1. Now at the same time that Titus Caesar lay at the siege of Jerusalem,

did Vespasian go on board a merchantship and sailed from Alexandria to

Rhodes; whence he sailed away in ships with three rows of oars; and

as he touched at several cities that lay in his road, he was joyfully

received by them all, and so passed over from Ionia into Greece; whence

he set sail from Corcyra to the promontory of Iapyx, whence he took his

journey by land. But as for Titus, he marched from that Cesarea which

lay by the sea-side, and came to that which is named Cesarea Philippi,

and staid there a considerable time, and exhibited all sorts of shows

there. And here a great number of the captives were destroyed, some

being thrown to wild beasts, and others in multitudes forced to kill one

another, as if they were their enemies. And here it was that Titus was

informed of the seizure of Simon the son of Gioras, which was made after

the manner following: This Simon, during the siege of Jerusalem, was in

the upper city; but when the Roman army was gotten within the walls,

and were laying the city waste, he then took the most faithful of his

friends with him, and among them some that were stone-cutters, with

those iron tools which belonged to their occupation, and as great a

quantity of provisions as would suffice them for a long time, and let

himself and all them down into a certain subterraneous cavern that was

not visible above ground. Now, so far as had been digged of old, they

went onward along it without disturbance; but where they met with solid

earth, they dug a mine under ground, and this in hopes that they should

be able to proceed so far as to rise from under ground in a safe place,

and by that means escape. But when they came to make the experiment,

they were disappointed of their hope; for the miners could make but

small progress, and that with difficulty also; insomuch that their

provisions, though they distributed them by measure, began to fail

them. And now Simon, thinking he might be able to astonish and elude the

Romans, put on a white frock, and buttoned upon him a purple cloak, and

appeared out of the ground in the place where the temple had formerly

been. At the first, indeed, those that saw him were greatly astonished,

and stood still where they were; but afterward they came nearer to him,

and asked him who he was. Now Simon would not tell them, but bid them

call for their captain; and when they ran to call him, Terentius Rufus

2 who was left to command the army there, came to Simon, and learned of

him the whole truth, and kept him in bonds, and let Caesar know that he

was taken. Thus did God bring this man to be punished for what bitter

and savage tyranny he had exercised against his countrymen by those who

were his worst enemies; and this while he was not subdued by violence,

but voluntarily delivered himself up to them to be punished, and that

on the very same account that he had laid false accusations against many

Jews, as if they were falling away to the Romans, and had barbarously

slain them; for wicked actions do not escape the Divine anger, nor is

justice too weak to punish offenders, but in time overtakes those that

transgress its laws, and inflicts its punishments upon the wicked in a

manner, so much more severe, as they expected to escape it on account of

their not being punished immediately. 3 Simon was made sensible of this

by falling under the indignation of the Romans. This rise of his out of

the ground did also occasion the discovery of a great number of others

of the seditious at that time, who had hidden themselves under ground.

But for Simon, he was brought to Caesar in bonds, when he was come back

to that Cesarea which was on the seaside, who gave orders that he should

be kept against that triumph which he was to celebrate at Rome upon this

occasion.

CHAPTER 3.

How Titus Upon The Celebration Of His Brothers And Fathers

Birthdays Had Many Of The Jews Slain. Concerning The Danger

The Jews Were In At Antioch, By Means Of The Transgression

And Impiety Of One Antiochus, A Jew.

1. While Titus was at Cesarea, he solemnized the birthday of his brother

[Domitian] after a splendid manner, and inflicted a great deal of the

punishment intended for the Jews in honor of him; for the number of

those that were now slain in fighting with the beasts, and were burnt,

and fought with one another, exceeded two thousand five hundred. Yet did

all this seem to the Romans, when they were thus destroyed ten thousand

several ways, to be a punishment beneath their deserts. After this

Caesar came to Berytus, 4 which is a city of Phoenicia, and a Roman

colony, and staid there a longer time, and exhibited a still more

pompous solemnity about his father's birthday, both in the magnificence

of the shows, and in the other vast expenses he was at in his devices

thereto belonging; so that a great multitude of the captives were here

destroyed after the same manner as before.

2. It happened also about this time, that the Jews who remained at

Antioch were under accusations, and in danger of perishing, from the

disturbances that were raised against them by the Antiochians; and this

both on account of the slanders spread abroad at this time against them,

and on account of what pranks they had played not long before; which

I am obliged to describe without fail, though briefly, that I may the

better connect my narration of future actions with those that went

before.

3. For as the Jewish nation is widely dispersed over all the habitable

earth among its inhabitants, so it is very much intermingled with

Syria by reason of its neighborhood, and had the greatest multitudes in

Antioch by reason of the largeness of the city, wherein the kings, after

Antiochus, had afforded them a habitation with the most undisturbed

tranquillity; for though Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, laid

Jerusalem waste, and spoiled the temple, yet did those that succeeded

him in the kingdom restore all the donations that were made of brass to

the Jews of Antioch, and dedicated them to their synagogue, and granted

them the enjoyment of equal privileges of citizens with the Greeks

themselves; and as the succeeding kings treated them after the same

manner, they both multiplied to a great number, and adorned their temple

gloriously by fine ornaments, and with great magnificence, in the use of

what had been given them. They also made proselytes of a great many of

the Greeks perpetually, and thereby after a sort brought them to be

a portion of their own body. But about this time when the present war

began, and Vespasian was newly sailed to Syria, and all men had taken

up a great hatred against the Jews, then it was that a certain person,

whose name was Antiochus, being one of the Jewish nation, and greatly

respected on account of his father, who was governor of the Jews at

Antioch 5 came upon the theater at a time when the people of Antioch

were assembled together, and became an informer against his father, and

accused both him and others that they had resolved to burn the whole

city in one night; he also delivered up to them some Jews that were

foreigners, as partners in their resolutions. When the people heard

this, they could not refrain their passion, but commanded that those

who were delivered up to them should have fire brought to burn them, who

were accordingly all burnt upon the theater immediately. They did also

fall violently upon the multitude of the Jews, as supposing that

by punishing them suddenly they should save their own city. As for

Antiochus, he aggravated the rage they were in, and thought to give them

a demonstration of his own conversion, arm of his hatred of the Jewish

customs, by sacrificing after the manner of the Greeks; he persuaded

the rest also to compel them to do the same, because they would by that

means discover who they were that had plotted against them, since they

would not do so; and when the people of Antioch tried the experiment,

some few complied, but those that would not do so were slain. As for

Antiochus himself, he obtained soldiers from the Roman commander, and

became a severe master over his own citizens, not permitting them to

rest on the seventh day, but forcing them to do all that they usually

did on other days; and to that degree of distress did he reduce them in

this matter, that the rest of the seventh day was dissolved not only at

Antioch, but the same thing which took thence its rise was done in other

cities also, in like manner, for some small time.

4. Now, after these misfortunes had happened to the Jews at Antioch, a

second calamity befell them, the description of which when we were going

about we premised the account foregoing; for upon this accident, whereby

the four-square market-place was burnt down, as well as the archives,

and the place where the public records were preserved, and the royal

palaces, [and it was not without difficulty that the fire was then put

a stop to, which was likely, by the fury wherewith it was carried along,

to have gone over the whole city,] Antiochus accused the Jews as the

occasion of all the mischief that was done. Now this induced the people

of Antioch, who were now under the immediate persuasion, by reason of

the disorder they were in, that this calumny was true, and would have

been under the same persuasion, even though they had not borne

an ill-will at the Jews before, to believe this man's accusation,

especially when they considered what had been done before, and this

to such a degree, that they all fell violently upon those that were

accused, and this, like madmen, in a very furious rage also, even as if

they had seen the Jews in a manner setting fire themselves to the city;

nor was it without difficulty that one Cneius Collegas, the legate,

could prevail with them to permit the affairs to be laid before Caesar;

for as to Cesennius Petus, the president of Syria, Vespasian had already

sent him away; and so it happened that he was not yet come back thither.

But when Collegas had made a careful inquiry into the matter, he found

out the truth, and that not one of those Jews that were accused by

Antiochus had any hand in it, but that all was done by some vile persons

greatly in debt, who supposed that if they could once set fire to the

market-place, and burn the public records, they should have no further

demands made upon them. So the Jews were under great disorder and

terror, in the uncertain expectations of what would be the upshot of

these accusations against them.

CHAPTER 4.

How Vespasian Was Received At Rome; As Also How The Germans

Revolted From The Romans, But Were Subdued. That The

Sarmatians Overran Mysia, But Were Compelled To Retire To

Their Own Country Again.

1. And now Titus Caesar, upon the news that was brought him concerning

his father, that his coming was much desired by all the Italian cities,

and that Rome especially received him with great alacrity and splendor,

betook himself to rejoicing and pleasures to a great degree, as now

freed from the solicitude he had been under, after the most agreeable

manner. For all men that were in Italy showed their respects to him

in their minds before he came thither, as if he were already come, as

esteeming the very expectation they had of him to be his real presence,

on account of the great desires they had to see him, and because the

good-will they bore him was entirely free and unconstrained; for it was,

desirable thing to the senate, who well remembered the calamities they

had undergone in the late changes of their governors, to receive a

governor who was adorned with the gravity of old age, and with the

highest skill in the actions of war, whose advancement would be, as they

knew, for nothing else but for the preservation of those that were to

be governed. Moreover, the people had been so harassed by their civil

miseries, that they were still more earnest for his coming immediately,

as supposing they should then be firmly delivered from their calamities,

and believed they should then recover their secure tranquillity and

prosperity; and for the soldiery, they had the principal regard to him,

for they were chiefly apprized of his great exploits in war; and since

they had experienced the want of skill and want of courage in other

commanders, they were very desirous to be free from that great shame

they had undergone by their means, and heartily wished to receive such

a prince as might be a security and an ornament to them. And as this

good-will to Vespasian was universal, those that enjoyed any remarkable

dignities could not have patience enough to stay in Rome, but made haste

to meet him at a very great distance from it; nay, indeed, none of the

rest could endure the delay of seeing him, but did all pour out of the

city in such crowds, and were so universally possessed with the opinion

that it was easier and better for them to go out than to stay there,

that this was the very first time that the city joyfully perceived

itself almost empty of its citizens; for those that staid within were

fewer than those that went out. But as soon as the news was come that he

was hard by, and those that had met him at first related with what good

humor he received every one that came to him, then it was that the whole

multitude that had remained in the city, with their wives and children,

came into the road, and waited for him there; and for those whom he

passed by, they made all sorts of acclamations, on account of the joy

they had to see him, and the pleasantness of his countenance, and styled

him their Benefactor and Savior, and the only person who was worthy to

be ruler of the city of Rome. And now the city was like a temple, full

of garlands and sweet odors; nor was it easy for him to come to the

royal palace, for the multitude of the people that stood about him,

where yet at last he performed his sacrifices of thanksgiving to his

household gods for his safe return to the city. The multitude did also

betake themselves to feasting; which feasts and drink-offerings they

celebrated by their tribes, and their families, and their neighborhoods,

and still prayed God to grant that Vespasian, his sons, and all their

posterity, might continue in the Roman government for a very long time,

and that his dominion might be preserved from all opposition. And this

was the manner in which Rome so joyfully received Vespasian, and thence

grew immediately into a state of great prosperity.

2. But before this time, and while Vespasian was about Alexandria, and

Titus was lying at the siege of Jerusalem, a great multitude of the

Germans were in commotion, and tended to rebellion; and as the Gauls in

their neighborhood joined with them, they conspired together, and had

thereby great hopes of success, and that they should free themselves

from the dominion of the Romans. The motives that induced the Germans to

this attempt for a revolt, and for beginning the war, were these: In

the first place, the nature [of the people], which was destitute of just

reasonings, and ready to throw themselves rashly into danger, upon small

hopes; in the next place, the hatred they bore to those that were their

governors, while their nation had never been conscious of subjection

to any but to the Romans, and that by compulsion only. Besides these

motives, it was the opportunity that now offered itself, which above

all the rest prevailed with them so to do; for when they saw the Roman

government in a great internal disorder, by the continual changes of its

rulers, and understood that every part of the habitable earth under them

was in an unsettled and tottering condition, they thought this was

the best opportunity that could afford itself for themselves to make a

sedition, when the state of the Romans was so ill. Classicus 6 also,

and Vitellius, two of their commanders, puffed them up with such hopes.

These had for a long time been openly desirous of such an innovation,

and were induced by the present opportunity to venture upon the

declaration of their sentiments; the multitude was also ready; and when

these men told them of what they intended to attempt, that news was

gladly received by them. So when a great part of the Germans had agreed

to rebel, and the rest were no better disposed, Vespasian, as guided by

Divine Providence, sent letters to Petilius Cerealis, who had formerly

had the command of Germany, whereby he declared him to have the dignity

of consul, and commanded him to take upon him the government of Britain;

so he went whither he was ordered to go, and when he was informed of

the revolt of the Germans, he fell upon them as soon as they were gotten

together, and put his army in battle-array, and slew a great number of

them in the fight, and forced them to leave off their madness, and to

grow wiser; nay, had he not fallen thus suddenly upon them on the

place, it had not been long ere they would however have been brought

to punishment; for as soon as ever the news of their revolt was come to

Rome, and Caesar Domitian was made acquainted with it, he made no delay,

even at that his age, when he was exceeding young, but undertook this

weighty affair. He had a courageous mind from his father, and had

made greater improvements than belonged to such an age: accordingly

he marched against the barbarians immediately; whereupon their hearts

failed them at the very rumor of his approach, and they submitted

themselves to him with fear, and thought it a happy thing that they

were brought under their old yoke again without suffering any further

mischiefs. When therefore Domitian had settled all the affairs of Gaul

in such good order, that it would not be easily put into disorder any

more, he returned to Rome with honor and glory, as having performed such

exploits as were above his own age, but worthy of so great a father.

3. At the very same time with the forementioned revolt of the Germans

did the bold attempt of the Scythians against the Romans occur; for

those Scythians who are called Sarmatians, being a very numerous

people, transported themselves over the Danube into Mysia, without

being perceived; after which, by their violence, and entirely unexpected

assault, they slew a great many of the Romans that guarded the

frontiers; and as the consular legate Fonteius Agrippa came to meet

them, and fought courageously against them, he was slain by them. They

then overran all the region that had been subject to him, tearing and

rending every thing that fell in their way. But when Vespasian was

informed of what had happened, and how Mysia was laid waste, he sent

away Rubrius Gallus to punish these Sarmatians; by whose means many of

them perished in the battles he fought against them, and that part which

escaped fled with fear to their own country. So when this general

had put an end to the war, he provided for the future security of the

country also; for he placed more and more numerous garrisons in the

place, till he made it altogether impossible for the barbarians to

pass over the river any more. And thus had this war in Mysia a sudden

conclusion.

CHAPTER V.

Concerning The Sabbatic River Which Titus Saw As He Was

Journeying Through Syria; And How The People Of Antioch Came

With A Petition To Titus Against The Jews But Were Rejected

By Him; As Also Concerning Titus's And Vespasian's Triumph.

1. Now Titus Caesar tarried some time at Berytus, as we told you before.

He thence removed, and exhibited magnificent shows in all those cities

of Syria through which he went, and made use of the captive Jews as

public instances of the destruction of that nation. He then saw a

river as he went along, of such a nature as deserves to be recorded in

history; it runs in the middle between Arcea, belonging to Agrippa's

kingdom, and Raphanea. It hath somewhat very peculiar in it; for when

it runs, its current is strong, and has plenty of water; after which its

springs fail for six days together, and leave its channel dry, as any

one may see; after which days it runs on the seventh day as it did

before, and as though it had undergone no change at all; it hath also

been observed to keep this order perpetually and exactly; whence it is

that they call it the Sabbatic River 7 that name being taken from the

sacred seventh day among the Jews.

2. But when the people of Antioch were informed that Titus was

approaching, they were so glad at it, that they could not keep within

their walls, but hasted away to give him the meeting; nay, they

proceeded as far as thirty furlongs, and more, with that intention.

These were not the men only, but a multitude of women also with their

children did the same; and when they saw him coming up to them, they

stood on both sides of the way, and stretched out their right hands,

saluting him, and making all sorts of acclamations to him, and turned

back together with him. They also, among all the acclamations they made

to him, besought him all the way they went to eject the Jews out of

their city; yet did not Titus at all yield to this their petition, but

gave them the bare hearing of it quietly. However, the Jews were in a

great deal of terrible fear, under the uncertainty they were in what

his opinion was, and what he would do to them. For Titus did not stay

at Antioch, but continued his progress immediately to Zeugma, which lies

upon the Euphrates, whither came to him messengers from Vologeses king

of Parthia, and brought him a crown of gold upon the victory he had

gained over the Jews; which he accepted of, and feasted the king's

messengers, and then came back to Antioch. And when the senate and

people of Antioch earnestly entreated him to come upon their theater,

where their whole multitude was assembled, and expected him, he complied

with great humanity; but when they pressed him with much earnestness,

and continually begged of him that he would eject the Jews out of their

city, he gave them this very pertinent answer: "How can this be done,

since that country of theirs, whither the Jews must be obliged then to

retire, is destroyed, and no place will receive them besides?" Whereupon

the people of Antioch, when they had failed of success in this their

first request, made him a second; for they desired that he would order

those tables of brass to be removed on which the Jews' privileges were

engraven. However, Titus would not grant that neither, but permitted the

Jews of Antioch to continue to enjoy the very same privileges in that

city which they had before, and then departed for Egypt; and as he came

to Jerusalem in his progress, and compared the melancholy condition he

saw it then in, with the ancient glory of the city, and called to mind

the greatness of its present ruins, as well as its ancient splendor,

he could not but pity the destruction of the city, so far was he from

boasting that so great and goodly a city as that was had been by him

taken by force; nay, he frequently cursed those that had been the

authors of their revolt, and had brought such a punishment upon the

city; insomuch that it openly appeared that he did not desire that

such a calamity as this punishment of theirs amounted to should be a

demonstration of his courage. Yet was there no small quantity of the

riches that had been in that city still found among its ruins, a great

deal of which the Romans dug up; but the greatest part was discovered

by those who were captives, and so they carried it away; I mean the gold

and the silver, and the rest of that most precious furniture which the

Jews had, and which the owners had treasured up under ground, against

the uncertain fortunes of war.

3. So Titus took the journey he intended into Egypt, and passed over the

desert very suddenly, and came to Alexandria, and took up a resolution

to go to Rome by sea. And as he was accompanied by two legions, he sent

each of them again to the places whence they had before come; the fifth

he sent to Mysia, and the fifteenth to Pannonia: as for the leaders of

the captives, Simon and John, with the other seven hundred men, whom

he had selected out of the rest as being eminently tall and handsome

of body, he gave order that they should be soon carried to Italy,

as resolving to produce them in his triumph. So when he had had a

prosperous voyage to his mind, the city of Rome behaved itself in his

reception, and their meeting him at a distance, as it did in the case

of his father. But what made the most splendid appearance in Titus's

opinion was, when his father met him, and received him; but still the

multitude of the citizens conceived the greatest joy when they saw

them all three together, 8 as they did at this time; nor were many days

overpast when they determined to have but one triumph, that should be

common to both of them, on account of the glorious exploits they had

performed, although the senate had decreed each of them a separate

triumph by himself. So when notice had been given beforehand of the day

appointed for this pompous solemnity to be made, on account of their

victories, not one of the immense multitude was left in the city, but

every body went out so far as to gain only a station where they might

stand, and left only such a passage as was necessary for those that were

to be seen to go along it.

4. Now all the soldiery marched out beforehand by companies, and in

their several ranks, under their several commanders, in the night time,

and were about the gates, not of the upper palaces, but those near

the temple of Isis; for there it was that the emperors had rested the

foregoing night. And as soon as ever it was day, Vespasian and Titus

came out crowned with laurel, and clothed in those ancient purple habits

which were proper to their family, and then went as far as Octavian's

Walks; for there it was that the senate, and the principal rulers, and

those that had been recorded as of the equestrian order, waited for

them. Now a tribunal had been erected before the cloisters, and ivory

chairs had been set upon it, when they came and sat down upon them.

Whereupon the soldiery made an acclamation of joy to them immediately,

and all gave them attestations of their valor; while they were

themselves without their arms, and only in their silken garments, and

crowned with laurel: then Vespasian accepted of these shouts of theirs;

but while they were still disposed to go on in such acclamations, he

gave them a signal of silence. And when every body entirely held their

peace, he stood up, and covering the greatest part of his head with his

cloak, he put up the accustomed solemn prayers; the like prayers did

Titus put up also; after which prayers Vespasian made a short speech to

all the people, and then sent away the soldiers to a dinner prepared for

them by the emperors. Then did he retire to that gate which was called

the Gate of the Pomp, because pompous shows do always go through that

gate; there it was that they tasted some food, and when they had put on

their triumphal garments, and had offered sacrifices to the gods that

were placed at the gate, they sent the triumph forward, and marched

through the theatres, that they might be the more easily seen by the

multitudes.

5. Now it is impossible to describe the multitude of the shows as they

deserve, and the magnificence of them all; such indeed as a man could

not easily think of as performed, either by the labor of workmen, or

the variety of riches, or the rarities of nature; for almost all such

curiosities as the most happy men ever get by piece-meal were here one

heaped on another, and those both admirable and costly in their nature;

and all brought together on that day demonstrated the vastness of the

dominions of the Romans; for there was here to be seen a mighty quantity

of silver, and gold, and ivory, contrived into all sorts of things, and

did not appear as carried along in pompous show only, but, as a man may

say, running along like a river. Some parts were composed of the rarest

purple hangings, and so carried along; and others accurately represented

to the life what was embroidered by the arts of the Babylonians. There

were also precious stones that were transparent, some set in crowns of

gold, and some in other places, as the workmen pleased; and of these

such a vast number were brought, that we could not but thence learn how

vainly we imagined any of them to be rarities. The images of the gods

were also carried, being as well wonderful for their largeness, as made

very artificially, and with great skill of the workmen; nor were any of

these images of any other than very costly materials; and many species

of animals were brought, every one in their own natural ornaments. The

men also who brought every one of these shows were great multitudes, and

adorned with purple garments, all over interwoven with gold; those that

were chosen for carrying these pompous shows having also about them such

magnificent ornaments as were both extraordinary and surprising. Besides

these, one might see that even the great number of the captives was not

unadorned, while the variety that was in their garments, and their fine

texture, concealed from the sight the deformity of their bodies. But

what afforded the greatest surprise of all was the structure of the

pageants that were borne along; for indeed he that met them could

not but be afraid that the bearers would not be able firmly enough to

support them, such was their magnitude; for many of them were so made,

that they were on three or even four stories, one above another. The

magnificence also of their structure afforded one both pleasure and

surprise; for upon many of them were laid carpets of gold. There

was also wrought gold and ivory fastened about them all; and many

resemblances of the war, and those in several ways, and variety of

contrivances, affording a most lively portraiture of itself. For there

was to be seen a happy country laid waste, and entire squadrons of

enemies slain; while some of them ran away, and some were carried into

captivity; with walls of great altitude and magnitude overthrown and

ruined by machines; with the strongest fortifications taken, and the

walls of most populous cities upon the tops of hills seized on, and

an army pouring itself within the walls; as also every place full of

slaughter, and supplications of the enemies, when they were no longer

able to lift up their hands in way of opposition. Fire also sent upon

temples was here represented, and houses overthrown, and falling upon

their owners: rivers also, after they came out of a large and melancholy

desert, ran down, not into a land cultivated, nor as drink for men, or

for cattle, but through a land still on fire upon every side; for the

Jews related that such a thing they had undergone during this war. Now

the workmanship of these representations was so magnificent and lively

in the construction of the things, that it exhibited what had been done

to such as did not see it, as if they had been there really present. On

the top of every one of these pageants was placed the commander of the

city that was taken, and the manner wherein he was taken. Moreover,

there followed those pageants a great number of ships; and for the other

spoils, they were carried in great plenty. But for those that were taken

in the temple of Jerusalem, 9 they made the greatest figure of them

all; that is, the golden table, of the weight of many talents; the

candlestick also, that was made of gold, though its construction were

now changed from that which we made use of; for its middle shaft was

fixed upon a basis, and the small branches were produced out of it to

a great length, having the likeness of a trident in their position, and

had every one a socket made of brass for a lamp at the tops of them.

These lamps were in number seven, and represented the dignity of the

number seven among the Jews; and the last of all the spoils, was carried

the Law of the Jews. After these spoils passed by a great many men,

carrying the images of Victory, whose structure was entirely either of

ivory or of gold. After which Vespasian marched in the first place,

and Titus followed him; Domitian also rode along with them, and made a

glorious appearance, and rode on a horse that was worthy of admiration.

6. Now the last part of this pompous show was at the temple of Jupiter

Capitolinus, whither when they were come, they stood still; for it was

the Romans' ancient custom to stay till somebody brought the news that

the general of the enemy was slain. This general was Simon, the son of

Gioras, who had then been led in this triumph among the captives; a rope

had also been put upon his head, and he had been drawn into a proper

place in the forum, and had withal been tormented by those that drew him

along; and the law of the Romans required that malefactors condemned to

die should be slain there. Accordingly, when it was related that there

was an end of him, and all the people had set up a shout for joy, they

then began to offer those sacrifices which they had consecrated, in the

prayers used in such solemnities; which when they had finished, they

went away to the palace. And as for some of the spectators, the emperors

entertained them at their own feast; and for all the rest there were

noble preparations made for feasting at home; for this was a festival

day to the city of Rome, as celebrated for the victory obtained by their

army over their enemies, for the end that was now put to their civil

miseries, and for the commencement of their hopes of future prosperity

and happiness.

7. After these triumphs were over, and after the affairs of the Romans

were settled on the surest foundations, Vespasian resolved to build

a temple to Peace, which was finished in so short a time, and in so

glorious a manner, as was beyond all human expectation and opinion: for

he having now by Providence a vast quantity of wealth, besides what he

had formerly gained in his other exploits, he had this temple adorned

with pictures and statues; for in this temple were collected and

deposited all such rarities as men aforetime used to wander all over the

habitable world to see, when they had a desire to see one of them after

another; he also laid up therein those golden vessels and instruments

that were taken out of the Jewish temple, as ensigns of his glory. But

still he gave order that they should lay up their Law, and the purple

veils of the holy place, in the royal palace itself, and keep them

there.

CHAPTER 6.

Concerning Machaerus, And How Lucilius Bassus Took That

Citadel, And Other Places.

1. Now Lucilius Bassus was sent as legate into Judea, and there he

received the army from Cerealis Vitellianus, and took that citadel which

was in Herodium, together with the garrison that was in it; after which

he got together all the soldiery that was there, [which was a large

body, but dispersed into several parties,] with the tenth legion, and

resolved to make war upon Machaerus; for it was highly necessary that

this citadel should be demolished, lest it might be a means of drawing

away many into a rebellion, by reason of its strength; for the nature

of the place was very capable of affording the surest hopes of safety to

those that possessed it, as well as delay and fear to those that should

attack it; for what was walled in was itself a very rocky hill, elevated

to a very great height; which circumstance alone made it very hard to be

subdued. It was also so contrived by nature, that it could not be easily

ascended; for it is, as it were, ditched about with such valleys on all

sides, and to such a depth, that the eye cannot reach their bottoms,

and such as are not easily to be passed over, and even such as it is

impossible to fill up with earth. For that valley which cuts it on the

west extends to threescore furlongs, and did not end till it came to the

lake Asphaltites; on the same side it was also that Machaerus had

the tallest top of its hill elevated above the rest. But then for the

valleys that lay on the north and south sides, although they be not

so large as that already described, yet it is in like manner an

impracticable thing to think of getting over them; and for the valley

that lies on the east side, its depth is found to be no less than a

hundred cubits. It extends as far as a mountain that lies over against

Machaerus, with which it is bounded.

2. Now when Alexander [Janneus], the king of the Jews, observed the

nature of this place, he was the first who built a citadel here,

which afterwards was demolished by Gabinius, when he made war against

Aristobulus. But when Herod came to be king, he thought the place to

be worthy of the utmost regard, and of being built upon in the firmest

manner, and this especially because it lay so near to Arabia; for it is

seated in a convenient place on that account, and hath a prospect toward

that country; he therefore surrounded a large space of ground with walls

and towers, and built a city there, out of which city there was a way

that led up to the very citadel itself on the top of the mountain; nay,

more than this, he built a wall round that top of the hill, and erected

towers at the corners, of a hundred and sixty cubits high; in the middle

of which place he built a palace, after a magnificent manner, wherein

were large and beautiful edifices. He also made a great many reservoirs

for the reception of water, that there might be plenty of it ready

for all uses, and those in the properest places that were afforded him

there. Thus did he, as it were, contend with the nature of the place,

that he might exceed its natural strength and security [which yet itself

rendered it hard to be taken] by those fortifications which were made by

the hands of men. Moreover, he put a large quantity of darts and other

machines of war into it, and contrived to get every thing thither that

might any way contribute to its inhabitants' security, under the longest

siege possible.

3. Now within this place there grew a sort of rue 10 that deserves our

wonder on account of its largeness, for it was no way inferior to any

fig tree whatsoever, either in height or in thickness; and the report

is, that it had lasted ever since the times of Herod, and would probably

have lasted much longer, had it not been cut down by those Jews who

took possession of the place afterward. But still in that valley which

encompasses the city on the north side there is a certain place called

Baaras, which produces a root of the same name with itself 11 its

color is like to that of flame, and towards the evenings it sends out a

certain ray like lightning. It is not easily taken by such as would

do it, but recedes from their hands, nor will yield itself to be taken

quietly, until either the urine of a woman, or her menstrual blood, be

poured upon it; nay, even then it is certain death to those that touch

it, unless any one take and hang the root itself down from his hand,

and so carry it away. It may also be taken another way, without danger,

which is this: they dig a trench quite round about it, till the hidden

part of the root be very small, they then tie a dog to it, and when the

dog tries hard to follow him that tied him, this root is easily plucked

up, but the dog dies immediately, as if it were instead of the man that

would take the plant away; nor after this need any one be afraid of

taking it into their hands. Yet, after all this pains in getting, it

is only valuable on account of one virtue it hath, that if it be only

brought to sick persons, it quickly drives away those called demons,

which are no other than the spirits of the wicked, that enter into men

that are alive and kill them, unless they can obtain some help against

them. Here are also fountains of hot water, that flow out of this place,

which have a very different taste one from the other; for some of them

are bitter, and others of them are plainly sweet. Here are also many

eruptions of cold waters, and this not only in the places that lie

lower, and have their fountains near one another, but, what is still

more wonderful, here is to be seen a certain cave hard by, whose cavity

is not deep, but it is covered over by a rock that is prominent; above

this rock there stand up two [hills or] breasts, as it were, but a

little distant one from another, the one of which sends out a fountain

that is very cold, and the other sends out one that is very hot; which

waters, when they are mingled together, compose a most pleasant bath;

they are medicinal indeed for other maladies, but especially good for

strengthening the nerves. This place has in it also mines of sulfur and

alum.

4. Now when Bassus had taken a full view of this place, he resolved to

besiege it, by filling up the valley that lay on the east side; so he

fell hard to work, and took great pains to raise his banks as soon as

possible, and by that means to render the siege easy. As for the Jews

that were caught in this place, they separated themselves from the

strangers that were with them, and they forced those strangers, as an

otherwise useless multitude, to stay in the lower part of the city, and

undergo the principal dangers, while they themselves seized on the upper

citadel, and held it, and this both on account of its strength, and to

provide for their own safety. They also supposed they might obtain their

pardon, in case they should [at last] surrender the citadel. However,

they were willing to make trial, in the first place, whether the

hopes they had of avoiding a siege would come to any thing; with which

intention they made sallies every day, and fought with those that met

them; in which conflicts they were many of them slain, as they therein

slew many of the Romans. But still it was the opportunities that

presented themselves which chiefly gained both sides their victories;

these were gained by the Jews, when they fell upon the Romans as they

were off their guard; but by the Romans, when, upon the others' sallies

against their banks, they foresaw their coming, and were upon their

guard when they received them. But the conclusion of this siege did

not depend upon these bickerings; but a certain surprising accident,

relating to what was done in this siege, forced the Jews to surrender

the citadel. There was a certain young man among the besieged, of great

boldness, and very active of his hand, his name was Eleazar; he greatly

signalized himself in those sallies, and encouraged the Jews to go out

in great numbers, in order to hinder the raising of the banks, and did

the Romans a vast deal of mischief when they came to fighting; he so

managed matters, that those who sallied out made their attacks easily,

and returned back without danger, and this by still bringing up the rear

himself. Now it happened that, on a certain time, when the fight was

over, and both sides were parted, and retired home, he, in way of

contempt of the enemy, and thinking that none of them would begin the

fight again at that time, staid without the gates, and talked with those

that were upon the wall, and his mind was wholly intent upon what they

said. Now a certain person belonging to the Roman camp, whose name was

Rufus, by birth an Egyptian, ran upon him suddenly, when nobody expected

such a thing, and carried him off, with his armor itself; while, in the

mean time, those that saw it from the wall were under such an amazement,

that Rufus prevented their assistance, and carried Eleazar to the Roman

camp. So the general of the Romans ordered that he should be taken up

naked, set before the city to be seen, and sorely whipped before their

eyes. Upon this sad accident that befell the young man, the Jews were

terribly confounded, and the city, with one voice, sorely lamented him,

and the mourning proved greater than could well be supposed upon the

calamity of a single person. When Bassus perceived that, he began

to think of using a stratagem against the enemy, and was desirous to

aggravate their grief, in order to prevail with them to surrender the

city for the preservation of that man. Nor did he fail of his hope; for

he commanded them to set up a cross, as if he were just going to hang

Eleazar upon it immediately; the sight of this occasioned a sore grief

among those that were in the citadel, and they groaned vehemently, and

cried out that they could not bear to see him thus destroyed. Whereupon

Eleazar besought them not to disregard him, now he was going to suffer a

most miserable death, and exhorted them to save themselves, by yielding

to the Roman power and good fortune, since all other people were now

conquered by them. These men were greatly moved with what he said, there

being also many within the city that interceded for him, because he was

of an eminent and very numerous family; so they now yielded to their

passion of commiseration, contrary to their usual custom. Accordingly,

they sent out immediately certain messengers, and treated with the

Romans, in order to a surrender of the citadel to them, and desired that

they might be permitted to go away, and take Eleazar along with them.

Then did the Romans and their general accept of these terms; while the

multitude of strangers that were in the lower part of the city, hearing

of the agreement that was made by the Jews for themselves alone, were

resolved to fly away privately in the night time; but as soon as they

had opened their gates, those that had come to terms with Bassus told

him of it; whether it were that they envied the others' deliverance,

or whether it were done out of fear, lest an occasion should be taken

against them upon their escape, is uncertain. The most courageous,

therefore, of those men that went out prevented the enemy, and got away,

and fled for it; but for those men that were caught within they were

slain to the number of one thousand seven hundred, as were the women and

children made slaves. But as Bassus thought he must perform the covenant

he had made with those that surrendered the citadel, he let them go, and

restored Eleazar to them.

5. When Bassus had settled these affairs, he marched hastily to the

forest of Jarden, as it is called; for he had heard that a great many

of those that had fled from Jerusalem and Machaerus formerly were there

gotten together. When he was therefore come to the place, and understood

that the former news was no mistake, he, in the first place, surrounded

the whole place with his horsemen, that such of the Jews as had boldness

enough to try to break through might have no way possible for escaping,

by reason of the situation of these horsemen; and for the footmen, he

ordered them to cut down the trees that were in the wood whither

they were fled. So the Jews were under a necessity of performing some

glorious exploit, and of greatly exposing themselves in a battle, since

they might perhaps thereby escape. So they made a general attack, and

with a great shout fell upon those that surrounded them, who received

them with great courage; and so while the one side fought desperately,

and the others would not yield, the fight was prolonged on that account.

But the event of the battle did not answer the expectation of the

assailants; for so it happened, that no more than twelve fell on the

Roman side, with a few that were wounded; but not one of the Jews

escaped out of this battle, but they were all killed, being in the whole

not fewer in number than three thousand, together with Judas, the son

of Jairus, their general, concerning whom we have before spoken, that he

had been a captain of a certain band at the siege of Jerusalem, and by

going down into a certain vault under ground, had privately made his

escape.

6. About the same time it was that Caesar sent a letter to Bassus, and

to Liberius Maximus, who was the procurator [of Judea], and gave order

that all Judea should be exposed to sale 12 for he did not found any

city there, but reserved the country for himself. However, he assigned

a place for eight hundred men only, whom he had dismissed from his army,

which he gave them for their habitation; it is called Emmaus, 13 and is

distant from Jerusalem threescore furlongs. He also laid a tribute upon

the Jews wheresoever they were, and enjoined every one of them to bring

two drachmae every year into the Capitol, as they used to pay the same

to the temple at Jerusalem. And this was the state of the Jewish affairs

at this time.

CHAPTER 7.

Concerning The Calamity That Befell Antiochus, King Of

Commagene. As Also Concerning The Alans And What Great

Mischiefs They Did To The Medes And Armenians.

1. And now, in the fourth year of the reign of Vespasian, it came to

pass that Antiochus, the king of Commagene, with all his family, fell

into very great calamities. The occasion was this: Cesennius Petus, who

was president of Syria at this time, whether it were done out of regard

to truth, or whether out of hatred to Antiochus, [for which was the real

motive was never thoroughly discovered,] sent an epistle to Caesar, and

therein told him that Antiochus, with his son Epiphanes, had resolved to

rebel against the Romans, and had made a league with the king of Parthia

to that purpose; that it was therefore fit to prevent them, lest they

prevent us, and begin such a war as may cause a general disturbance in

the Roman empire. Now Caesar was disposed to take some care about the

matter, since this discovery was made; for the neighborhood of the

kingdoms made this affair worthy of greater regard; for Samoseta, the

capital of Commagene, lies upon Euphrates, and upon any such design

could afford an easy passage over it to the Parthians, and could also

afford them a secure reception. Petus was accordingly believed, and had

authority given him of doing what he should think proper in the case; so

he set about it without delay, and fell upon Commagene before Antiochus

and his people had the least expectation of his coming: he had with him

the tenth legion, as also some cohorts and troops of horsemen. These

kings also came to his assistance: Aristobulus, king of the country

called Chalcidene, and Sohemus, who was called king of Emesa. Nor was

there any opposition made to his forces when they entered the kingdom;

for no one of that country would so much as lift up his hand against

them. When Antiochus heard this unexpected news, he could not think in

the least of making war with the Romans, but determined to leave his

whole kingdom in the state wherein it now was, and to retire privately,

with his wife and children, as thinking thereby to demonstrate himself

to the Romans to be innocent as to the accusation laid against him. So

he went away from that city as far as a hundred and twenty furlongs,

into a plain, and there pitched his tents.

2. Petus then sent some of his men to seize upon Samosate, and by their

means took possession of that city, while he went himself to attack

Antiochus with the rest of his army. However, the king was not prevailed

upon by the distress he was in to do any thing in the way of war against

the Romans, but bemoaned his own hard fate, and endured with patience

what he was not able to prevent. But his sons, who were young, and

unexperienced in war, but of strong bodies, were not easily induced

to bear this calamity without fighting. Epiphanes, therefore, and

Callinicus, betook themselves to military force; and as the battle was a

sore one, and lasted all the day long, they showed their own valor in

a remarkable manner, and nothing but the approach of night put a period

thereto, and that without any diminution of their forces; yet would

not Antiochus, upon this conclusion of the fight, continue there by any

means, but took his wife and his daughters, and fled away with them

to Cilicia, and by so doing quite discouraged the minds of his own

soldiers. Accordingly, they revolted, and went over to the Romans, out

of the despair they were in of his keeping the kingdom; and his case was

looked upon by all as quite desperate. It was therefore necessary that

Epiphanes and his soldiers should get clear of their enemies before they

became entirely destitute of any confederates; nor were there any more

than ten horsemen with him, who passed with him over Euphrates, whence

they went undisturbed to Vologeses, the king of Parthia, where they were

not disregarded as fugitives, but had the same respect paid them as if

they had retained their ancient prosperity.

3. Now when Antiochus was come to Tarsus in Cilicia, Petus ordered

a centurion to go to him, and send him in bonds to Rome. However,

Vespasian could not endure to have a king brought to him in that manner,

but thought it fit rather to have a regard to the ancient friendship

that had been between them, than to preserve an inexorable anger upon

pretense of this war. Accordingly, he gave orders that they should take

off his bonds, while he was still upon the road, and that he should not

come to Rome, but should now go and live at Lacedemon; he also gave him

large revenues, that he might not only live in plenty, but like a king

also. When Epiphanes, who before was in great fear for his father, was

informed of this, their minds were freed from that great and almost

incurable concern they had been under. He also hoped that Caesar would

be reconciled to them, upon the intercession of Vologeses; for although

he lived in plenty, he knew not how to bear living out of the Roman

empire. So Caesar gave him leave, after an obliging manner, and he came

to Rome; and as his father came quickly to him from Lacedemon, he had

all sorts of respect paid him there, and there he remained.

4. Now there was a nation of the Alans, which we have formerly mentioned

some where as being Scythians and inhabiting at the lake Meotis. This

nation about this time laid a design of falling upon Media, and the

parts beyond it, in order to plunder them; with which intention they

treated with the king of Hyrcania; for he was master of that passage

which king Alexander [the Great] shut up with iron gates. This king gave

them leave to come through them; so they came in great multitudes, and

fell upon the Medes unexpectedly, and plundered their country, which

they found full of people, and replenished with abundance of cattle,

while nobody durst make any resistance against them; for Paeorus, the

king of the country, had fled away for fear into places where they could

not easily come at him, and had yielded up every thing he had to them,

and had only saved his wife and his concubines from them, and that with

difficulty also, after they had been made captives, by giving them a

hundred talents for their ransom. These Alans therefore plundered the

country without opposition, and with great ease, and proceeded as far

as Armenia, laying all waste before them. Now Tiridates was king of that

country, who met them, and fought them, but had like to have been taken

alive in the battle; for a certain man threw a net over him from a great

distance, and had soon drawn him to him, unless he had immediately cut

the cord with his sword, and ran away, and prevented it. So the Alans,

being still more provoked by this sight, laid waste the country, and

drove a great multitude of the men, and a great quantity of the other

prey they had gotten out of both kingdoms, along with them, and then

retreated back to their own country.

CHAPTER 8.

Concerning Masada And Those Sicarii Who Kept It; And How

Silva Betook Himself To Form The Siege Of That Citadel.

Eleazar's Speeches To The Besieged.

1. When Bassus was dead in Judea, Flavius Silva succeeded him as

procurator there; who, when he saw that all the rest of the country was

subdued in this war, and that there was but one only strong hold

that was still in rebellion, he got all his army together that lay in

different places, and made an expedition against it. This fortress was

called Masada. It was one Eleazar, a potent man, and the commander of

these Sicarii, that had seized upon it. He was a descendant from that

Judas who had persuaded abundance of the Jews, as we have formerly

related, not to submit to the taxation when Cyrenius was sent into Judea

to make one; for then it was that the Sicarii got together against

those that were willing to submit to the Romans, and treated them in all

respects as if they had been their enemies, both by plundering them

of what they had, by driving away their cattle, and by setting fire

to their houses; for they said that they differed not at all from

foreigners, by betraying, in so cowardly a manner, that freedom which

Jews thought worthy to be contended for to the utmost, and by owning

that they preferred slavery under the Romans before such a contention.

Now this was in reality no better than a pretense and a cloak for the

barbarity which was made use of by them, and to color over their own

avarice, which they afterwards made evident by their own actions; for

those that were partners with them in their rebellion joined also with

them in the war against the Romans, and went further lengths with them

in their impudent undertakings against them; and when they were again

convicted of dissembling in such their pretenses, they still more abused

those that justly reproached them for their wickedness. And indeed that

was a time most fertile in all manner of wicked practices, insomuch that

no kind of evil deeds were then left undone; nor could any one so much

as devise any bad thing that was new, so deeply were they all infected,

and strove with one another in their single capacity, and in their

communities, who should run the greatest lengths in impiety towards

God, and in unjust actions towards their neighbors; the men of power

oppressing the multitude, and the multitude earnestly laboring to

destroy the men of power. The one part were desirous of tyrannizing over

others, and the rest of offering violence to others, and of plundering

such as were richer than themselves. They were the Sicarii who first

began these transgressions, and first became barbarous towards those

allied to them, and left no words of reproach unsaid, and no works of

perdition untried, in order to destroy those whom their contrivances

affected. Yet did John demonstrate by his actions that these Sicarii

were more moderate than he was himself, for he not only slew all such

as gave him good counsel to do what was right, but treated them worst of

all, as the most bitter enemies that he had among all the Citizens; nay,

he filled his entire country with ten thousand instances of wickedness,

such as a man who was already hardened sufficiently in his impiety

towards God would naturally do; for the food was unlawful that was set

upon his table, and he rejected those purifications that the law of his

country had ordained; so that it was no longer a wonder if he, who

was so mad in his impiety towards God, did not observe any rules of

gentleness and common affection towards men. Again, therefore, what

mischief was there which Simon the son of Gioras did not do? or what

kind of abuses did he abstain from as to those very free-men who had set

him up for a tyrant? What friendship or kindred were there that did not

make him more bold in his daily murders? for they looked upon the doing

of mischief to strangers only as a work beneath their courage, but

thought their barbarity towards their nearest relations would be a

glorious demonstration thereof. The Idumeans also strove with these

men who should be guilty of the greatest madness! for they [all], vile

wretches as they were, cut the throats of the high priests, that so

no part of a religious regard to God might be preserved; they

thence proceeded to destroy utterly the least remains of a political

government, and introduced the most complete scene of iniquity in all

instances that were practicable; under which scene that sort of people

that were called zealots grew up, and who indeed corresponded to

the name; for they imitated every wicked work; nor, if their memory

suggested any evil thing that had formerly been done, did they avoid

zealously to pursue the same; and although they gave themselves that

name from their zeal for what was good, yet did it agree to them only

by way of irony, on account of those they had unjustly treated by their

wild and brutish disposition, or as thinking the greatest mischiefs to

be the greatest good. Accordingly, they all met with such ends as God

deservedly brought upon them in way of punishment; for all such miseries

have been sent upon them as man's nature is capable of undergoing,

till the utmost period of their lives, and till death came upon them

in various ways of torment; yet might one say justly that they suffered

less than they had done, because it was impossible they could be

punished according to their deserving. But to make a lamentation

according to the deserts of those who fell under these men's barbarity,

this is not a proper place for it;--I therefore now return again to the

remaining part of the present narration.

2. For now it was that the Roman general came, and led his army against

Eleazar and those Sicarii who held the fortress Masada together with

him; and for the whole country adjoining, he presently gained it, and

put garrisons into the most proper places of it; he also built a wall

quite round the entire fortress, that none of the besieged might easily

escape; he also set his men to guard the several parts of it; he also

pitched his camp in such an agreeable place as he had chosen for the

siege, and at which place the rock belonging to the fortress did make

the nearest approach to the neighboring mountain, which yet was a place

of difficulty for getting plenty of provisions; for it was not only food

that was to be brought from a great distance [to the army], and this

with a great deal of pain to those Jews who were appointed for that

purpose, but water was also to be brought to the camp, because the place

afforded no fountain that was near it. When therefore Silva had ordered

these affairs beforehand, he fell to besieging the place; which siege

was likely to stand in need of a great deal of skill and pains, by

reason of the strength of the fortress, the nature of which I will now

describe.

3. There was a rock, not small in circumference, and very high. It was

encompassed with valleys of such vast depth downward, that the eye could

not reach their bottoms; they were abrupt, and such as no animal could

walk upon, excepting at two places of the rock, where it subsides, in

order to afford a passage for ascent, though not without difficulty.

Now, of the ways that lead to it, one is that from the lake Asphaltites,

towards the sun-rising, and another on the west, where the ascent is

easier: the one of these ways is called the Serpent, as resembling that

animal in its narrowness and its perpetual windings; for it is broken

off at the prominent precipices of the rock, and returns frequently into

itself, and lengthening again by little and little, hath much ado to

proceed forward; and he that would walk along it must first go on one

leg, and then on the other; there is also nothing but destruction, in

case your feet slip; for on each side there is a vastly deep chasm and

precipice, sufficient to quell the courage of every body by the terror

it infuses into the mind. When, therefore, a man hath gone along this

way for thirty furlongs, the rest is the top of the hill--not ending at

a small point, but is no other than a plain upon the highest part of the

mountain. Upon this top of the hill, Jonathan the high priest first of

all built a fortress, and called it Masada: after which the rebuilding

of this place employed the care of king Herod to a great degree; he

also built a wall round about the entire top of the hill, seven furlongs

long; it was composed of white stone; its height was twelve, and

its breadth eight cubits; there were also erected upon that wall

thirty-eight towers, each of them fifty cubits high; out of which you

might pass into lesser edifices, which were built on the inside, round

the entire wall; for the king reserved the top of the hill, which was of

a fat soil, and better mould than any valley for agriculture, that such

as committed themselves to this fortress for their preservation might

not even there be quite destitute of food, in case they should ever be

in want of it from abroad. Moreover, he built a palace therein at the

western ascent; it was within and beneath the walls of the citadel, but

inclined to its north side. Now the wall of this palace was very high

and strong, and had at its four corners towers sixty cubits high. The

furniture also of the edifices, and of the cloisters, and of the

baths, was of great variety, and very costly; and these buildings were

supported by pillars of single stones on every side; the walls and also

the floors of the edifices were paved with stones of several colors. He

also had cut many and great pits, as reservoirs for water, out of the

rocks, at every one of the places that were inhabited, both above and

round about the palace, and before the wall; and by this contrivance

he endeavored to have water for several uses, as if there had been

fountains there. Here was also a road digged from the palace, and

leading to the very top of the mountain, which yet could not be seen by

such as were without [the walls]; nor indeed could enemies easily

make use of the plain roads; for the road on the east side, as we have

already taken notice, could not be walked upon, by reason of its nature;

and for the western road, he built a large tower at its narrowest place,

at no less a distance from the top of the hill than a thousand cubits;

which tower could not possibly be passed by, nor could it be easily

taken; nor indeed could those that walked along it without any fear

[such was its contrivance] easily get to the end of it; and after such

a manner was this citadel fortified, both by nature and by the hands of

men, in order to frustrate the attacks of enemies.

4. As for the furniture that was within this fortress, it was still more

wonderful on account of its splendor and long continuance; for here was

laid up corn in large quantities, and such as would subsist men for a

long time; here was also wine and oil in abundance, with all kinds of

pulse and dates heaped up together; all which Eleazar found there, when

he and his Sicarii got possession of the fortress by treachery. These

fruits were also fresh and full ripe, and no way inferior to such fruits

newly laid in, although they were little short of a hundred years 14

from the laying in these provisions [by Herod], till the place was taken

by the Romans; nay, indeed, when the Romans got possession of those

fruits that were left, they found them not corrupted all that while; nor

should we be mistaken, if we supposed that the air was here the cause

of their enduring so long; this fortress being so high, and so free from

the mixture of all terrain and muddy particles of matter. There was also

found here a large quantity of all sorts of weapons of war, which had

been treasured up by that king, and were sufficient for ten thousand

men; there was cast iron, and brass, and tin, which show that he

had taken much pains to have all things here ready for the greatest

occasions; for the report goes how Herod thus prepared this fortress on

his own account, as a refuge against two kinds of danger; the one for

fear of the multitude of the Jews, lest they should depose him, and

restore their former kings to the government; the other danger was

greater and more terrible, which arose from Cleopatra queen of Egypt,

who did not conceal her intentions, but spoke often to Antony, and

desired him to cut off Herod, and entreated him to bestow the kingdom of

Judea upon her. And certainly it is a great wonder that Antony did never

comply with her commands in this point, as he was so miserably enslaved

to his passion for her; nor should any one have been surprised if she

had been gratified in such her request. So the fear of these dangers

made Herod rebuild Masada, and thereby leave it for the finishing stroke

of the Romans in this Jewish war.

5. Since therefore the Roman commander Silva had now built a wall on the

outside, round about this whole place, as we have said already, and

had thereby made a most accurate provision to prevent any one of the

besieged running away, he undertook the siege itself, though he found

but one single place that would admit of the banks he was to raise; for

behind that tower which secured the road that led to the palace, and to

the top of the hill from the west; there was a certain eminency of the

rock, very broad and very prominent, but three hundred cubits beneath

the highest part of Masada; it was called the White Promontory.

Accordingly, he got upon that part of the rock, and ordered the army

to bring earth; and when they fell to that work with alacrity, and

abundance of them together, the bank was raised, and became solid for

two hundred cubits in height. Yet was not this bank thought sufficiently

high for the use of the engines that were to be set upon it; but still

another elevated work of great stones compacted together was raised upon

that bank; this was fifty cubits, both in breadth and height. The other

machines that were now got ready were like to those that had been first

devised by Vespasian, and afterwards by Titus, for sieges. There was

also a tower made of the height of sixty cubits, and all over plated

with iron, out of which the Romans threw darts and stones from the

engines, and soon made those that fought from the walls of the place to

retire, and would not let them lift up their heads above the works. At

the same time Silva ordered that great battering ram which he had made

to be brought thither, and to be set against the wall, and to make

frequent batteries against it, which with some difficulty broke down

a part of the wall, and quite overthrew it. However, the Sicarii made

haste, and presently built another wall within that, which should not be

liable to the same misfortune from the machines with the other; it was

made soft and yielding, and so was capable of avoiding the terrible

blows that affected the other. It was framed after the following manner:

They laid together great beams of wood lengthways, one close to the end

of another, and the same way in which they were cut: there were two of

these rows parallel to one another, and laid at such a distance from

each other as the breadth of the wall required, and earth was put into

the space between those rows. Now, that the earth might not fall away

upon the elevation of this bank to a greater height, they further laid

other beams over cross them, and thereby bound those beams together that

lay lengthways. This work of theirs was like a real edifice; and when

the machines were applied, the blows were weakened by its yielding; and

as the materials by such concussion were shaken closer together, the

pile by that means became firmer than before. When Silva saw this, he

thought it best to endeavor the taking of this wall by setting fire to

it; so he gave order that the soldiers should throw a great number of

burning torches upon it: accordingly, as it was chiefly made of wood,

it soon took fire; and when it was once set on fire, its hollowness made

that fire spread to a mighty flame. Now, at the very beginning of this

fire, a north wind that then blew proved terrible to the Romans; for by

bringing the flame downward, it drove it upon them, and they were almost

in despair of success, as fearing their machines would be burnt: but

after this, on a sudden the wind changed into the south, as if it were

done by Divine Providence, and blew strongly the contrary way, and

carried the flame, and drove it against the wall, which was now on fire

through its entire thickness. So the Romans, having now assistance

from God, returned to their camp with joy, and resolved to attack their

enemies the very next day; on which occasion they set their watch more

carefully that night, lest any of the Jews should run away from them

without being discovered.

6. However, neither did Eleazar once think of flying away, nor would he

permit any one else to do so; but when he saw their wall burned down by

the fire, and could devise no other way of escaping, or room for their

further courage, and setting before their eyes what the Romans would do

to them, their children, and their wives, if they got them into their

power, he consulted about having them all slain. Now as he judged this

to be the best thing they could do in their present circumstances, he

gathered the most courageous of his companions together, and encouraged

them to take that course by a speech 15 which he made to them in the

manner following: "Since we, long ago, my generous friends, resolved

never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God

himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now

come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice. And

let us not at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for

self-contradiction, while we formerly would not undergo slavery, though

it were then without danger, but must now, together with slavery,

choose such punishments also as are intolerable; I mean this, upon the

supposition that the Romans once reduce us under their power while we

are alive. We were the very first that revolted from them, and we are

the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor

that God hath granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely,

and in a state of freedom, which hath not been the case of others, who

were conquered unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken

within a day's time; but it is still an eligible thing to die after a

glorious manner, together with our dearest friends. This is what our

enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they be very

desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to ourselves any more

to fight them, and beat them. It had been proper indeed for us to have

conjectured at the purpose of God much sooner, and at the very first,

when we were so desirous of defending our liberty, and when we received

such sore treatment from one another, and worse treatment from our

enemies, and to have been sensible that the same God, who had of old

taken the Jewish nation into his favor, had now condemned them to

destruction; for had he either continued favorable, or been but in a

lesser degree displeased with us, he had not overlooked the destruction

of so many men, or delivered his most holy city to be burnt and

demolished by our enemies. To be sure we weakly hoped to have preserved

ourselves, and ourselves alone, still in a state of freedom, as if we

had been guilty of no sins ourselves against God, nor been partners with

those of others; we also taught other men to preserve their liberty.

Wherefore, consider how God hath convinced us that our hopes were in

vain, by bringing such distress upon us in the desperate state we are

now in, and which is beyond all our expectations; for the nature of this

fortress which was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means of

our deliverance; and even while we have still great abundance of food,

and a great quantity of arms, and other necessaries more than we want,

we are openly deprived by God himself of all hope of deliverance; for

that fire which was driven upon our enemies did not of its own accord

turn back upon the wall which we had built; this was the effect of God's

anger against us for our manifold sins, which we have been guilty of

in a most insolent and extravagant manner with regard to our own

countrymen; the punishments of which let us not receive from the Romans,

but from God himself, as executed by our own hands; for these will be

more moderate than the other. Let our wives die before they are abused,

and our children before they have tasted of slavery; and after we

have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another

mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom, as an excellent funeral

monument for us. But first let us destroy our money and the fortress

by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the

Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall

fail of our wealth also; and let us spare nothing but our provisions;

for they will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued

for want of necessaries, but that, according to our original resolution,

we have preferred death before slavery."

7. This was Eleazar's speech to them. Yet did not the opinions of all

the auditors acquiesce therein; but although some of them were very

zealous to put his advice in practice, and were in a manner filled with

pleasure at it, and thought death to be a good thing, yet had those that

were most effeminate a commiseration for their wives and families;

and when these men were especially moved by the prospect of their own

certain death, they looked wistfully at one another, and by the tears

that were in their eyes declared their dissent from his opinion.

When Eleazar saw these people in such fear, and that their souls were

dejected at so prodigious a proposal, he was afraid lest perhaps these

effeminate persons should, by their lamentations and tears, enfeeble

those that heard what he had said courageously; so he did not leave

off exhorting them, but stirred up himself, and recollecting proper

arguments for raising their courage, he undertook to speak more briskly

and fully to them, and that concerning the immortality of the soul. So

he made a lamentable groan, and fixing his eyes intently on those that

wept, he spake thus: "Truly, I was greatly mistaken when I thought to be

assisting to brave men who struggled hard for their liberty, and to such

as were resolved either to live with honor, or else to die; but I find

that you are such people as are no better than others, either in virtue

or in courage, and are afraid of dying, though you be delivered thereby

from the greatest miseries, while you ought to make no delay in this

matter, nor to await any one to give you good advice; for the laws of

our country, and of God himself, have from ancient times, and as soon as

ever we could use our reason, continually taught us, and our forefathers

have corroborated the same doctrine by their actions, and by their

bravery of mind, that it is life that is a calamity to men, and not

death; for this last affords our souls their liberty, and sends them

by a removal into their own place of purity, where they are to be

insensible of all sorts of misery; for while souls are tied down to a

mortal body, they are partakers of its miseries; and really, to speak

the truth, they are themselves dead; for the union of what is divine

to what is mortal is disagreeable. It is true, the power of the soul

is great, even when it is imprisoned in a mortal body; for by moving it

after a way that is invisible, it makes the body a sensible instrument,

and causes it to advance further in its actions than mortal nature could

otherwise do. However, when it is freed from that weight which draws it

down to the earth and is connected with it, it obtains its own proper

place, and does then become a partaker of that blessed power, and those

abilities, which are then every way incapable of being hindered in their

operations. It continues invisible, indeed, to the eyes of men, as does

God himself; for certainly it is not itself seen while it is in the

body; for it is there after an invisible manner, and when it is freed

from it, it is still not seen. It is this soul which hath one nature,

and that an incorruptible one also; but yet it is the cause of the

change that is made in the body; for whatsoever it be which the soul

touches, that lives and flourishes; and from whatsoever it is removed,

that withers away and dies; such a degree is there in it of immortality.

Let me produce the state of sleep as a most evident demonstration of

the truth of what I say; wherein souls, when the body does not distract

them, have the sweetest rest depending on themselves, and conversing

with God, by their alliance to him; they then go every where, and

foretell many futurities beforehand. And why are we afraid of death,

while we are pleased with the rest that we have in sleep? And how absurd

a thing is it to pursue after liberty while we are alive, and yet to

envy it to ourselves where it will be eternal! We, therefore, who have

been brought up in a discipline of our own, ought to become an example

to others of our readiness to die. Yet, if we do stand in need of

foreigners to support us in this matter, let us regard those Indians

who profess the exercise of philosophy; for these good men do but

unwillingly undergo the time of life, and look upon it as a necessary

servitude, and make haste to let their souls loose from their bodies;

nay, when no misfortune presses them to it, nor drives them upon it,

these have such a desire of a life of immortality, that they tell other

men beforehand that they are about to depart; and nobody hinders them,

but every one thinks them happy men, and gives them letters to be

carried to their familiar friends [that are dead], so firmly and

certainly do they believe that souls converse with one another [in the

other world]. So when these men have heard all such commands that were

to be given them, they deliver their body to the fire; and, in order

to their getting their soul a separation from the body in the greatest

purity, they die in the midst of hymns of commendations made to them;

for their dearest friends conduct them to their death more readily than

do any of the rest of mankind conduct their fellow-citizens when they

are going a very long journey, who at the same time weep on their own

account, but look upon the others as happy persons, as so soon to be

made partakers of the immortal order of beings. Are not we, therefore,

ashamed to have lower notions than the Indians? and by our own cowardice

to lay a base reproach upon the laws of our country, which are so much

desired and imitated by all mankind? But put the case that we had

been brought up under another persuasion, and taught that life is the

greatest good which men are capable of, and that death is a calamity;

however, the circumstances we are now in ought to be an inducement to us

to bear such calamity courageously, since it is by the will of God, and

by necessity, that we are to die; for it now appears that God hath

made such a decree against the whole Jewish nation, that we are to be

deprived of this life which [he knew] we would not make a due use

of. For do not you ascribe the occasion of our present condition to

yourselves, nor think the Romans are the true occasion that this war we

have had with them is become so destructive to us all: these things

have not come to pass by their power, but a more powerful cause hath

intervened, and made us afford them an occasion of their appearing to be

conquerors over us. What Roman weapons, I pray you, were those by which

the Jews at Cesarea were slain? On the contrary, when they were no way

disposed to rebel, but were all the while keeping their seventh day

festival, and did not so much as lift up their hands against the

citizens of Cesarea, yet did those citizens run upon them in great

crowds, and cut their throats, and the throats of their wives and

children, and this without any regard to the Romans themselves, who

never took us for their enemies till we revolted from them. But some may

be ready to say, that truly the people of Cesarea had always a quarrel

against those that lived among them, and that when an opportunity

offered itself, they only satisfied the old rancor they had against

them. What then shall we say to those of Scythopolis, who ventured to

wage war with us on account of the Greeks? Nor did they do it by way of

revenge upon the Romans, when they acted in concert with our countrymen.

Wherefore you see how little our good-will and fidelity to them profited

us, while they were slain, they and their whole families, after the most

inhuman manner, which was all the requital that was made them for the

assistance they had afforded the others; for that very same destruction

which they had prevented from falling upon the others did they suffer

themselves from them, as if they had been ready to be the actors

against them. It would be too long for me to speak at this time of every

destruction brought upon us; for you cannot but know that there was not

any one Syrian city which did not slay their Jewish inhabitants, and

were not more bitter enemies to us than were the Romans themselves; nay,

even those of Damascus, 16 when they were able to allege no tolerable

pretense against us, filled their city with the most barbarous

slaughters of our people, and cut the throats of eighteen thousand Jews,

with their wives and children. And as to the multitude of those that

were slain in Egypt, and that with torments also, we have been informed

they were more than sixty thousand; those indeed being in a foreign

country, and so naturally meeting with nothing to oppose against their

enemies, were killed in the manner forementioned. As for all those of

us who have waged war against the Romans in our own country, had we not

sufficient reason to have sure hopes of victory? For we had arms, and

walls, and fortresses so prepared as not to be easily taken, and courage

not to be moved by any dangers in the cause of liberty, which encouraged

us all to revolt from the Romans. But then these advantages sufficed

us but for a short time, and only raised our hopes, while they really

appeared to be the origin of our miseries; for all we had hath been

taken from us, and all hath fallen under our enemies, as if these

advantages were only to render their victory over us the more glorious,

and were not disposed for the preservation of those by whom these

preparations were made. And as for those that are already dead in the

war, it is reasonable we should esteem them blessed, for they are

dead in defending, and not in betraying their liberty; but as to the

multitude of those that are now under the Romans, who would not pity

their condition? and who would not make haste to die, before he would

suffer the same miseries with them? Some of them have been put upon the

rack, and tortured with fire and whippings, and so died. Some have been

half devoured by wild beasts, and yet have been reserved alive to be

devoured by them a second time, in order to afford laughter and sport to

our enemies; and such of those as are alive still are to be looked on as

the most miserable, who, being so desirous of death, could not come

at it. And where is now that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish

nation, which was fortified by so many walls round about, which had

so many fortresses and large towers to defend it, which could hardly

contain the instruments prepared for the war, and which had so many ten

thousands of men to fight for it? Where is this city that was believed

to have God himself inhabiting therein? It is now demolished to the very

foundations, and hath nothing but that monument of it preserved, I mean

the camp of those that hath destroyed it, which still dwells upon its

ruins; some unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the temple,

and a few women are there preserved alive by the enemy, for our bitter

shame and reproach. Now who is there that revolves these things in his

mind, and yet is able to bear the sight of the sun, though he might live

out of danger? Who is there so much his country's enemy, or so unmanly,

and so desirous of living, as not to repent that he is still alive? And

I cannot but wish that we had all died before we had seen that holy city

demolished by the hands of our enemies, or the foundations of our holy

temple dug up after so profane a manner. But since we had a generous

hope that deluded us, as if we might perhaps have been able to avenge

ourselves on our enemies on that account, though it be now become

vanity, and hath left us alone in this distress, let us make haste to

die bravely. Let us pity ourselves, our children, and our wives while it

is in our own power to show pity to them; for we were born to die, 17 as

well as those were whom we have begotten; nor is it in the power of the

most happy of our race to avoid it. But for abuses, and slavery, and

the sight of our wives led away after an ignominious manner, with their

children, these are not such evils as are natural and necessary among

men; although such as do not prefer death before those miseries, when it

is in their power so to do, must undergo even them, on account of their

own cowardice. We revolted from the Romans with great pretensions

to courage; and when, at the very last, they invited us to preserve

ourselves, we would not comply with them. Who will not, therefore,

believe that they will certainly be in a rage at us, in case they can

take us alive? Miserable will then be the young men who will be strong

enough in their bodies to sustain many torments! miserable also will

be those of elder years, who will not be able to bear those calamities

which young men might sustain! One man will be obliged to hear the voice

of his son implore help of his father, when his hands are bound. But

certainly our hands are still at liberty, and have a sword in them; let

them then be subservient to us in our glorious design; let us die before

we become slaves under our enemies, and let us go out of the world,

together with our children and our wives, in a state of freedom. This

it is that our laws command us to do; this it is that our wives

and children crave at our hands; nay, God himself hath brought this

necessity upon us; while the Romans desire the contrary, and are afraid

lest any of us should die before we are taken. Let us therefore make

haste, and instead of affording them so much pleasure, as they hope

for in getting us under their power, let us leave them an example

which shall at once cause their astonishment at our death, and their

admiration of our hardiness therein."

CHAPTER 9.

How The People That Were In The Fortress Were Prevailed On

By The Words Of Eleazar, Two Women And Five Children Only

Excepted And All Submitted To Be Killed By One Another.

1. Now as Eleazar was proceeding on in this exhortation, they all

cut him off short, and made haste to do the work, as full of an

unconquerable ardor of mind, and moved with a demoniacal fury. So they

went their ways, as one still endeavoring to be before another, and as

thinking that this eagerness would be a demonstration of their courage

and good conduct, if they could avoid appearing in the last class; so

great was the zeal they were in to slay their wives and children, and

themselves also! Nor indeed, when they came to the work itself, did

their courage fail them, as one might imagine it would have done, but

they then held fast the same resolution, without wavering, which they

had upon the hearing of Eleazar's speech, while yet every one of them

still retained the natural passion of love to themselves and their

families, because the reasoning they went upon appeared to them to be

very just, even with regard to those that were dearest to them; for the

husbands tenderly embraced their wives, and took their children into

their arms, and gave the longest parting kisses to them, with tears

in their eyes. Yet at the same time did they complete what they had

resolved on, as if they had been executed by the hands of strangers; and

they had nothing else for their comfort but the necessity they were in

of doing this execution, to avoid that prospect they had of the miseries

they were to suffer from their enemies. Nor was there at length any

one of these men found that scrupled to act their part in this terrible

execution, but every one of them despatched his dearest relations.

Miserable men indeed were they! whose distress forced them to slay their

own wives and children with their own hands, as the lightest of those

evils that were before them. So they being not able to bear the grief

they were under for what they had done any longer, and esteeming it an

injury to those they had slain, to live even the shortest space of time

after them, they presently laid all they had upon a heap, and set fire

to it. They then chose ten men by lot out of them to slay all the rest;

every one of whom laid himself down by his wife and children on the

ground, and threw his arms about them, and they offered their necks to

the stroke of those who by lot executed that melancholy office; and when

these ten had, without fear, slain them all, they made the same rule for

casting lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was should first kill

the other nine, and after all should kill himself. Accordingly, all

these had courage sufficient to be no way behind one another in doing

or suffering; so, for a conclusion, the nine offered their necks to the

executioner, and he who was the last of all took a view of all the

other bodies, lest perchance some or other among so many that were slain

should want his assistance to be quite despatched, and when he perceived

that they were all slain, he set fire to the palace, and with the great

force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell

down dead near to his own relations. So these people died with this

intention, that they would not leave so much as one soul among them all

alive to be subject to the Romans. Yet was there an ancient woman,

and another who was of kin to Eleazar, and superior to most women in

prudence and learning, with five children, who had concealed themselves

in caverns under ground, and had carried water thither for their drink,

and were hidden there when the rest were intent upon the slaughter of

one another. Those others were nine hundred and sixty in number, the

women and children being withal included in that computation. This

calamitous slaughter was made on the fifteenth day of the month

Xanthicus [Nisan].

2. Now for the Romans, they expected that they should be fought in the

morning, when, accordingly, they put on their armor, and laid bridges of

planks upon their ladders from their banks, to make an assault upon the

fortress, which they did; but saw nobody as an enemy, but a terrible

solitude on every side, with a fire within the place, as well as a

perfect silence. So they were at a loss to guess at what had happened.

At length they made a shout, as if it had been at a blow given by the

battering ram, to try whether they could bring any one out that was

within; the women heard this noise, and came out of their under-ground

cavern, and informed the Romans what had been done, as it was done; and

the second of them clearly described all both what was said and what

was done, and this manner of it; yet did they not easily give their

attention to such a desperate undertaking, and did not believe it could

be as they said; they also attempted to put the fire out, and quickly

cutting themselves a way through it, they came within the palace, and so

met with the multitude of the slain, but could take no pleasure in the

fact, though it were done to their enemies. Nor could they do other than

wonder at the courage of their resolution, and the immovable contempt of

death which so great a number of them had shown, when they went through

with such an action as that was.

CHAPTER 10.

That Many Of The Sicarii Fled To Alexandria Also And What

Dangers They Were In There; On Which Account That Temple

Which Had Formerly Been Built By Onias The High Priest Was

Destroyed.

1. When Masada was thus taken, the general left a garrison in the

fortress to keep it, and he himself went away to Cesarea; for there were

now no enemies left in the country, but it was all overthrown by so long

a war. Yet did this war afford disturbances and dangerous disorders even

in places very far remote from Judea; for still it came to pass that

many Jews were slain at Alexandria in Egypt; for as many of the Sicarii

as were able to fly thither, out of the seditious wars in Judea, were

not content to have saved themselves, but must needs be undertaking to

make new disturbances, and persuaded many of those that entertained

them to assert their liberty, to esteem the Romans to be no better than

themselves, and to look upon God as their only Lord and Master. But when

part of the Jews of reputation opposed them, they slew some of them, and

with the others they were very pressing in their exhortations to revolt

from the Romans; but when the principal men of the senate saw what

madness they were come to, they thought it no longer safe for themselves

to overlook them. So they got all the Jews together to an assembly, and

accused the madness of the Sicarii, and demonstrated that they had been

the authors of all the evils that had come upon them. They said also

that "these men, now they were run away from Judea, having no sure hope

of escaping, because as soon as ever they shall be known, they will be

soon destroyed by the Romans, they come hither and fill us full of those

calamities which belong to them, while we have not been partakers with

them in any of their sins." Accordingly, they exhorted the multitude to

have a care, lest they should be brought to destruction by their means,

and to make their apology to the Romans for what had been done,

by delivering these men up to them; who being thus apprized of the

greatness of the danger they were in, complied with what was proposed,

and ran with great violence upon the Sicarii, and seized upon them; and

indeed six hundred of them were caught immediately: but as to all those

that fled into Egypt 18 and to the Egyptian Thebes, it was not long ere

they were caught also, and brought back, whose courage, or whether we

ought to call it madness, or hardiness in their opinions, every body was

amazed at. For when all sorts of torments and vexations of their bodies

that could be devised were made use of to them, they could not get any

one of them to comply so far as to confess, or seem to confess, that

Caesar was their lord; but they preserved their own opinion, in spite

of all the distress they were brought to, as if they received these

torments and the fire itself with bodies insensible of pain, and with

a soul that in a manner rejoiced under them. But what was most of all

astonishing to the beholders was the courage of the children; for not

one of these children was so far overcome by these torments, as to name

Caesar for their lord. So far does the strength of the courage [of the

soul] prevail over the weakness of the body.

2. Now Lupus did then govern Alexandria, who presently sent Caesar word

of this commotion; who having in suspicion the restless temper of the

Jews for innovation, and being afraid lest they should get together

again, and persuade some others to join with them, gave orders to Lupus

to demolish that Jewish temple which was in the region called Onion,

19 and was in Egypt, which was built and had its denomination from the

occasion following: Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high

priests fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the

Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly,

on account of hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would

comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance;

and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him

to give him leave to build a temple some where in Egypt, and to worship

God according to the customs of his own country; for that the Jews would

then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus who had laid waste

the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with

greater good-will; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience,

very many of them would come over to him.

3. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, and gave him a place one

hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. 20 That Nomos was

called the Nomos of Hellopolis, where Onias built a fortress and a

temple, not like to that at Jerusalem, but such as resembled a tower.

He built it of large stones to the height of sixty cubits; he made the

structure of the altar in imitation of that in our own country, and in

like manner adorned with gifts, excepting the make of the candlestick,

for he did not make a candlestick, but had a [single] lamp hammered out

of a piece of gold, which illuminated the place with its rays, and which

he hung by a chain of gold; but the entire temple was encompassed with

a wall of burnt brick, though it had gates of stone. The king also gave

him a large country for a revenue in money, that both the priests might

have a plentiful provision made for them, and that God might have great

abundance of what things were necessary for his worship. Yet did not

Onias do this out of a sober disposition, but he had a mind to contend

with the Jews at Jerusalem, and could not forget the indignation he had

for being banished thence. Accordingly, he thought that by building this

temple he should draw away a great number from them to himself. There

had been also a certain ancient prediction made by [a prophet] whose

name was Isaiah, about six hundred years before, that this temple should

be built by a man that was a Jew in Egypt. And this is the history of

the building of that temple.

4. And now Lupus, the governor of Alexandria, upon the receipt of

Caesar's letter, came to the temple, and carried out of it some of the

donations dedicated thereto, and shut up the temple itself. And as Lupus

died a little afterward, Paulinus succeeded him. This man left none of

those donations there, and threatened the priests severely if they

did not bring them all out; nor did he permit any who were desirous of

worshipping God there so much as to come near the whole sacred place;

but when he had shut up the gates, he made it entirely inaccessible,

insomuch that there remained no longer the least footsteps of any Divine

worship that had been in that place. Now the duration of the time from

the building of this temple till it was shut up again was three hundred

and forty-three years.

CHAPTER 11.

Concerning Jonathan, One Of The Sicarii, That Stirred Up A

Sedition In Cyrene, And Was A False Accuser [Of The

Innocent].

1. And now did the madness of the Sicarii, like a disease, reach as far

as the cities of Cyrene; for one Jonathan, a vile person, and by trade

a weaver, came thither and prevailed with no small number of the

poorer sort to give ear to him; he also led them into the desert, upon

promising them that he would show them signs and apparitions. And as for

the other Jews of Cyrene, he concealed his knavery from them, and put

tricks upon them; but those of the greatest dignity among them informed

Catullus, the governor of the Libyan Pentapolis, of his march into the

desert, and of the preparations he had made for it. So he sent out after

him both horsemen and footmen, and easily overcame them, because they

were unarmed men; of these many were slain in the fight, but some were

taken alive, and brought to Catullus. As for Jonathan, the head of this

plot, he fled away at that time; but upon a great and very diligent

search, which was made all the country over for him, he was at last

taken. And when he was brought to Catullus, he devised a way whereby he

both escaped punishment himself, and afforded an occasion to Catullus

of doing much mischief; for he falsely accused the richest men among the

Jews, and said that they had put him upon what he did.

2. Now Catullus easily admitted of these his calumnies, and aggravated

matters greatly, and made tragical exclamations, that he might also be

supposed to have had a hand in the finishing of the Jewish war. But what

was still harder, he did not only give a too easy belief to his stories,

but he taught the Sicarii to accuse men falsely. He bid this Jonathan,

therefore, to name one Alexander, a Jew [with whom he had formerly had

a quarrel, and openly professed that he hated him]; he also got him to

name his wife Bernice, as concerned with him. These two Catullus ordered

to be slain in the first place; nay, after them he caused all the rich

and wealthy Jews to be slain, being no fewer in all than three thousand.

This he thought he might do safely, because he confiscated their

effects, and added them to Caesar's revenues.

3. Nay, indeed, lest any Jews that lived elsewhere should convict him of

his villainy, he extended his false accusations further, and persuaded

Jonathan, and certain others that were caught with him, to bring an

accusation of attempts for innovation against the Jews that were of the

best character both at Alexandria and at Rome. One of these, against

whom this treacherous accusation was laid, was Josephus, the writer of

these books. However, this plot, thus contrived by Catullus, did not

succeed according to his hopes; for though he came himself to Rome, and

brought Jonathan and his companions along with him in bonds, and thought

he should have had no further inquisition made as to those lies that

were forged under his government, or by his means; yet did Vespasian

suspect the matter and made an inquiry how far it was true. And when he

understood that the accusation laid against the Jews was an unjust one,

he cleared them of the crimes charged upon them, and this on account of

Titus's concern about the matter, and brought a deserved punishment upon

Jonathan; for he was first tormented, and then burnt alive.

4. But as to Catullus, the emperors were so gentle to him, that he

underwent no severe condemnation at this time; yet was it not long

before he fell into a complicated and almost incurable distemper, and

died miserably. He was not only afflicted in body, but the distemper

in his mind was more heavy upon him than the other; for he was terribly

disturbed, and continually cried out that he saw the ghosts of those

whom he had slain standing before him. Where upon he was not able to

contain himself, but leaped out of his bed, as if both torments and fire

were brought to him. This his distemper grew still a great deal worse

and worse continually, and his very entrails were so corroded, that they

fell out of his body, and in that condition he died. Thus he became as

great an instance of Divine Providence as ever was, and demonstrated

that God punishes wicked men.

5. And here we shall put an end to this our history; wherein we formerly

promised to deliver the same with all accuracy, to such as should be

desirous of understanding after what manner this war of the Romans with

the Jews was managed. Of which history, how good the style is, must be

left to the determination of the readers; but as for its agreement with

the facts, I shall not scruple to say, and that boldly, that truth hath

been what I have alone aimed at through its entire composition.

WAR BOOK 7 FOOTNOTES 2 (return) [ This Tereutius Rufus, as Reland in

part observes here, is the same person whom the Talmudists call Turnus

Rufus; of whom they relate, that "he ploughed up Sion as a field, and

made Jerusalem become as heaps, and the mountain of the house as the

high Idaces of a forest;" which was long before foretold by the prophet

Micah, ch. 3:12, and quoted from him in the prophecies of Jeremiah, ch.

26:18.]

3 (return) [ See Ecclesiastes 8:11.]

4 (return) [ This Berytus was certainly a Roman colony, and has coins

extant that witness the same, as Hudson and Spanheim inform us. See the

note on Antiq. B. XVI: ch. 11. sect. 1.]

5 (return) [ The Jews at Antioch and Alexandria, the two principal

cities in all the East, had allowed them, both by the Macedonians, and

afterwards by the Romans, a governor of their own, who was exempt from

the jurisdiction of the other civil governors. He was called sometimes

barely "governor," sometimes "ethnarch," and [at Alexandria] "alabarch,"

as Dr. Hudson takes notice on this place out of Fuller's Miscellanies.

They had the like governor or governors allowed them at Babylon under

their captivity there, as the history of Susanna implies.]

6 (return) [ This Classicus, and Civilis, and Cerealis are names well

known in Tacitus; the two former as moving sedition against the Romans,

and the last as sent to repress them by Vespasian, just as they are here

described in Josephus; which is the case also of Fontellis Agrippa

and Rubrius Gallup, i, sect. 3. But as to the very favorable account

presently given of Domitian, particularly as to his designs in this his

Gallic and German expedition, it is not a little contrary to that in

Suetonius, Vesp. sect. 7. Nor are the reasons unobvious that might

occasion this great diversity: Domitian was one of Josephus's patrons,

and when he published these books of the Jewish war, was very young, and

had hardly begun those wicked practices which rendered him so infamous

afterward; while Suetonius seems to have been too young, and too low

in life, to receive any remarkable favors from him; as Domitian was

certainly very lewd and cruel, and generally hated, when Suetonius wrote

about him.]

7 (return) [ Since in these latter ages this Sabbatic River, once so

famous, which, by Josephus's account here, ran every seventh day,

and rested on six, but according to Pliny, Nat. Hist. 31. II, ran

perpetually on six days, and rested every seventh, [though it no way

appears by either of their accounts that the seventh day of this river

was the Jewish seventh day or sabbath,] is quite vanished, I shall add

no more about it: only see Dr. Hudson's note. In Varenius's Geography,

i, 17, the reader will find several instances of such periodical

fountains and rivers, though none of their periods were that of a just

week as of old this appears to have been.]

8 (return) [ Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian.]

9 (return) [ See the representations of these Jewish vessels as they

still stand on Titus's triumphal arch at Rome, in Reland's very curious

book de Spoliis Ternpli, throughout. But what, things are chiefly to be

noted are these: [1.] That Josephus says the candlestick here carried in

this triumph was not thoroughly like that which was used in the temple,

which appears in the number of the little knobs and flowers in that on

the triumphal arch not well agreeing with Moses's description, Exodus

25:31-36. [2.] The smallness of the branches in Josephus compared with

the thickness of those on that arch. [3.] That the Law or Pentateuch

does not appear on that arch at all, though Josephus, an eye-witness,

assures us that it was carried in this procession. All which things

deserve the consideration of the inquisitive reader.]

10 (return) [ Spanheim observes here, that in Graceia Major and

Sicily they had rue prodigiously great and durable, like this rue at

Machaerus.]

11 (return) [ This strange account of the place and root Baaras seems to

have been taken from the magicians, and the root to have been made use

of in the days of Josephus, in that superstitious way of casting out

demons, supposed by him to have been derived from king Solomon; of which

we have already seen he had a great opinion, Antiq. B. VIII. ch. 2.

sect. 5. We also may hence learn the true notion Josephus had of demons

and demoniacs, exactly like that of the Jews and Christians in the New

Testament, and the first four centuries. See Antiq. B. I. ch. 8. sect.

2; B. XI, ch. 2. sect. 3.]

12 (return) [ It is very remarkable that Titus did not people this now

desolate country of Judea, but ordered it to be all sold; nor indeed is

it properly peopled at this day, but lies ready for its old inhabitants

the Jews, at their future restoration. See Literal Accomplishment of

Prophecies, p. 77.]

13 (return) [ That the city Emmaus, or Areindus, in Josephus and others

which was the place of the government of Julius Africanus were slain,

to the number of one thousand seven hundred, as were the women and the

children made slaves. But as Bassus thought he must perform the covenant

he had made with those that had surrendered the citadel, he let them go,

and restored Eleazar to them, in the beginning of the third century, and

which he then procured to be rebuilt, and after which rebuilding it

was called Nicopolis, is entirely different from that Emmaus which is

mentioned by St. Luke 24;13; see Reland's Paleestina, lib. II. p. 429,

and under the name Ammaus also. But he justly thinks that that in St.

Luke may well be the same with his Ammaus before us, especially since

the Greek copies here usually make it sixty furlongs distant from

Jerusalem, as does St. Luke, though the Latin copies say only thirty.

The place also allotted for these eight hundred soldiers, as for a Roman

garrison, in this place, would most naturally be not so remote from

Jerusalem as was the other Emmaus, or Nicopolis.]

14 (return) [ Pliny and others confirm this strange paradox, that

provisions laid up against sieges will continue good for a hundred

years, as Spanheim notes upon this place.]

15 (return) [ The speeches in this and the next section, as introduced

under the person of this Eleazar, are exceeding remarkable, and of the

noblest subjects, the contempt of death, and the dignity and immortality

of the soul; and that not only among the Jews, but among the Indians

themselves also; and are highly worthy the perusal of all the curious.

It seems as if that philosophic lady who survived, ch. 9. sect. 1, 2,

remembered the substance of these discourses, as spoken by Eleazar, and

so Josephus clothed them in his own words: at the lowest they contain

the Jewish notions on these heads, as understood then by our Josephus,

and cannot but deserve a suitable regard from us.]

16 (return) [ See B. II. ch. 20. sect. 2, where the number of the slain

is but 10,000.]

17 (return) [ Reland here sets down a parallel aphorism of one of

the Jewish Rabbins, "We are born that we may die, and die that we may

live."]

18 (return) [ Since Josephus here informs us that some of these Sicarii,

or ruffians, went from Alexandria [which was itself in Egypt, in a large

sense] into Egypt, and Thebes there situated, Reland well observes, from

Vossius, that Egypt sometimes denotes Proper or Upper Egypt, as distinct

from the Delta, and the lower parts near Palestine. Accordingly, as he

adds, those that say it never rains in Egypt must mean the Proper or

Upper Egypt, because it does sometimes rain in the other parts. See the

note on Antiq. B. II. ch. 7. sect. 7, and B. III. ch. 1. sect. 6.]

19 (return) [ Of this temple of Onias's building in Egypt, see the notes

on Antiq. B. XIII. ch. 3. sect. 1. But whereas it is elsewhere, both

of the War, B. I. ch. 1. sect. 1, and in the Antiquities as now quoted,

said that this temple was like to that at Jerusalem, and here that it

was not like it, but like a tower, sect. 3, there is some reason to

suspect the reading here, and that either the negative particle is here

to be blotted out, or the word entirely added.]

20 (return) [ We must observe, that Josephus here speaks of Antiochus

who profaned the temple as now alive, when Onias had leave given them

by Philometer to build his temple; whereas it seems not to have been

actually built till about fifteen years afterwards. Yet, because it is

said in the Antiquities that Onias went to Philometer, B. XII. ch.

9. sect. 7, during the lifetime of that Antiochus, it is probable he

petitioned, and perhaps obtained his leave then, though it were not

actually built or finished till fifteen years afterward.]