life

into hazard [in the manner following]: "And now," said he, "since it is

resolved among you that you will die, come on, let us commit our mutual

deaths to determination by lot. He whom the lot falls to first, let him

be killed by him that hath the second lot, and thus fortune shall make

its progress through us all; nor shall any of us perish by his own right

hand, for it would be unfair if, when the rest are gone, somebody should

repent and save himself." This proposal appeared to them to be very

just; and when he had prevailed with them to determine this matter by

lots, he drew one of the lots for himself also. He who had the first

lot laid his neck bare to him that had the next, as supposing that the

general would die among them immediately; for they thought death, if

Josephus might but die with them, was sweeter than life; yet was he with

another left to the last, whether we must say it happened so by chance,

or whether by the providence of God. And as he was very desirous neither

to be condemned by the lot, nor, if he had been left to the last, to

imbrue his right hand in the blood of his countrymen, he persuaded him

to trust his fidelity to him, and to live as well as himself.

8. Thus Josephus escaped in the war with the Romans, and in this his own

war with his friends, and was led by Nicanor to Vespasian. But now all

the Romans ran together to see him; and as the multitude pressed one

upon another about their general, there was a tumult of a various kind;

while some rejoiced that Josephus was taken, and some threatened him,

and some crowded to see him very near; but those that were more remote

cried out to have this their enemy put to death, while those that were

near called to mind the actions he had done, and a deep concern

appeared at the change of his fortune. Nor were there any of the Roman

commanders, how much soever they had been enraged at him before, but

relented when they came to the sight of him. Above all the rest, Titus's

own valor, and Josephus's own patience under his afflictions, made him

pity him, as did also the commiseration of his age, when he recalled

to mind that but a little while ago he was fighting, but lay now in the

hands of his enemies, which made him consider the power of fortune,

and how quick is the turn of affairs in war, and how no state of men is

sure; for which reason he then made a great many more to be of the same

pitiful temper with himself, and induced them to commiserate Josephus.

He was also of great weight in persuading his father to preserve him.

However, Vespasian gave strict orders that he should be kept with great

caution, as though he would in a very little time send him to Nero. 5

9. When Josephus heard him give those orders, he said that he had

somewhat in his mind that he would willingly say to himself alone. When

therefore they were all ordered to withdraw, excepting Titus and two of

their friends, he said, "Thou, O Vespasian, thinkest no more than

that thou hast taken Josephus himself captive; but I come to thee as a

messenger of greater tidings; for had not I been sent by God to thee,

I knew what was the law of the Jews in this case? and how it becomes

generals to die. Dost thou send me to Nero? For why? Are Nero's

successors till they come to thee still alive? Thou, O Vespasian, art

Caesar and emperor, thou, and this thy son. Bind me now still faster,

and keep me for thyself, for thou, O Caesar, are not only lord over me,

but over the land and the sea, and all mankind; and certainly I deserve

to be kept in closer custody than I now am in, in order to be punished,

if I rashly affirm any thing of God." When he had said this, Vespasian

at present did not believe him, but supposed that Josephus said this as

a cunning trick, in order to his own preservation; but in a little time

he was convinced, and believed what he said to be true, God himself

erecting his expectations, so as to think of obtaining the empire, and

by other signs fore-showing his advancement. He also found Josephus to

have spoken truth on other occasions; for one of those friends that were

present at that secret conference said to Josephus, "I cannot but wonder

how thou couldst not foretell to the people of Jotapata that they should

be taken, nor couldst foretell this captivity which hath happened to

thyself, unless what thou now sayest be a vain thing, in order to avoid

the rage that is risen against thyself." To which Josephus replied, "I

did foretell to the people of Jotapata that they would be taken on the

forty-seventh day, and that I should be caught alive by the Romans."

Now when Vespasian had inquired of the captives privately about these

predictions, he found them to be true, and then he began to believe

those that concerned himself. Yet did he not set Josephus at liberty

from his hands, but bestowed on him suits of clothes, and other precious

gifts; he treated him also in a very obliging manner, and continued so

to do, Titus still joining his interest in the honors that were done

him.

CHAPTER 9.

How Joppa Was Taken, And Tiberias Delivered Up.

1. Now Vespasian returned to Ptolemais on the fourth day of the month

Panemus, [Tamus] and from thence he came to Cesarea, which lay by the

sea-side. This was a very great city of Judea, and for the greatest part

inhabited by Greeks: the citizens here received both the Roman army and

its general, with all sorts of acclamations and rejoicings, and this

partly out of the good-will they bore to the Romans, but principally out

of the hatred they bore to those that were conquered by them; on which

account they came clamoring against Josephus in crowds, and desired

he might be put to death. But Vespasian passed over this petition

concerning him, as offered by the injudicious multitude, with a bare

silence. Two of the legions also he placed at Cesarea, that they might

there take their winter-quarters, as perceiving the city very fit for

such a purpose; but he placed the tenth and the fifth at Scythopolis,

that he might not distress Cesarea with the entire army. This place was

warm even in winter, as it was suffocating hot in the summer time, by

reason of its situation in a plain, and near to the sea [of Galilee].

2. In the mean time, there were gathered together as well such as had

seditiously got out from among their enemies, as those that had escaped

out of the demolished cities, which were in all a great number, and

repaired Joppa, which had been left desolate by Cestius, that it might

serve them for a place of refuge; and because the adjoining region had

been laid waste in the war, and was not capable of supporting them, they

determined to go off to sea. They also built themselves a great many

piratical ships, and turned pirates upon the seas near to Syria, and

Phoenicia, and Egypt, and made those seas unnavigable to all men. Now

as soon as Vespasian knew of their conspiracy, he sent both footmen and

horsemen to Joppa, which was unguarded in the night time; however, those

that were in it perceived that they should be attacked, and were afraid

of it; yet did they not endeavor to keep the Romans out, but fled to

their ships, and lay at sea all night, out of the reach of their darts.

3. Now Joppa is not naturally a haven, for it ends in a rough shore,

where all the rest of it is straight, but the two ends bend towards each

other, where there are deep precipices, and great stones that jut out

into the sea, and where the chains wherewith Andromeda was bound have

left their footsteps, which attest to the antiquity of that fable. But

the north wind opposes and beats upon the shore, and dashes mighty

waves against the rocks which receive them, and renders the haven more

dangerous than the country they had deserted. Now as those people of

Joppa were floating about in this sea, in the morning there fell a

violent wind upon them; it is called by those that sail there "the

black north wind," and there dashed their ships one against another,

and dashed some of them against the rocks, and carried many of them by

force, while they strove against the opposite waves, into the main sea;

for the shore was so rocky, and had so many of the enemy upon it, that

they were afraid to come to land; nay, the waves rose so very high, that

they drowned them; nor was there any place whither they could fly, nor

any way to save themselves; while they were thrust out of the sea, by

the violence of the wind, if they staid where they were, and out of the

city by the violence of the Romans. And much lamentation there was when

the ships were dashed against one another, and a terrible noise when

they were broken to pieces; and some of the multitude that were in

them were covered with waves, and so perished, and a great many were

embarrassed with shipwrecks. But some of them thought that to die

by their own swords was lighter than by the sea, and so they killed

themselves before they were drowned; although the greatest part of them

were carried by the waves, and dashed to pieces against the abrupt

parts of the rocks, insomuch that the sea was bloody a long way, and the

maritime parts were full of dead bodies; for the Romans came upon those

that were carried to the shore, and destroyed them; and the number of

the bodies that were thus thrown out of the sea was four thousand and

two hundred. The Romans also took the city without opposition, and

utterly demolished it.

4. And thus was Joppa taken twice by the Romans in a little time; but

Vespasian, in order to prevent these pirates from coming thither any

more, erected a camp there, where the citadel of Joppa had been, and

left a body of horse in it, with a few footmen, that these last might

stay there and guard the camp, and the horsemen might spoil the country

that lay round it, and might destroy the neighboring villages and

smaller cities. So these troops overran the country, as they were

ordered to do, and every day cut to pieces and laid desolate the whole

region.

5. But now, when the fate of Jotapata was related at Jerusalem, a great

many at the first disbelieved it, on account of the vastness of the

calamity, and because they had no eye-witness to attest the truth

of what was related about it; for not one person was saved to be a

messenger of that news, but a fame was spread abroad at random that the

city was taken, as such fame usually spreads bad news about. However,

the truth was known by degrees, from the places near Jotapata, and

appeared to all to be too true. Yet were there fictitious stories added

to what was really done; for it was reported that Josephus was slain

at the taking of the city, which piece of news filled Jerusalem full of

sorrow. In every house also, and among all to whom any of the slain

were allied, there was a lamentation for them; but the mourning for the

commander was a public one; and some mourned for those that had lived

with them, others for their kindred, others for their friends, and

others for their brethren, but all mourned for Josephus; insomuch that

the lamentation did not cease in the city before the thirtieth day;

and a great many hired mourners, with their pipes, who should begin the

melancholy ditties for them.

6. But as the truth came out in time, it appeared how the affairs of

Jotapata really stood; yet was it found that the death of Josephus was

a fiction; and when they understood that he was alive, and was among the

Romans, and that the commanders treated him at another rate than they

treated captives, they were as vehemently angry at him now as they had

showed their good-will before, when he appeared to have been dead. He

was also abused by some as having been a coward, and by others as a

deserter; and the city was full of indignation at him, and of reproaches

cast upon him; their rage was also aggravated by their afflictions, and

more inflamed by their ill success; and what usually becomes an occasion

of caution to wise men, I mean affliction, became a spur to them to

venture on further calamities, and the end of one misery became still

the beginning of another; they therefore resolved to fall on the Romans

the more vehemently, as resolving to be revenged on him in revenging

themselves on the Romans. And this was the state of Jerusalem as to the

troubles which now came upon it.

7. But Vespasian, in order to see the kingdom of Agrippa, while the king

persuaded himself so to do, [partly in order to his treating the general

and his army in the best and most splendid manner his private affairs

would enable him to do, and partly that he might, by their means,

correct such things as were amiss in his government,] he removed from

that Cesarea which was by the sea-side, and went to that which is called

Cesarea Philippi 6 and there he refreshed his army for twenty days,

and was himself feasted by king Agrippa, where he also returned public

thanks to God for the good success he had had in his undertakings. But

as soon as he was informed that Tiberias was fond of innovations, and

that Taricheae had revolted, both which cities were parts of the kingdom

of Agrippa, and was satisfied within himself that the Jews were every

where perverted [from their obedience to their governors], he thought it

seasonable to make an expedition against these cities, and that for the

sake of Agrippa, and in order to bring his cities to reason. So he sent

away his son Titus to [the other] Cesarea, that he might bring the army

that lay there to Seythopous, which is the largest city of Decapolis,

and in the neighborhood of Tiberias, whither he came, and where he

waited for his son. He then came with three legions, and pitched his

camp thirty furlongs off Tiberias, at a certain station easily seen

by the innovators; it is named Sennabris. He also sent Valerian, a

decurion, with fifty horsemen, to speak peaceably to those that were in

the city, and to exhort them to give him assurances of their fidelity;

for he had heard that the people were desirous of peace, but were

obliged by some of the seditious part to join with them, and so were

forced to fight for them. When Valerian had marched up to the place, and

was near the wall, he alighted off his horse, and made those that were

with him to do the same, that they might not be thought to come to

skirmish with them; but before they could come to a discourse one with

another, the most potent men among the seditious made a sally upon them

armed; their leader was one whose name was Jesus, the son of Shaphat,

the principal head of a band of robbers. Now Valerian, neither thinking

it safe to fight contrary to the commands of the general, though he

were secure of a victory, and knowing that it was a very hazardous

undertaking for a few to fight with many, for those that were unprovided

to fight those that were ready, and being on other accounts surprised at

this unexpected onset of the Jews, he ran away on foot, as did five of

the rest in like manner, and left their horses behind them; which horses

Jesus led away into the city, and rejoiced as if they had taken them in

battle, and not by treachery.

8. Now the seniors of the people, and such as were of principal

authority among them, fearing what would be the issue of this matter,

fled to the camp of the Romans; they then took their king along with

them, and fell down before Vespasian, to supplicate his favor, and

besought him not to overlook them, nor to impute the madness of a few to

the whole city, to spare a people that have been ever civil and

obliging to the Romans; but to bring the authors of this revolt to due

punishment, who had hitherto so watched them, that though they were

zealous to give them the security of their right hands of a long time,

yet could they not accomplish the same. With these supplications the

general complied, although he were very angry at the whole city about

the carrying off his horses, and this because he saw that Agrippa

was under a great concern for them. So when Vespasian and Agrippa had

accepted of their right hands by way of security, Jesus and his party

thought it not safe for them to continue at Tiberias, so they ran

away to Taricheae. The next day Vespasian sent Trajan before with some

horsemen to the citadel, to make trial of the multitude, whether they

were all disposed for peace; and as soon as he knew that the people were

of the same mind with the petitioner, he took his army, and went to the

city; upon which the citizens opened to him their gates, and met him

with acclamations of joy, and called him their savior and benefactor.

But as the army was a great while in getting in at the gates, they were

so narrow, Vespasian commanded the south wall to be broken down, and

so made a broad passage for their entrance. However, he charged them to

abstain from rapine and injustice, in order to gratify the king; and on

his account spared the rest of the wall, while the king undertook for

them that they should continue [faithful to the Romans] for the time to

come. And thus did he restore this city to a quiet state, after it had

been grievously afflicted by the sedition.

CHAPTER 10.

How Taricheae Was Taken. A Description Of The River Jordan,

And Of The Country Of Gennesareth.

1. And now Vespasian pitched his camp between this city and Taricheae,

but fortified his camp more strongly, as suspecting that he should be

forced to stay there, and have a long war; for all the innovators had

gotten together at Taricheae, as relying upon the strength of the city,

and on the lake that lay by it. This lake is called by the people of

the country the Lake of Gennesareth. The city itself is situated like

Tiberias, at the bottom of a mountain, and on those sides which are not

washed by the sea, had been strongly fortified by Josephus, though not

so strongly as Tiberias; for the wall of Tiberias had been built at the

beginning of the Jews' revolt, when he had great plenty of money, and

great power, but Taricheae partook only the remains of that liberality,

Yet had they a great number of ships gotten ready upon the lake, that,

in case they were beaten at land, they might retire to them; and they

were so fitted up, that they might undertake a Sea-fight also. But as

the Romans were building a wall about their camp, Jesus and his party

were neither affrighted at their number, nor at the good order they were

in, but made a sally upon them; and at the very first onset the builders

of the wall were dispersed; and these pulled what little they had before

built to pieces; but as soon as they saw the armed men getting together,

and before they had suffered any thing themselves, they retired to their

own men. But then the Romans pursued them, and drove them into their

ships, where they launched out as far as might give them the opportunity

of reaching the Romans with what they threw at them, and then cast

anchor, and brought their ships close, as in a line of battle, and

thence fought the enemy from the sea, who were themselves at land. But

Vespasian hearing that a great multitude of them were gotten together in

the plain that was before the city, he thereupon sent his son, with six

hundred chosen horsemen, to disperse them.

2. But when Titus perceived that the enemy was very numerous, he sent to

his father, and informed him that he should want more forces. But as

he saw a great many of the horsemen eager to fight, and that before any

succors could come to them, and that yet some of them were privately

under a sort of consternation at the multitude of the Jews, he stood in

a place whence he might be heard, and said to them, "My brave Romans!

for it is right for me to put you in mind of what nation you are, in the

beginning of my speech, that so you may not be ignorant who you are, and

who they are against whom we are going to fight. For as to us, Romans,

no part of the habitable earth hath been able to escape our hands

hitherto; but as for the Jews, that I may speak of them too, though they

have been already beaten, yet do they not give up the cause; and a sad

thing it would be for us to grow wealthy under good success, when they

bear up under their misfortunes. As to the alacrity which you show

publicly, I see it, and rejoice at it; yet am I afraid lest the

multitude of the enemy should bring a concealed fright upon some of you:

let such a one consider again, who we are that are to fight, and who

those are against whom we are to fight. Now these Jews, though they be

very bold and great despisers of death, are but a disorderly body, and

unskillful in war, and may rather be called a rout than an army; while I

need say nothing of our skill and our good order; for this is the reason

why we Romans alone are exercised for war in time of peace, that we may

not think of number for number when we come to fight with our enemies:

for what advantage should we reap by our continual sort of warfare, if

we must still be equal in number to such as have not been used to war.

Consider further, that you are to have a conflict with men in effect

unarmed, while you are well armed; with footmen, while you are horsemen;

with those that have no good general, while you have one; and as these

advantages make you in effect manifold more than you are, so do

their disadvantages mightily diminish their number. Now it is not

the multitude of men, though they be soldiers, that manages wars with

success, but it is their bravery that does it, though they be but a

few; for a few are easily set in battle-array, and can easily assist one

another, while over-numerous armies are more hurt by themselves than by

their enemies. It is boldness and rashness, the effects of madness, that

conduct the Jews. Those passions indeed make a great figure when they

succeed, but are quite extinguished upon the least ill success; but we

are led on by courage, and obedience, and fortitude, which shows itself

indeed in our good fortune, but still does not for ever desert us in our

ill fortune. Nay, indeed, your fighting is to be on greater motives than

those of the Jews; for although they run the hazard of war for liberty,

and for their country, yet what can be a greater motive to us than

glory? and that it may never be said, that after we have got dominion

of the habitable earth, the Jews are able to confront us. We must also

reflect upon this, that there is no fear of our suffering any incurable

disaster in the present case; for those that are ready to assist us

are many, and at hand also; yet it is in our power to seize upon this

victory ourselves; and I think we ought to prevent the coming of those

my father is sending to us for our assistance, that our success may be

peculiar to ourselves, and of greater reputation to us. And I cannot but

think this an opportunity wherein my father, and I, and you shall be

all put to the trial, whether he be worthy of his former glorious

performances, whether I be his son in reality, and whether you be really

my soldiers; for it is usual for my father to conquer; and for myself, I

should not bear the thoughts of returning to him if I were once taken

by the enemy. And how will you be able to avoid being ashamed, if you do

not show equal courage with your commander, when he goes before you into

danger? For you know very well that I shall go into the danger first,

and make the first attack upon the enemy. Do not you therefore desert

me, but persuade yourselves that God will be assisting to my onset. Know

this also before we begin, that we shall now have better success than we

should have, if we were to fight at a distance."

3. As Titus was saying this, an extraordinary fury fell upon the men;

and as Trajan was already come before the fight began, with four hundred

horsemen, they were uneasy at it, because the reputation of the victory

would be diminished by being common to so many. Vespasian had also sent

both Antonius and Silo, with two thousand archers, and had given it them

in charge to seize upon the mountain that was over against the city,

and repel those that were upon the wall; which archers did as they were

commanded, and prevented those that attempted to assist them that way;

And now Titus made his own horse march first against the enemy, as did

the others with a great noise after him, and extended themselves upon

the plain as wide as the enemy which confronted them; by which means

they appeared much more numerous than they really were. Now the Jews,

although they were surprised at their onset, and at their good order,

made resistance against their attacks for a little while; but when they

were pricked with their long poles, and overborne by the violent noise

of the horsemen, they came to be trampled under their feet; many also of

them were slain on every side, which made them disperse themselves,

and run to the city, as fast as every one of them were able. So Titus

pressed upon the hindmost, and slew them; and of the rest, some he fell

upon as they stood on heaps, and some he prevented, and met them in the

mouth, and run them through; many also he leaped upon as they fell one

upon another, and trod them down, and cut off all the retreat they had

to the wall, and turned them back into the plain, till at last they

forced a passage by their multitude, and got away, and ran into the

city.

4. But now there fell out a terrible sedition among them within the

city; for the inhabitants themselves, who had possessions there, and

to whom the city belonged, were not disposed to fight from the very

beginning; and now the less so, because they had been beaten; but the

foreigners, which were very numerous, would force them to fight so much

the more, insomuch that there was a clamor and a tumult among them, as

all mutually angry one at another. And when Titus heard this tumult, for

he was not far from the wall, he cried out, "Fellow soldiers, now is the

time; and why do we make any delay, when God is giving up the Jews to

us? Take the victory which is given you: do not you hear what a noise

they make? Those that have escaped our hands are in an uproar against

one another. We have the city if we make haste; but besides haste, we

must undergo some labor, and use some courage; for no great thing uses

to be accomplished without danger: accordingly, we must not only prevent

their uniting again, which necessity will soon compel them to do, but we

must also prevent the coming of our own men to our assistance, that, as

few as we are, we may conquer so great a multitude, and may ourselves

alone take the city."

5. As soon as ever Titus had said this, he leaped upon his horse, and

rode apace down to the lake; by which lake he marched, and entered

into the city the first of them all, as did the others soon after him.

Hereupon those that were upon the walls were seized with a terror at the

boldness of the attempt, nor durst any one venture to fight with him,

or to hinder him; so they left guarding the city, and some of those that

were about Jesus fled over the country, while others of them ran down

to the lake, and met the enemy in the teeth, and some were slain as they

were getting up into the ships, but others of them as they attempted

to overtake those that were already gone aboard. There was also a great

slaughter made in the city, while those foreigners that had not fled

away already made opposition; but the natural inhabitants were killed

without fighting: for in hopes of Titus's giving them his right hand for

their security, and out of a consciousness that they had not given any

consent to the war, they avoided fighting, till Titus had slain the

authors of this revolt, and then put a stop to any further slaughters,

out of commiseration of these inhabitants of the place. But for those

that had fled to the lake, upon seeing the city taken, they sailed as

far as they possibly could from the enemy.

6. Hereupon Titus sent one of his horsemen to his father, and let him

know the good news of what he had done; at which, as was natural, he was

very joyful, both on account of the courage and glorious actions of his

son; for he thought that now the greatest part of the war was over. He

then came thither himself, and set men to guard the city, and gave them

command to take care that nobody got privately out of it, but to kill

such as attempted so to do. And on the next day he went down to the

lake, and commanded that vessels should be fitted up, in order to pursue

those that had escaped in the ships. These vessels were quickly gotten

ready accordingly, because there was great plenty of materials, and a

great number of artificers also.

7. Now this lake of Gennesareth is so called from the country adjoining

to it. Its breadth is forty furlongs, and its length one hundred and

forty; its waters are sweet, and very agreeable for drinking, for they

are finer than the thick waters of other fens; the lake is also pure,

and on every side ends directly at the shores, and at the sand; it is

also of a temperate nature when you draw it up, and of a more gentle

nature than river or fountain water, and yet always cooler than one

could expect in so diffuse a place as this is. Now when this water

is kept in the open air, it is as cold as that snow which the country

people are accustomed to make by night in summer. There are several

kinds of fish in it, different both to the taste and the sight from

those elsewhere. It is divided into two parts by the river Jordan. Now

Panium is thought to be the fountain of Jordan, but in reality it is

carried thither after an occult manner from the place called Phiala:

this place lies as you go up to Trachonitis, and is a hundred and twenty

furlongs from Cesarea, and is not far out of the road on the right hand;

and indeed it hath its name of Phiala [vial or bowl] very justly, from

the roundness of its circumference, as being round like a wheel; its

water continues always up to its edges, without either sinking or

running over. And as this origin of Jordan was formerly not known, it

was discovered so to be when Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis; for

he had chaff thrown into Phiala, and it was found at Paninto, where the

ancients thought the fountain-head of the river was, whither it had been

therefore carried [by the waters]. As for Panium itself, its natural

beauty had been improved by the royal liberality of Agrippa, and adorned

at his expenses. Now Jordan's visible stream arises from this cavern,

and divides the marshes and fens of the lake Semechonitis; when it hath

run another hundred and twenty furlongs, it first passes by the city

Julias, and then passes through the middle of the lake Gennesareth;

after which it runs a long way over a desert, and then makes its exit

into the lake Asphaltites.

8. The country also that lies over against this lake hath the same name

of Gennesareth; its nature is wonderful as well as its beauty; its

soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and the

inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees there; for the temper

of the air is so well mixed, that it agrees very well with those several

sorts, particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air, flourish

there in vast plenty; there are palm trees also, which grow best in hot

air; fig trees also and olives grow near them, which yet require an air

that is more temperate. One may call this place the ambition of nature,

where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another

to agree together; it is a happy contention of the seasons, as if

every one of them laid claim to this country; for it not only nourishes

different sorts of autumnal fruit beyond men's expectation, but

preserves them a great while; it supplies men with the principal fruits,

with grapes and figs continually, during ten months of the year 7 and

the rest of the fruits as they become ripe together through the whole

year; for besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered

from a most fertile fountain. The people of the country call it

Capharnaum. Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it

produces the Coracin fish as well as that lake does which is near to

Alexandria. The length of this country extends itself along the banks

of this lake that bears the same name for thirty furlongs, and is in

breadth twenty, And this is the nature of that place.

9. But now, when the vessels were gotten ready, Vespasian put upon

ship-board as many of his forces as he thought sufficient to be too hard

for those that were upon the lake, and set sail after them. Now these

which were driven into the lake could neither fly to the land, where

all was in their enemies' hand, and in war against them; nor could they

fight upon the level by sea, for their ships were small and fitted only

for piracy; they were too weak to fight with Vespasian's vessels, and

the mariners that were in them were so few, that they were afraid to

come near the Romans, who attacked them in great numbers. However, as

they sailed round about the vessels, and sometimes as they came near

them, they threw stones at the Romans when they were a good way off,

or came closer and fought them; yet did they receive the greatest harm

themselves in both cases. As for the stones they threw at the Romans,

they only made a sound one after another, for they threw them against

such as were in their armor, while the Roman darts could reach the Jews

themselves; and when they ventured to come near the Romans, they became

sufferers themselves before they could do any harm to the ether,

and were drowned, they and their ships together. As for those that

endeavored to come to an actual fight, the Romans ran many of them

through with their long poles. Sometimes the Romans leaped into their

ships, with swords in their hands, and slew them; but when some of them

met the vessels, the Romans caught them by the middle, and destroyed at

once their ships and themselves who were taken in them. And for such as

were drowning in the sea, if they lifted their heads up above the water,

they were either killed by darts, or caught by the vessels; but if,

in the desperate case they were in, they attempted to swim to their

enemies, the Romans cut off either their heads or their hands; and

indeed they were destroyed after various manners every where, till the

rest being put to flight, were forced to get upon the land, while the

vessels encompassed them about [on the sea]: but as many of these were

repulsed when they were getting ashore, they were killed by the darts

upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out of their vessels, and destroyed

a great many more upon the land: one might then see the lake all bloody,

and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible

stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over that

country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of

dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by the

sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air, insomuch that the misery

was not only the object of commiseration to the Jews, but to those that

hated them, and had been the authors of that misery. This was the upshot

of the sea-fight. The number of the slain, including those that were

killed in the city before, was six thousand and five hundred.

10. After this fight was over, Vespasian sat upon his tribunal

at Taricheae, in order to distinguish the foreigners from the old

inhabitants; for those foreigners appear to have begun the war. So he

deliberated with the other commanders, whether he ought to save those

old inhabitants or not. And when those commanders alleged that the

dismission of them would be to his own disadvantage, because, when they

were once set at liberty, they would not be at rest, since they would be

people destitute of proper habitations, and would be able to compel such

as they fled to fight against us, Vespasian acknowledged that they did

not deserve to be saved, and that if they had leave given them to fly

away, they would make use of it against those that gave them that leave.

But still he considered with himself after what manner they should be

slain 8 for if he had them slain there, he suspected the people of the

country would thereby become his enemies; for that to be sure they would

never bear it, that so many that had been supplicants to him should

be killed; and to offer violence to them, after he had given them

assurances of their lives, he could not himself bear to do it. However,

his friends were too hard for him, and pretended that nothing against

Jews could be any impiety, and that he ought to prefer what was

profitable before what was fit to be done, where both could not be made

consistent. So he gave them an ambiguous liberty to do as they advised,

and permitted the prisoners to go along no other road than that which

led to Tiberias only. So they readily believed what they desired to be

true, and went along securely, with their effects, the way which was

allowed them, while the Romans seized upon all the road that led to

Tiberias, that none of them might go out of it, and shut them up in the

city. Then came Vespasian, and ordered them all to stand in the stadium,

and commanded them to kill the old men, together with the others that

were useless, which were in number a thousand and two hundred. Out of

the young men he chose six thousand of the strongest, and sent them to

Nero, to dig through the Isthmus, and sold the remainder for slaves,

being thirty thousand and four hundred, besides such as he made a

present of to Agrippa; for as to those that belonged to his kingdom, he

gave him leave to do what he pleased with them; however, the king sold

these also for slaves; but for the rest of the multitude, who were

Trachonites, and Gaulanites, and of Hippos, and some of Gadara, the

greatest part of them were seditious persons and fugitives, who were of

such shameful characters, that they preferred war before peace. These

prisoners were taken on the eighth day of the month Gorpieus [Elul].

WAR BOOK 3 FOOTNOTES

1 (return) [ Take the confirmation of this in the words of Suetonius,

here produced by Dr. Hudson: "In the reign of Claudius," says he,

"Vespasian, for the sake of Narcissus, was sent as a lieutenant of a

legion into Germany. Thence he removed into Britain battles with the

enemy." In Vesp. sect. 4. We may also here note from Josephus, that

Claudius the emperor, who triumphed for the conquest of Britain, was

enabled so to do by Vespasian's conduct and bravery, and that he is here

styled "the father of Vespasian."]

2 (return) [ Spanheim and Reland both agree, that the two cities here

esteemed greater than Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, were Rome and

Alexandria; nor is there any occasion for doubt in so plain a case.]

3 (return) [ This description of the exact symmetry and regularity of

the Roman army, and of the Roman encampments, with the sounding their

trumpets, etc. and order of war, described in this and the next chapter,

is so very like to the symmetry and regularity of the people of Israel

in the wilderness, [see Description of the Temples, ch. 9.,] that one

cannot well avoid the supposal, that the one was the ultimate pattern

of the other, and that the tactics of the ancients were taken from the

rules given by God to Moses. And it is thought by some skillful in

these matters, that these accounts of Josephus, as to the Roman camp and

armor, and conduct in war, are preferable to those in the Roman authors

themselves.]

4 (return) [ I cannot but here observe an Eastern way of speaking,

frequent among them, but not usual among us, where the word "only"

or "alone" is not set down, but perhaps some way supplied in the

pronunciation. Thus Josephus here says, that those of Jotapata slew

seven of the Romans as they were marching off, because the Romans'

retreat was regular, their bodies were covered over with their armor,

and the Jews fought at some distance; his meaning is clear, that these

were the reasons why they slew only, or no more than seven. I have met

with many the like examples in the Scriptures, in Josephus, etc.; but

did not note down the particular places. This observation ought to be

borne in mind upon many occasions.]

5 (return) [ These public mourners, hired upon the supposed death of

Josephus, and the real death of many more, illustrate some passages in

the Bible, which suppose the same custom, as Matthew 11:17, where the

reader may consult the notes of Grotius.]

6 (return) [ Of this Cesarea Philippi [twice mentioned in our New

Testament, Matthew 16:13; Mark 8;27: there are coins still extant,

Spanheim here informs us.]

7 (return) [ I do not know where to find the law of Moses here mentioned

by Josephus, and afterwards by Eleazar, 13. VII. ch. 8. sect. 7, and

almost implied in B. I. ch. 13. sect. 10, by Josephus's commendation of

Phasaelus for doing so; I mean, whereby Jewish generals and people were

obliged to kill themselves, rather than go into slavery under heathens.

I doubt this would have been no better than "self-murder;" and I believe

it was rather some vain doctrine, or interpretation, of the rigid

Pharisees, or Essens, or Herodiaus, than a just consequence from any law

of God delivered by Moses.

(It may be worth our while to observe here, that near this lake of

Gennesareth grapes and figs hang on the trees ten months of the year.

We may observe also, that in Cyril of Jerusalem, Cateehes. 18. sect. 3,

which was delivered not long before Easter, there were no fresh leaves

of fig trees, nor bunches of fresh grapes in Judea; so that when St.

Mark says, ch. 11. ver. 13, that our Savior, soon after the same time of

the year, came and "found leaves" on a fig tree near Jerusalem, but "no

figs, because the time of" new "figs" ripening "was not yet," he says

very true; nor were they therefore other than old leaves which our

Savior saw, and old figs which he expected, and which even with us

commonly hang on the trees all winter long.)]

8 (return) [ This is the most cruel and barbarous action that Vespasian

ever did in this whole war, as he did it with great reluctance also.

It was done both after public assurance given of sparing the prisoners'

lives, and when all knew and confessed that these prisoners were no way

guilty of any sedition against the Romans. Nor indeed did Titus now give

his consent, so far as appears, nor ever act of himself so barbarously;

nay, soon after this, Titus grew quite weary of shedding blood, and of

punishing the innocent with the guilty, and gave the people of Gischala

leave to keep the Jewish sabbath, B. IV. ch. 2. sect. 3, 5, in the midst

of their siege. Nor was Vespasian disposed to do what he did, till his

officers persuaded him, and that from two principal topics, viz. that

nothing could be unjust that was done against Jews; and that when both

cannot be consistent, advantage must prevail over justice. Admirable

court doctrines these!]

BOOK IV.

Containing The Interval Of About One Year.

From The Siege Of Gamala To The Coming Of Titus To Besiege

Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 1.

The Siege And Taking Of Gamala.

1. Now all those Galileans who, after the taking of Jotapata, had

revolted from the Romans, did, upon the conquest of Taricheae, deliver

themselves up to them again. And the Romans received all the fortresses

and the cities, excepting Gischala and those that had seized upon Mount

Tabor; Gamala also, which is a city over against Taricheae, but on the

other side of the lake, conspired with them. This city lay upon the

borders of Agrippa's kingdom, as also did Sogana and Seleucia. And these

were both parts of Gaulanitis; for Sogana was a part of that called

the Upper Gaulanitis, as was Gamala of the Lower; while Seleucia was

situated at the lake Semechouitis, which lake is thirty furlongs in

breadth, and sixty in length; its marshes reach as far as the place

Daphne, which in other respects is a delicious place, and hath such

fountains as supply water to what is called Little Jordan, under the

temple of the golden calf, 1 where it is sent into Great Jordan. Now

Agrippa had united Sogana and Seleucia by leagues to himself, at the

very beginning of the revolt from the Romans; yet did not Gamala accede

to them, but relied upon the difficulty of the place, which was greater

than that of Jotapata, for it was situated upon a rough ridge of a high

mountain, with a kind of neck in the middle: where it begins to ascend,

it lengthens itself, and declines as much downward before as behind,

insomuch that it is like a camel in figure, from whence it is so named,

although the people of the country do not pronounce it accurately. Both

on the side and the face there are abrupt parts divided from the rest,

and ending in vast deep valleys; yet are the parts behind, where they

are joined to the mountain, somewhat easier of ascent than the other;

but then the people belonging to the place have cut an oblique ditch

there, and made that hard to be ascended also. On its acclivity, which

is straight, houses are built, and those very thick and close to one

another. The city also hangs so strangely, that it looks as if it would

fall down upon itself, so sharp is it at the top. It is exposed to the

south, and its southern mount, which reaches to an immense height, was

in the nature of a citadel to the city; and above that was a precipice,

not walled about, but extending itself to an immense depth. There was

also a spring of water within the wall, at the utmost limits of the

city.

2. As this city was naturally hard to be taken, so had Josephus, by

building a wall about it, made it still stronger, as also by ditches and

mines under ground. The people that were in it were made more bold by

the nature of the place than the people of Jotapata had been, but it

had much fewer fighting men in it; and they had such a confidence in

the situation of the place, that they thought the enemy could not be too

many for them; for the city had been filled with those that had fled

to it for safety, on account of its strength; on which account they

had been able to resist those whom Agrippa sent to besiege it for seven

months together.

3. But Vespasian removed from Emmaus, where he had last pitched his

camp before the city Tiberias, [now Emmaus, if it be interpreted, may

be rendered "a warm bath," for therein is a spring of warm water, useful

for healing,] and came to Gamala; yet was its situation such that he was

not able to encompass it all round with soldiers to watch it; but where

the places were practicable, he set men to watch it, and seized upon the

mountain which was over it. And as the legions, according to their usual

custom, were fortifying their camp upon that mountain, he began to cast

up banks at the bottom, at the part towards the east, where the highest

tower of the whole city was, and where the fifteenth legion pitched

their camp; while the fifth legion did duty over against the midst of

the city, and whilst the tenth legion filled up the ditches and the

valleys. Now at this time it was that as king Agrippa was come nigh

the walls, and was endeavoring to speak to those that were on the walls

about a surrender, he was hit with a stone on his right elbow by one of

the slingers; he was then immediately surrounded with his own men. But

the Romans were excited to set about the siege, by their indignation

on the king's account, and by their fear on their own account, as

concluding that those men would omit no kinds of barbarity against

foreigners and enemies, who where so enraged against one of their own

nation, and one that advised them to nothing but what was for their own

advantage.

4. Now when the banks were finished, which was done on the sudden, both

by the multitude of hands, and by their being accustomed to such work,

they brought the machines; but Chares and Joseph, who were the most

potent men in the city, set their armed men in order, though already

in a fright, because they did not suppose that the city could hold out

long, since they had not a sufficient quantity either of water, or of

other necessaries. However, these their leaders encouraged them, and

brought them out upon the wall, and for a while indeed they drove away

those that were bringing the machines; but when those machines threw

darts and stones at them, they retired into the city; then did the

Romans bring battering rams to three several places, and made the wall

shake [and fall]. They then poured in over the parts of the wall that

were thrown down, with a mighty sound of trumpets and noise of armor,

and with a shout of the soldiers, and brake in by force upon those that

were in the city; but these men fell upon the Romans for some time, at

their first entrance, and prevented their going any further, and with

great courage beat them back; and the Romans were so overpowered by the

greater multitude of the people, who beat them on every side, that they

were obliged to run into the upper parts of the city. Whereupon the

people turned about, and fell upon their enemies, who had attacked them,

and thrust them down to the lower parts, and as they were distressed

by the narrowness and difficulty of the place, slew them; and as these

Romans could neither beat those back that were above them, nor escape

the force of their own men that were forcing their way forward, they

were compelled to fly into their enemies' houses, which were low; but

these houses being thus full, of soldiers, whose weight they could not

bear, fell down suddenly; and when one house fell, it shook down a great

many of those that were under it, as did those do to such as were under

them. By this means a vast number of the Romans perished; for they were

so terribly distressed, that although they saw the houses subsiding,

they were compelled to leap upon the tops of them; so that a great many

were ground to powder by these ruins, and a great many of those that

got from under them lost some of their limbs, but still a greater number

were suffocated by the dust that arose from those ruins. The people

of Gamala supposed this to be an assistance afforded them by God, and

without regarding what damage they suffered themselves, they pressed

forward, and thrust the enemy upon the tops of their houses; and when

they stumbled in the sharp and narrow streets, and were perpetually

falling down, they threw their stones or darts at them, and slew them.

Now the very ruins afforded them stones enow; and for iron weapons,

the dead men of the enemies' side afforded them what they wanted; for

drawing the swords of those that were dead, they made use of them to

despatch such as were only half dead; nay, there were a great number

who, upon their falling down from the tops of the houses, stabbed

themselves, and died after that manner; nor indeed was it easy for those

that were beaten back to fly away; for they were so unacquainted with

the ways, and the dust was so thick, that they wandered about without

knowing one another, and fell down dead among the crowd.

5. Those therefore that were able to find the ways out of the city

retired. But now Vespasian always staid among those that were hard set;

for he was deeply affected with seeing the ruins of the city falling

upon his army, and forgot to take care of his own preservation. He went

up gradually towards the highest parts of the city before he was aware,

and was left in the midst of dangers, having only a very few with him;

for even his son Titus was not with him at that time, having been then

sent into Syria to Mucianus. However, he thought it not safe to fly,

nor did he esteem it a fit thing for him to do; but calling to mind the

actions he had done from his youth, and recollecting his courage, as if

he had been excited by a divine fury, he covered himself and those that

were with him with their shields, and formed a testudo over both their

bodies and their armor, and bore up against the enemy's attacks, who

came running down from the top of the city; and without showing any

dread at the multitude of the men or of their darts, he endured all,

until the enemy took notice of that divine courage that was within him,

and remitted of their attacks; and when they pressed less zealously upon

him, he retired, though without showing his back to them till he was

gotten out of the walls of the city. Now a great number of the Romans

fell in this battle, among whom was Ebutius, the decurion, a man who

appeared not only in this engagement, wherein he fell, but every where,

and in former engagements, to be of the truest courage, and one that had

done very great mischief to the Jews. But there was a centurion whose

name was Gallus, who, during this disorder, being encompassed about,

he and ten other soldiers privately crept into the house of a certain

person, where he heard them talking at supper, what the people intended

to do against the Romans, or about themselves [for both the man himself

and those with him were Syrians]. So he got up in the night time, and

cut all their throats, and escaped, together with his soldiers, to the

Romans.

6. And now Vespasian comforted his army, which was much dejected by

reflecting on their ill success, and because they had never before

fallen into such a calamity, and besides this, because they were greatly

ashamed that they had left their general alone in great dangers. As to

what concerned himself, he avoided to say any thing, that he might by

no means seem to complain of it; but he said that "we ought to bear

manfully what usually falls out in war, and this, by considering what

the nature of war is, and how it can never be that we must conquer

without bloodshed on our own side; for there stands about us that

fortune which is of its own nature mutable; that while they had killed

so many ten thousands of the Jews, they had now paid their small share

of the reckoning to fate; and as it is the part of weak people to be too

much puffed up with good success, so is it the part of cowards to be too

much affrighted at that which is ill; for the change from the one to the

other is sudden on both sides; and he is the best warrior who is of a

sober mind under misfortunes, that he may continue in that temper, and

cheerfully recover what had been lost formerly; and as for what had now

happened, it was neither owing to their own effeminacy, nor to the valor

of the Jews, but the difficulty of the place was the occasion of their

advantage, and of our disappointment. Upon reflecting on which matter

one might blame your zeal as perfectly ungovernable; for when the enemy

had retired to their highest fastnesses, you ought to have restrained

yourselves, and not, by presenting yourselves at the top of the city, to

be exposed to dangers; but upon your having obtained the lower parts of

the city, you ought to have provoked those that had retired thither to

a safe and settled battle; whereas, in rushing so hastily upon victory,

you took no care of your safety. But this incautiousness in war, and

this madness of zeal, is not a Roman maxim. While we perform all that

we attempt by skill and good order, that procedure is the part of

barbarians, and is what the Jews chiefly support themselves by. We ought

therefore to return to our own virtue, and to be rather angry than any

longer dejected at this unlucky misfortune, and let every one seek for

his own consolation from his own hand; for by this means he will avenge

those that have been destroyed, and punish those that have killed them.

For myself, I will endeavor, as I have now done, to go first before

you against your enemies in every engagement, and to be the last that

retires from it."

7. So Vespasian encouraged his army by this speech; but for the people

of Gamala, it happened that they took courage for a little while, upon

such great and unaccountable success as they had had. But when they

considered with themselves that they had now no hopes of any terms of

accommodation, and reflecting upon it that they could not get away, and

that their provisions began already to be short, they were exceedingly

cast down, and their courage failed them; yet did they not neglect what

might be for their preservation, so far as they were able, but the most

courageous among them guarded those parts of the wall that were beaten

down, while the more infirm did the same to the rest of the wall that

still remained round the city. And as the Romans raised their banks, and

attempted to get into the city a second time, a great many of them fled

out of the city through impracticable valleys, where no guards were

placed, as also through subterraneous caverns; while those that were

afraid of being caught, and for that reason staid in the city, perished

for want of food; for what food they had was brought together from all

quarters, and reserved for the fighting men.

8. And these were the hard circumstances that the people of Gamala

were in. But now Vespasian went about other work by the by, during this

siege, and that was to subdue those that had seized upon Mount Tabor, a

place that lies in the middle between the great plain and Scythopolis,

whose top is elevated as high as thirty furlongs 2 and is hardly to be

ascended on its north side; its top is a plain of twenty-six furlongs,

and all encompassed with a wall. Now Josephus erected this so long a

wall in forty days' time, and furnished it with other materials, and

with water from below, for the inhabitants only made use of rain water.

As therefore there was a great multitude of people gotten together

upon this mountain, Vespasian sent Placidus with six hundred horsemen

thither. Now, as it was impossible for him to ascend the mountain, he

invited many of them to peace, by the offer of his right hand for their

security, and of his intercession for them. Accordingly they came down,

but with a treacherous design, as well as he had the like treacherous

design upon them on the other side; for Placidus spoke mildly to them,

as aiming to take them, when he got them into the plain; they also came

down, as complying with his proposals, but it was in order to fall upon

him when he was not aware of it: however, Placidus's stratagem was too

hard for theirs; for when the Jews began to fight, he pretended to run

away, and when they were in pursuit of the Romans, he enticed them

a great way along the plain, and then made his horsemen turn back;

whereupon he beat them, and slew a great number of them, and cut off the

retreat of the rest of the multitude, and hindered their return. So they

left Tabor, and fled to Jerusalem, while the people of the country came

to terms with him, for their water failed them, and so they delivered up

the mountain and themselves to Placidus.

9. But of the people of Gamala, those that were of the bolder sort fled

away and hid themselves, while the more infirm perished by famine; but

the men of war sustained the siege till the two and twentieth day of

the month Hyperbereteus, [Tisri,] when three soldiers of the fifteenth

legion, about the morning watch, got under a high tower that was near

them, and undermined it, without making any noise; nor when they either

came to it, which was in the night time, nor when they were under it,

did those that guarded it perceive them. These soldiers then upon their

coming avoided making a noise, and when they had rolled away five of its

strongest stones, they went away hastily; whereupon the tower fell down

on a sudden, with a very great noise, and its guard fell headlong

with it; so that those that kept guard at other places were under such

disturbance, that they ran away; the Romans also slew many of those that

ventured to oppose them, among whom was Joseph, who was slain by a dart,

as he was running away over that part of the wall that was broken down:

but as those that were in the city were greatly affrighted at the noise,

they ran hither and thither, and a great consternation fell upon them,

as though all the enemy had fallen in at once upon them. Then it was

that Chares, who was ill, and under the physician's hands, gave up the

ghost, the fear he was in greatly contributing to make his distemper

fatal to him. But the Romans so well remembered their former ill

success, that they did not enter the city till the three and twentieth

day of the forementioned month.

10. At which time Titus, who was now returned, out of the indignation

he had at the destruction the Romans had undergone while he was absent,

took two hundred chosen horsemen and some footmen with him, and entered

without noise into the city. Now as the watch perceived that he was

coming, they made a noise, and betook themselves to their arms; and as

that his entrance was presently known to those that were in the city,

some of them caught hold of their children and their wives, and drew

them after them, and fled away to the citadel, with lamentations

and cries, while others of them went to meet Titus, and were killed

perpetually; but so many of them as were hindered from running up to

the citadel, not knowing what in the world to do, fell among the Roman

guards, while the groans of those that were killed were prodigiously

great every where, and blood ran down over all the lower parts of the

city, from the upper. But then Vespasian himself came to his assistance

against those that had fled to the citadel, and brought his whole army

with him; now this upper part of the city was every way rocky, and

difficult of ascent, and elevated to a vast altitude, and very full of

people on all sides, and encompassed with precipices, whereby the Jews

cut off those that came up to them, and did much mischief to others

by their darts, and the large stones which they rolled down upon them,

while they were themselves so high that the enemy's darts could hardly

reach them. However, there arose such a Divine storm against them as

was instrumental to their destruction; this carried the Roman darts

upon them, and made those which they threw return back, and drove them

obliquely away from them; nor could the Jews indeed stand upon their

precipices, by reason of the violence of the wind, having nothing that

was stable to stand upon, nor could they see those that were ascending

up to them; so the Romans got up and surrounded them, and some they slew

before they could defend themselves, and others as they were delivering

up themselves; and the remembrance of those that were slain at their

former entrance into the city increased their rage against them now;

a great number also of those that were surrounded on every side,

and despaired of escaping, threw their children and their wives, and

themselves also, down the precipices, into the valley beneath, which,

near the citadel, had been dug hollow to a vast depth; but so it

happened, that the anger of the Romans appeared not to be so extravagant

as was the madness of those that were now taken, while the Romans

slew but four thousand, whereas the number of those that had thrown

themselves down was found to be five thousand: nor did any one escape

except two women, who were the daughters of Philip, and Philip himself

was the son of a certain eminent man called Jacimus, who had been

general of king Agrippa's army; and these did therefore escape, because

they lay concealed from the rage of the Romans when the city was taken;

for otherwise they spared not so much as the infants, of which many were

flung down by them from the citadel. And thus was Gamala taken on the

three and twentieth day of the month Hyperbereteus, [Tisri,] whereas

the city had first revolted on the four and twentieth day of the month

Gorpieus [Elul].

CHAPTER 2.

The Surrender Of Gischala; While John Flies Away From It To

Jerusalem.

1. Now no place of Galilee remained to be taken but the small city of

Gischala, whose multitude yet were desirous of peace; for they were

generally husbandmen, and always applied themselves to cultivate the

fruits of the earth. However, there were a great number that belonged to

a band of robbers, that were already corrupted, and had crept in among

them, and some of the governing part of the citizens were sick of the

same distemper. It was John, the son of a certain man whose name was

Levi, that drew them into this rebellion, and encouraged them in it. He

was a cunning knave, and of a temper that could put on various shapes;

very rash in expecting great things, and very sagacious in bringing

about what he hoped for. It was known to every body that he was fond of

war, in order to thrust himself into authority; and the seditious part

of the people of Gischala were under his management, by whose means the

populace, who seemed ready to send ambassadors in order to surrender,

waited for the coming of the Romans in battle-array. Vespasian sent

against them Titus, with a thousand horsemen, but withdrew the tenth

legion to Scythopolis, while he returned to Cesarea with the two other

legions, that he might allow them to refresh themselves after their long

and hard campaign, thinking withal that the plenty which was in those

cities would improve their bodies and their spirits, against the

difficulties they were to go through afterwards; for he saw there would

be occasion for great pains about Jerusalem, which was not yet taken,

because it was the royal city, and the principal city of the whole

nation, and because those that had run away from the war in other places

got all together thither. It was also naturally strong, and the walls

that were built round it made him not a little concerned about it.

Moreover, he esteemed the men that were in it to be so courageous and

bold, that even without the consideration of the walls, it would be

hard to subdue them; for which reason he took care of and exercised his

soldiers beforehand for the work, as they do wrestlers before they begin

their undertaking.

2. Now Titus, as he rode out to Gischala, found it would be easy for him

to take the city upon the first onset; but knew withal, that if he took

it by force, the multitude would be destroyed by the soldiers without

mercy. [Now he was already satiated with the shedding of blood, and

pitied the major part, who would then perish, without distinction,

together with the guilty.] So he was rather desirous the city might be

surrendered up to him on terms. Accordingly, when he saw the wall full

of those men that were of the corrupted party, he said to them, That he

could not but wonder what it was they depended on, when they alone

staid to fight the Romans, after every other city was taken by them,

especially when they have seen cities much better fortified than theirs

is overthrown by a single attack upon them; while as many as have

intrusted themselves to the security of the Romans' right hands, which

he now offers to them, without regarding their former insolence, do

enjoy their own possessions in safety; for that while they had hopes

of recovering their liberty, they might be pardoned; but that their

continuance still in their opposition, when they saw that to be

impossible, was inexcusable; for that if they will not comply with such

humane offers, and right hands for security, they should have experience

of such a war as would spare nobody, and should soon be made sensible

that their wall would be but a trifle, when battered by the Roman

machines; in depending on which they demonstrate themselves to be the

only Galileans that were no better than arrogant slaves and captives.

3. Now none of the populace durst not only make a reply, but durst not

so much as get upon the wall, for it was all taken up by the robbers,

who were also the guard at the gates, in order to prevent any of the

rest from going out, in order to propose terms of submission, and from

receiving any of the horsemen into the city. But John returned

Titus this answer: That for himself he was content to hearken to his

proposals, and that he would either persuade or force those that refused

them. Yet he said that Titus ought to have such regard to the Jewish

law, as to grant them leave to celebrate that day, which was the seventh

day of the week, on which it was unlawful not only to remove their

arms, but even to treat of peace also; and that even the Romans were not

ignorant how the period of the seventh day was among them a cessation

from all labors; and that he who should compel them to transgress

the law about that day would be equally guilty with those that

were compelled to transgress it: and that this delay could be of no

disadvantage to him; for why should any body think of doing any thing in

the night, unless it was to fly away? which he might prevent by placing

his camp round about them; and that they should think it a great point

gained, if they might not be obliged to transgress the laws of their

country; and that it would be a right thing for him, who designed to

grant them peace, without their expectation of such a favor, to preserve

the laws of those they saved inviolable. Thus did this man put a trick

upon Titus, not so much out of regard to the seventh day as to his own

preservation, for he was afraid lest he should be quite deserted if the

city should be taken, and had his hopes of life in that night, and

in his flight therein. Now this was the work of God, who therefore

preserved this John, that he might bring on the destruction of

Jerusalem; as also it was his work that Titus was prevailed with by this

pretense for a delay, and that he pitched his camp further off the

city at Cydessa. This Cydessa was a strong Mediterranean village of the

Tyrians, which always hated and made war against the Jews; it had also

a great number of inhabitants, and was well fortified, which made it a

proper place for such as were enemies to the Jewish nation.

4. Now, in the night time, when John saw that there was no Roman guard

about the city, he seized the opportunity directly, and, taking with him

not only the armed men that were about him, but a considerable number

of those that had little to do, together with their families, he fled to

Jerusalem. And indeed, though the man was making haste to get away, and

was tormented with fears of being a captive, or of losing his life, yet

did he prevail with himself to take out of the city along with him a

multitude of women and children, as far as twenty furlongs; but there he

left them as he proceeded further on his journey, where those that were

left behind made sad lamentations; for the farther every one of them was

come from his own people, the nearer they thought themselves to be to

their enemies. They also affrighted themselves with this thought, that

those who would carry them into captivity were just at hand, and still

turned themselves back at the mere noise they made themselves in this

their hasty flight, as if those from whom they fled were just upon them.

Many also of them missed their ways, and the earnestness of such as

aimed to outgo the rest threw down many of them. And indeed there was a

miserable destruction made of the women and children; while some of them

took courage to call their husbands and kinsmen back, and to beseech

them, with the bitterest lamentations, to stay for them; but John's

exhortation, who cried out to them to save themselves, and fly away,

prevailed. He said also, that if the Romans should seize upon those

whom they left behind, they would be revenged on them for it. So this

multitude that run thus away was dispersed abroad, according as each of

them was able to run, one faster or slower than another.

5. Now on the next day Titus came to the wall, to make the agreement;

whereupon the people opened their gates to him, and came out to him,

with their children and wives, and made acclamations of joy to him, as

to one that had been their benefactor, and had delivered the city out

of custody; they also informed him of John's flight, and besought him

to spare them, and to come in, and bring the rest of those that were

for innovations to punishment. But Titus, not so much regarding the

supplications of the people, sent part of his horsemen to pursue after

John, but they could not overtake him, for he was gotten to Jerusalem

before; they also slew six thousand of the women and children who went

out with him, but returned back, and brought with them almost three

thousand. However, Titus was greatly displeased that he had not been

able to bring this John, who had deluded him, to punishment; yet he had

captives enough, as well as the corrupted part of the city, to satisfy

his anger, when it missed of John. So he entered the city in the midst

of acclamations of joy; and when he had given orders to the soldiers

to pull down a small part of the wall, as of a city taken in war, he

repressed those that had disturbed the city rather by threatenings than

by executions; for he thought that many would accuse innocent persons,

out of their own private animosities and quarrels, if he should attempt

to distinguish those that were worthy of punishment from the rest; and

that it was better to let a guilty person alone in his fears, that to

destroy with him any one that did not deserve it; for that probably such

a one might be taught prudence, by the fear of the punishment he had

deserved, and have a shame upon him for his former offenses, when he had

been forgiven; but that the punishment of such as have been once put

to death could never be retrieved. However, he placed a garrison in the

city for its security, by which means he should restrain those that were

for innovations, and should leave those that were peaceably disposed

in greater security. And thus was all Galilee taken, but this not till

after it had cost the Romans much pains before it could be taken by

them.

CHAPTER 3.

Concerning John Of Gischala. Concerning The Zealots And The

High Priest Ananus; As Also How The Jews Raise Seditions One

Against Another [In Jerusalem].

1. Now upon John's entry into Jerusalem, the whole body of the people

were in an uproar, and ten thousand of them crowded about every one of

the fugitives that were come to them, and inquired of them what miseries

had happened abroad, when their breath was so short, and hot, and quick,

that of itself it declared the great distress they were in; yet did they

talk big under their misfortunes, and pretended to say that they had not

fled away from the Romans, but came thither in order to fight them with

less hazard; for that it would be an unreasonable and a fruitless thing

for them to expose themselves to desperate hazards about Gischala, and

such weak cities, whereas they ought to lay up their weapons and their

zeal, and reserve it for their metropolis. But when they related to them

the taking of Gischala, and their decent departure, as they pretended,

from that place, many of the people understood it to be no better than a

flight; and especially when the people were told of those that were made

captives, they were in great confusion, and guessed those things to be

plain indications that they should be taken also. But for John, he was

very little concerned for those whom he had left behind him, but went

about among all the people, and persuaded them to go to war, by the

hopes he gave them. He affirmed that the affairs of the Romans were in

a weak condition, and extolled his own power. He also jested upon the

ignorance of the unskillful, as if those Romans, although they should

take to themselves wings, could never fly over the wall of Jerusalem,

who found such great difficulties in taking the villages of Galilee, and

had broken their engines of war against their walls.

2. These harangues of John's corrupted a great part of the young men,

and puffed them up for the war; but as to the more prudent part, and

those in years, there was not a man of them but foresaw what was coming,

and made lamentation on that account, as if the city was already undone;

and in this confusion were the people. But then it must be observed,

that the multitude that came out of the country were at discord before

the Jerusalem sedition began; for Titus went from Gischala to Cesates,

and Vespasian from Cesarea to Jamnia and Azotus, and took them both; and

when he had put garrisons into them, he came back with a great number

of the people, who were come over to him, upon his giving them his right

hand for their preservation. There were besides disorders and civil wars

in every city; and all those that were at quiet from the Romans turned

their hands one against another. There was also a bitter contest between

those that were fond of war, and those that were desirous for peace. At

the first this quarrelsome temper caught hold of private families, who

could not agree among themselves; after which those people that were the

dearest to one another brake through all restraints with regard to each

other, and every one associated with those of his own opinion, and began

already to stand in opposition one to another; so that seditions arose

every where, while those that were for innovations, and were desirous of

war, by their youth and boldness, were too hard for the aged and prudent

men. And, in the first place, all the people of every place betook

themselves to rapine; after which they got together in bodies, in

order to rob the people of the country, insomuch that for barbarity and

iniquity those of the same nation did no way differ from the Romans;

nay, it seemed to be a much lighter thing to be ruined by the Romans

than by themselves.

3. Now the Roman garrisons, which guarded the cities, partly out of

their uneasiness to take such trouble upon them, and partly out of the

hatred they bare to the Jewish nation, did little or nothing towards

relieving the miserable, till the captains of these troops of robbers,

being satiated with rapines in the country, got all together from all

parts, and became a band of wickedness, and all together crept into

Jerusalem, which was now become a city without a governor, and, as the

ancient custom was, received without distinction all that belonged to

their nation; and these they then received, because all men supposed

that those who came so fast into the city came out of kindness, and for

their assistance, although these very men, besides the seditions they

raised, were otherwise the direct cause of the city's destruction also;

for as they were an unprofitable and a useless multitude, they spent

those provisions beforehand which might otherwise have been sufficient

for the fighting men. Moreover, besides the bringing on of the war, they

were the occasions of sedition and famine therein.

4. There were besides these other robbers that came out of the country,

and came into the city, and joining to them those that were worse than

themselves, omitted no kind of barbarity; for they did not measure their

courage by their rapines and plunderings only, but preceded as far as

murdering men; and this not in the night time or privately, or with

regard to ordinary men, but did it openly in the day time, and began

with the most eminent persons in the city; for the first man they

meddled with was Antipas, one of the royal lineage, and the most potent

man in the whole city, insomuch that the public treasures were committed

to his care; him they took and confined; as they did in the next place

to Levias, a person of great note, with Sophas, the son of Raguel, both

which were of royal lineage also. And besides these, they did the

same to the principal men of the country. This caused a terrible

consternation among the people, and everyone contented himself with

taking care of his own safety, as they would do if the city had been

taken in war.

5. But these were not satisfied with the bonds into which they had put

the men forementioned; nor did they think it safe for them to keep

them thus in custody long, since they were men very powerful, and had

numerous families of their own that were able to avenge them. Nay,

they thought the very people would perhaps be so moved at these unjust

proceedings, as to rise in a body against them; it was therefore

resolved to have them slain accordingly, they sent one John, who was the

most bloody-minded of them all, to do that execution: this man was also

called "the son of Dorcas," 3 in the language of our country. Ten more

men went along with him into the prison, with their swords drawn, and

so they cut the throats of those that were in custody there. The grand

lying pretence these men made for so flagrant an enormity was this,

that these men had had conferences with the Romans for a surrender of

Jerusalem to them; and so they said they had slain only such as were

traitors to their common liberty. Upon the whole, they grew the more

insolent upon this bold prank of theirs, as though they had been the

benefactors and saviors of the city.

6. Now the people were come to that degree of meanness and fear, and

these robbers to that degree of madness, that these last took upon them

to appoint high priests. 4 So when they had disannulled the succession,

according to those families out of which the high priests used to be

made, they ordained certain unknown and ignoble persons for that office,

that they might have their assistance in their wicked undertakings; for

such as obtained this highest of all honors, without any desert, were

forced to comply with those that bestowed it on them. They also set

the principal men at variance one with another, by several sorts of

contrivances and tricks, and gained the opportunity of doing what they

pleased, by the mutual quarrels of those who might have obstructed

their measures; till at length, when they were satiated with the unjust

actions they had done towards men, they transferred their contumelious

behavior to God himself, and came into the sanctuary with polluted feet.

7. And now the multitude were going to rise against them already; for

Ananus, the ancientest of the high priests, persuaded them to it. He was

a very prudent man, and had perhaps saved the city if he could but have

escaped the hands of those that plotted against him. These men made the

temple of God a strong hold for them, and a place whither they might

resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people;

the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a shop of tyranny. They

also mixed jesting among the miseries they introduced, which was more

intolerable than what they did; for in order to try what surprise

the people would be under, and how far their own power extended, they

undertook to dispose of the high priesthood by casting lots for it,

whereas, as we have said already, it was to descend by succession in a

family. The pretense they made for this strange attempt was an ancient

practice, while they said that of old it was determined by lot; but in

truth, it was no better than a dissolution of an undeniable law, and

a cunning contrivance to seize upon the government, derived from those

that presumed to appoint governors as they themselves pleased.

8. Hereupon they sent for one of the pontifical tribes, which is called

Eniachim, 5 and cast lots which of it should be the high priest. By

fortune the lot so fell as to demonstrate their iniquity after the

plainest manner, for it fell upon one whose name was Phannias, the son

of Samuel, of the village Aphtha. He was a man not only unworthy of the

high priesthood, but that did not well know what the high priesthood

was, such a mere rustic was he! yet did they hail this man, without his

own consent, out of the country, as if they were acting a play upon the

stage, and adorned him with a counterfeit tree; they also put upon him

the sacred garments, and upon every occasion instructed him what he was

to do. This horrid piece of wickedness was sport and pastime with them,

but occasioned the other priests, who at a distance saw their law made

a jest of, to shed tears, and sorely lament the dissolution of such a

sacred dignity.