latter, overawed by the orderly discipline of the Romans, abandoned some
of the suburbs and retired into the inner city and the Temple. Cestius,
on gaining entry, set fire to the district known as Bezetha[261] and the
New City and the so-called Timber Market; he then proceeded to the upper
city and encamped opposite the royal palace. Had he, at that particular
moment, chosen to force his way within the walls, he would have captured
the city forthwith, and the war would have been over. But Tyrannius
Priscus, the camp-commander, with most of the cavalry officers, being
bribed by Florus, diverted him from the attempt. Hence it came about
that the war was so long protracted and the Jews drained the cup of
irretrievable disaster.
Attack on Jerusalem
Meanwhile many of the notable citizens, at the instance of Ananus, son
of Jonathan, sent an invitation to Cestius, promising to open the gates
to him. These overtures, however, partly in scorn and resentment, partly
because he did not wholly credit them, he hesitated to accept, until the
insurgents, discovering the treason, dragged down Ananus and his
confederates from the wall and drove them, with showers of stones, into
their houses. Then, taking up their stations in detachments, they hurled
their missiles from the towers upon the enemy who were assailing the
wall. So for five days the Romans pressed their attack on all sides
without success, till on the sixth Cestius led a large force of picked
men with the archers to an assault on the north side of the Temple. The
Jews from the portico warded it off, and time after time repulsed those
who had reached the wall, but at length, overpowered by the hail of
missiles, gave way. The front rank of the Romans then planted their
shields against the wall, those behind them planted other shields upon
the first, and the rest did in like manner, forming a screen which they
call “the tortoise,”[262] from which the missiles, as they fell, glanced
off harmlessly, while the soldiers with immunity undermined the wall and
prepared to set fire to the gate of the Temple.
A terrible panic now seized the insurgents, many of whom were already
slinking out of the city in the belief that it was on the verge of
capture. The populace thereupon took heart again, and the more the
miscreants gave ground, the nearer did the others approach the gates,
ready to open them and welcome Cestius as a benefactor. Had he but
persisted for a while with the siege, he would have forthwith taken the
city. But I suppose that on account of those wicked men God, already
regarding even the sanctuary with aversion, ordained that that day
should not see the end of the war.
Unexpected Withdrawal of Cestius, Pursued by the Jews
At any rate, Cestius, perceiving neither the desperate condition of the
besieged nor the temper of the populace, suddenly recalled his troops,
and, without having sustained any reverse, abandoned his hopes[263] and,
contrary to all calculation, retired from the city. On this unexpected
retreat, the brigands, plucking up courage, sallied out upon his rear
and killed a considerable number both of horse and foot.
That night Cestius passed at his camp on (Mount) Scopus. The following
day, continuing his retreat he provoked the enemy to further pursuit;
hanging upon his heels they cut up his rear, and getting round him on
either side of his route poured their missiles on his flanks. The rear
ranks did not dare to round upon their assailants behind them, supposing
that they were pursued by an innumerable host; nor did they attempt to
beat off those who were pressing their flanks, being heavily armed
themselves and afraid of opening out their ranks, while the Jews, as
they saw, were light armed and could readily dash in among them. The
result was that they suffered heavily, without any retaliation upon the
enemy. So all along the route the blows rained upon them and they kept
dropping out of the ranks and falling, until at length, after numerous
casualties, including Priscus, the general of the sixth legion, and
Longinus a tribune,[264] and Æmilius Jucundus, a squadron commander, and
with the loss of most of their baggage, with difficulty they reached
their former camp at Gibeon.[265] Here Cestius halted for two days,
uncertain what course to pursue; but, on the third, seeing the enemy’s
strength greatly increased and all the surrounding country swarming with
Jews, he decided that the delay had been detrimental to him and, if
further prolonged, would but increase the number of his foes.
Scene in the Pass of Beth-Horon
To accelerate the retreat, he issued orders to abandon all
_impedimenta_. So the mules, asses and all the beasts of burthen were
killed, excepting those that carried missiles and engines of war; these
they clung to, both for their own use and especially from fear that they
might fall into Jewish hands and be employed against themselves. He then
led his army on towards Beth-Horon. In the open their movements were
less harassed by the Jews, but, once the Romans became involved in the
defiles on the descent, one contingent of the enemy went ahead of them
and blocked their exit, another drove the rearmost down into the ravine,
while the main body lined up in extended order above the gorge and
covered the phalanx with their missiles. Here, powerless as were the
infantry to protect themselves, the cavalry were in even greater
jeopardy. To advance in order down the road under the hail of darts was
impossible, while the charge up the steep slopes was impracticable for
horse. On either side were precipices and ravines, down which they
slipped and were hurled headlong. None had room for flight, none had any
plan of defence. In their utter helplessness they gave vent to groans
and the wailings of despair, which were answered by the war-whoop and
shouts of the Jews, exultant and mad with rage. Cestius and his whole
army would have been well-nigh annihilated[266] had not night
intervened, under cover of which the Romans escaped to Beth-Horon.[267]
The Jews meanwhile occupied all the surrounding district and kept guard
against their egress.
Flight of Cestius
Cestius, now despairing of open retreat, took measures for flight; and,
selecting about four hundred of his bravest men, stationed them upon the
roofs, with orders to shout out the watchwords[268] of the
camp-sentinels, that the Jews might think that the whole army was still
on the spot. He himself with the remainder then stealthily advanced
another thirty furlongs. At daybreak the Jews, discovering that the
enemy’s night quarters were deserted, charged the four hundred who had
deluded them, quickly shot them down with their spears, and started in
pursuit of Cestius.
He had gained much upon them during the night, and, when day came,
quickened the pace still more; the men in consternation and terror
abandoning the siege engines, catapults and most of the other machines,
which the Jews then captured and afterwards employed against those who
had relinquished them. The Jews continued the pursuit as far as
Antipatris, and then, failing to overtake the Romans, turned and carried
off the machines, plundered the corpses, collected the booty which had
been left behind, and, with songs of triumph, retraced their steps to
the capital. Their own losses had been quite inconsiderable; of the
Romans and their allies they had slain five thousand three hundred
infantry and of cavalry four hundred and four score.[269] This action
took place on the eighth of the month Dius in the twelfth year of Nero’s
reign [Sidenote: November A.D. 66].
Cestius Reports to Nero
After this catastrophe of Cestius many distinguished Jews left the city
as swimmers desert a sinking ship. For example, the brothers Costobar
and Saul with Philip, son of Jacimus, King Agrippa’s camp-commander,
escaped from the city and joined Cestius.... Cestius, at their request,
despatched Saul and his party to Nero in Achaia, to inform him of their
own difficulties and also to lay the blame for the war on Florus. For he
hoped by exciting resentment against Florus to lessen the danger to
himself....
Jewish Preparations for War
The Jews who had pursued Cestius, on their return to Jerusalem, partly
by force, partly by persuasion, brought over to their side such
pro-Romans as still remained; and, assembling in the Temple, appointed
several generals to conduct the war. Joseph, son of Gorion, and Ananus
the high priest were elected to the supreme control of affairs in the
city, with a special charge to repair the city walls. As for Eleazar,
son of Simon, notwithstanding that he had in his hands the Roman spoils
with the money taken from Cestius, as well as much of the public
treasure, they did not entrust him with office, because they saw him to
be aiming at despotic power, and that his subordinate Zealots acted the
part of his bodyguard. Gradually, however, financial needs and the
intrigues of Eleazar so far prevailed upon the people that they ended by
submitting in all matters to his authority.—_B.J._ II. 18. 9-20. 3
(499-565).
Footnote 253:
Governor of Syria.
Footnote 254:
Gr. “Gabao.”
Footnote 255:
Gr. “stades.”
Footnote 256:
Falling within the week of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Footnote 257:
Some MSS insert a negative, “the part of the line which had not yet
given way.”
Footnote 258:
Or “Borcius.”
Footnote 259:
Gr. “stades.”
Footnote 260:
Perhaps “up to.”
Footnote 261:
At the N.E. corner of the city. Other MSS “Bethesda” Niese, “Betheza,”
as elsewhere in Josephus.
Footnote 262:
_Testudo._
Footnote 263:
Or “shattered (lit. ‘condemned’) their hopes (of success).”
Footnote 264:
Gr. “chiliarch.”
Footnote 265:
Gr. “Gabao.”
Footnote 266:
Or “taken prisoners.”
Footnote 267:
Beth-Horon the Lower at the foot of the pass.
Footnote 268:
Another reading, “upon the fortresses, with orders to go up and erect
the standards.”
Footnote 269:
Another reading, “380.”
(42) Jerusalem before the Siege
The disturbances in Galilee were thus quelled; [Sidenote: Spring A.D.
67] and, desisting from civil strife, the Jews directed their attention
to preparations against the Romans. In Jerusalem Ananus the high priest
and those of the leading men who were not pro-Romans busied themselves
with the repair of the walls and the accumulation of engines of war. In
every quarter of the city missiles and suits of armour were being
forged; masses of young men were undergoing a desultory training; and
the whole scene was one of confusion. On the other side, the dejection
of the moderate party was profound; and many foresaw and openly lamented
the impending disasters. There were also omens, which to the friends of
peace boded ill, while those who had kindled the war readily invented
favourable interpretations for them;[270] and the city before the coming
of the Romans wore the appearance of a place doomed to destruction.
Ananus, indeed, was anxious gradually to desist from warlike
preparations and to bend the revolutionaries and the infatuated Zealots,
as they were called, to a more salutary policy; but their violence was
too much for him. The sequel of our narrative will show the fate which
befell him.[271]—_B.J._ II. 22. 1 (647-651).
Footnote 270:
Cf. § (50).
Footnote 271:
See § (45).
(43) The Fall of Jotapata. Josephus taken Prisoner.
Capture of the Town through Information of a Jewish Deserter
[Sidenote: A.D. 67]
The defenders of Jotapata were still holding out and beyond all
expectation enduring their miseries, when on the forty-seventh day (of
the siege) the earthworks of the Romans overtopped the wall. That same
day a deserter reported to Vespasian the reduced numbers and strength of
the defence, and that, worn out with perpetual watching and continuous
fighting, they would be unable longer to resist a vigorous assault[272]
and might be taken by stratagem, if the attempt were made. He stated
that about the last watch (of the night)—an hour when they expected some
respite from their sufferings and when tired frames succumb most readily
to morning slumber—the sentinels used to drop asleep; that was the hour
when he advised the Romans to attack.
Vespasian, knowing the Jews’ loyalty to each other and their contempt of
chastisement, viewed the deserter with suspicion. On a former occasion a
man of Jotapata who had been taken prisoner held out under every variety
of torture, and, without uttering a word about the besieged to his
enemies who were trying him by fire, was crucified, smiling at death.
Probability, however, lent credit to the traitor; and so, thinking that
the man might be speaking the truth and that even a trap, if it were
one, was not likely to lead to any serious reverse, Vespasian ordered
him into custody and made ready his army for the capture of the city.
At the hour named they advanced in silence to the walls. The first to
mount them was Titus, with one of the tribunes,[273] Domitius Sabinus,
at the head of a few men of the fifteenth legion.[274] Having cut down
the sentries they entered the city in silence, and were followed by
Sextus Calvarius, a tribune, and Placidus with the troops under their
command. The citadel had been taken and the enemy were moving to and fro
in the heart of the town, before the vanquished inhabitants, though it
was now broad daylight, were aware of the capture. Most of them, worn
out with fatigue, had fallen fast asleep, while a thick mist, which
happened at the time to envelop the city, obscured the vision of those
who started up. Not until the whole army had poured in, were they fully
roused only to realize their misery; the discovery that they were being
slain was the first assurance of their capture.
Remembering what they had borne during the siege, the Romans showed no
compassion or pity for any one, but thrust the people down the steep
descent from the citadel in a general massacre. And here the difficulty
of the ground deprived those still able to fight of the means of
defence. Crushed in the narrow alleys and slipping down the declivity,
they were overwhelmed by the wave of war that streamed from the citadel.
The situation drove many even of Josephus’s picked men to suicide.
Perceiving that they could not kill a single Roman, they at least
forestalled death at Roman hands, and, huddled together at the outskirts
of the city, put an end to themselves....
On that day the Romans slew all who showed themselves; on the ensuing
days they searched the hiding-places and went in pursuit of such as had
fled to the mines and caverns, sparing none, whatever their age, save
infants and women. The prisoners thus collected were twelve hundred; the
number of those killed at the time of the capture and in the previous
conflicts was computed at forty thousand. Vespasian ordered the city to
be razed, and burnt all its forts to the ground. Thus was Jotapata taken
in the thirteenth year of the reign of Nero, on the new moon of Panemus.
[Sidenote: July A.D. 67]
Josephus’s Hiding-place Discovered
A search for Josephus was then instituted by the Romans, instigated both
by their own resentment and by the earnest wish of their general, since
his capture would constitute a turning-point in the war. So the bodies
of the slain and the men in hiding[275] were closely examined. Now
Josephus, when the city was on the point of being taken, had, with the
aid of some divine providence, stolen out of the enemy’s midst and leapt
into a deep pit, giving access on one side to a broad cavern, invisible
to those above. There he found forty persons of distinction in hiding,
with a supply of provisions sufficient to last for a considerable time.
During the day he lay hid, the enemy occupying every quarter of the
city, but at night he would come up and look for some loophole for
escape and reconnoitre the sentries; but, finding every spot guarded on
his account and no means of eluding detection, he descended again into
the cave. So for two days he continued in hiding. On the third, his
secret was betrayed by a woman of the party, who was captured, whereupon
Vespasian at once in eager haste despatched two tribunes,[276] Paulinus
and Gallicanus, with orders to offer Josephus security[277] and to
exhort him to come up.
Josephus Parleys with the Roman Officers
So they came and urged him, giving pledges that his life would not be
endangered. Their persuasion, however, was unavailing. His suspicions
were based not on the natural clemency of those who invited him, but on
the penalties which so active an opponent was likely to incur; and the
presentiment that he was being summoned to punishment persisted, until
Vespasian sent a third tribune, Nicanor, known to, and formerly an
intimate associate of, Josephus. He, on his arrival, dwelt on the innate
generosity of the Romans to those whom they had once subdued,[278]
assuring him that his valour made him an object rather of admiration,
than of hatred, to the commanding officers, and that the general was
anxious to bring him up from his retreat, not for punishment—that he
could inflict though he refused to come forth—but from a desire to save
a brave man. He added that Vespasian, had he intended to entrap him,
would never have sent a friend as his emissary, using the noblest of
relationships as a cloak for the basest—friendship as a mask for
perfidy; nor would he himself have consented to come in order to deceive
a friend.
While Josephus was still hesitating even at Nicanor’s persuasions, the
soldiers in their rage made a rush to set the cave on fire, but were
restrained by the officer,[279] who was anxious to take the Jewish
leader alive. And as Nicanor urgently pressed his proposals, Josephus
heard the threats of the hostile crowd; and there came back into his
mind those nightly dreams, in which God had foretold to him the
impending fate of the Jews and the destinies of the Roman sovereigns. As
an interpreter of dreams he had the capacity of extracting a coherent
meaning from the ambiguous utterances of the Deity;[280] a priest
himself and of priestly descent, he was, moreover, not ignorant of the
prophecies in the sacred books. At that hour he was inspired to read
their meaning, and, recalling the dreadful images of his recent dreams,
he offered up a secret prayer to God. “Since it pleases Thee” (so it
ran), “who didst create the Jewish nation, that it should now sink into
the dust, and fortune has wholly passed to the Romans, and since Thou
hast made choice of my spirit to announce the things that are to come, I
willingly surrender to the Romans and consent to live; but I appeal to
Thee to witness that I go as no traitor, but as Thy minister.”
Josephus’s Life Threatened by his Men
With these words he was about to surrender to Nicanor. But when the Jews
who had sought refuge along with him understood that Josephus was
yielding to entreaty, they came round him in a body, crying out, “Ah!
well might the laws of our fathers groan aloud and God Himself, who
implanted in Jewish breasts souls that make light of death, hide His
face for shame! Is life so dear to you, Josephus, that you will endure
to see the light in slavery? How soon have you forgotten yourself! How
many have you persuaded to die for liberty! False, then, was that
reputation for bravery, false that renown for sagacity, if you look for
security from those against whom you have fought so bitterly or deign to
accept the gift of your life at their hands, even were it sure. Nay, if
the fortune of the Romans has cast over you some strange forgetfulness
of yourself, the care of our country’s honour devolves on _us_. We will
lend you a right hand and sword. If you die of your own free will, you
shall die as general of the Jews; if involuntarily, as a traitor.” With
these words they pointed their swords at him and threatened to kill him
if he surrendered to the Romans.
Josephus, fearing an assault, and holding that it would be a betrayal of
God’s commands, should he die before delivering his message, began to
reason with them philosophically upon the emergency.[281]...
There follows a rhetorical speech, which one can hardly believe that
Josephus’s companions would have tolerated, on the iniquity of
suicide. One sentence will suffice.
“Know you not that they who depart this life in the order of nature and
repay the loan which they received from God, when the Giver is pleased
to recover it, enjoy eternal renown; that their houses and families are
secure; that their souls remain unspotted and attentive to prayer, being
allotted the most holy place in heaven, from whence, in the revolution
of the ages, they again find a new habitation in saintly bodies;[282]
while the souls of those who have laid mad hands upon themselves are
received into the darkest region[283] of the underworld,[284] and God,
who is their father, visits upon the children their fathers outrageous
actions?”[285]...
With many such words did Josephus attempt to deter them from
self-slaughter. But desperation stopped their ears, for they had long
since devoted themselves to death; and, infuriated with him, they rushed
upon him from every side, sword in hand, upbraiding him as a coward, and
one and all manifestly prepared at once to strike. But he, addressing
one by name, fixing his general’s eye of command upon another, clasping
the hand of a third, and shaming a fourth by entreaty, distracted as he
was by conflicting passions at this critical moment, yet succeeded in
staving off the blades of all, always turning, like a wild beast
surrounded (by the hunters), upon his last assailant. Even in his
extremities, they still held their general in reverence; their hands
were paralyzed, their daggers glanced aside, and many, in the act of
thrusting at him, of their own impulse dropped their swords.
The Drawing of the Lots
But, in his straits, his resource did not forsake him. Trusting to the
guardianship of God, he put his life to the hazard, and said: “Since you
are determined to die, come, let us commit our mutual slaughter to the
lot; let him who draws the first lot fall by the hand of him who comes
next; so shall fate take her course through the whole number. But let
not each be laid low by his own hand;[286] it would be unjust that, when
the rest were gone, any should repent and escape.” This proposal
appeared to them a fair one;[287] his advice was taken, and he drew lots
with the rest. The winner of the first lot bared his throat to the next,
in the assurance that his general was forthwith to share his fate; for
death with Josephus they thought sweeter than life. He, however, (should
one say by fortune or by the providence of God?) was left with one
other; and, anxious neither to be condemned by the lot nor, should he be
left to the last, to stain his hand with the blood of a fellow
countryman, he persuaded him also, on a pledge given, to remain alive.
Josephus before the Romans
Having thus survived both the war with the Romans and that with his own
friends, Josephus was brought by Nicanor into Vespasian’s presence. The
Romans all flocked to see him, and from the multitude crowding around
the general arose a hubbub of discordant voices: some exulting at his
capture, some threatening, some forcing their way to obtain a nearer
view. Those further off clamoured for the punishment of the enemy, while
those close beside him were touched by the recollection of his exploits
and filled with astonishment at the change in his condition. Of the
officers there was not one who, whatever his past resentment, did not
then relent at the sight of him.
Titus in particular was moved exceedingly[288] by the fortitude of
Josephus under misfortunes and by pity for his youth. As he recalled the
combatant of yesterday and saw him now a prisoner in his enemy’s hands,
he was led to reflect on the power of fortune, the quick turn of the
scale in war and the instability of human affairs. He, therefore,
brought over many at the time to share his commiseration of Josephus,
and by his intercession with his father was mainly instrumental in
saving his life. Vespasian, however, ordered him to be guarded with
every precaution, intending shortly to send him to Nero.
Josephus tells Vespasian’s Fortune