Doig's Biblical Chronology  . Exact Dating of the Exodus and Birth and Crucifixion of Jesus

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Index to Josephus

The Wars Of The Jews - Book V

CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF NEAR SIX MONTHS
FROM THE COMING OF TITUS TO BESIEGE JERUSALEM, TO THE GREAT EXTREMITY TO WHICH THE JEWS WERE REDUCED

CHAPTER 1

CONCERNING THE SEDITIONS AT JERUSALEM AND WHAT TERRIBLE MISERIES AFFLICTED THE CITY BY THEIR MEANS

1. WHEN therefore Titus had marched over that desert which lies between Egypt and Syria, in the manner
forementioned, he came to Cesarea, having resolved to set his forces in order at that place, before he began the
war. Nay, indeed, while he was assisting his father at Alexandria, in settling that government which had been newly
conferred upon them by God, it so happened that the sedition at Jerusalem was revived, and parted into three
factions, and that one faction fought against the other; which partition in such evil cases may be said to be a good
thing, and the effect of Divine justice. Now as to the attack the zealots made upon the people, and which I esteem
the beginning of the city's destruction, it hath been already explained after an accurate manner; as also whence it
arose, and to how great a mischief it was increased. But for the present sedition, one should not mistake if he called
it a sedition begotten by another sedition, and to be like a wild beast grown mad, which, for want of food from
abroad, fell now upon eating its own flesh.

2. For Eleazar, the son of Simon, who made the first separation of the zealots from the people, and made them
retire into the temple, appeared very angry at John's insolent attempts, which he made everyday upon the people;
for this man never left off murdering; but the truth was, that he could not bear to submit to a tyrant who set up after
him. So he being desirous of gaining the entire power and dominion to himself, revolted from John, and took to his
assistance Judas the son of Chelcias, and Simon the son of Ezron, who were among the men of greatest power.
There was also with him Hezekiah, the son of Chobar, a person of eminence. Each of these were followed by a
great many of the zealots; these seized upon the inner court of the temple (1) and laid their arms upon the holy
gates, and over the holy fronts of that court. And because they had plenty of provisions, they were of good courage,
for there was a great abundance of what was consecrated to sacred uses, and they scrupled not the making use of
them; yet were they afraid, on account of their small number; and when they had laid up their arms there, they did
not stir from the place they were in. Now as to John, what advantage he had above Eleazar in the multitude of his
followers, the like disadvantage he had in the situation he was in, since he had his enemies over his head; and as he
could not make any assault upon them without some terror, so was his anger too great to let them be at rest; nay,
although he suffered more mischief from Eleazar and his party than he could inflict upon them, yet would he not
leave off assaulting them, insomuch that there were continual sallies made one against another, as well as darts
thrown at one another, and the temple was defiled every where with murders.

3. But now the tyrant Simon, the son of Gioras, whom the people had invited in, out of the hopes they had of his
assistance in the great distresses they were in, having in his power the upper city, and a great part of the lower, did
now make more vehement assaults upon John and his party, because they were fought against from above also; yet
was he beneath their situation when he attacked them, as they were beneath the attacks of the others above them.
Whereby it came to pass that John did both receive and inflict great damage, and that easily, as he was fought
against on both sides; and the same advantage that Eleazar and his party had over him, since he was beneath them,
the same advantage had he, by his higher situation, over Simon. On which account he easily repelled the attacks
that were made from beneath, by the weapons thrown from their hands only; but was obliged to repel those that
threw their darts from the temple above him, by his engines of war; for he had such engines as threw darts, and
javelins, and stones, and that in no small number, by which he did not only defend himself from such as fought
against him, but slew moreover many of the priests, as they were about their sacred ministrations. For
notwithstanding these men were mad with all sorts of impiety, yet did they still admit those that desired to offer
their sacrifices, although they took care to search the people of their own country beforehand, and both suspected
and watched them; while they were not so much afraid of strangers, who, although they had gotten leave of them,
how cruel soever they were, to come into that court, were yet often destroyed by this sedition; for those darts that
were thrown by the engines came with that force, that they went over all the buildings, and reached as far as the
altar, and the temple itself, and fell upon the priests, and those (2) that were about the sacred offices; insomuch that
many persons who came thither with great zeal from the ends of the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated
place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, and sprinkled that
altar which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and Barbarians, with their own blood; till the dead bodies of
strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons with those of the
priests, and the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves. And now, "O must
wretched city, what misery so great as this didst thou suffer from the Romans, when they came to purify thee from
thy intestine hatred! 'For thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, nor couldst thou long continue in being, after
thou hadst been a sepulcher for the bodies of thy own people, and hadst made the holy house itself a burying-place
in this civil war of thine. Yet mayst thou again grow better, if perchance thou wilt hereafter appease the anger of
that God who is the author of thy destruction." But I must restrain myself from these passions by the rules of
history, since this is not a proper time for domestical lamentations, but for historical narrations; I therefore return
to the operations that follow in this sedition. (3)

4. And now there were three treacherous factions in the city, the one parted from the other. Eleazar and his party,
that kept the sacred first-fruits, came against John in their cups. Those that were with John plundered the populace,
and went out with zeal against Simon. This Simon had his supply of provisions from the city, in opposition to the
seditious. When, therefore, John was assaulted on both sides, he made his men turn about, throwing his darts upon
those citizens that came up against him, from the cloisters he had in his possession, while he opposed those that
attacked him from the temple by his engines of war. And if at any time he was freed from those that were above
him, which happened frequently, from their being drunk and tired, he sallied out with a great number upon Simon
and his party; and this he did always in such parts of the city as he could come at, till he set on fire those houses
that were full of corn, and of all other provisions. (4) The same thing was done by Simon, when, upon the other's
retreat, he attacked the city also; as if they had, on purpose, done it to serve the Romans, by destroying what the
city had laid up against the siege, and by thus cutting off the nerves of their own power. Accordingly, it so came to
pass, that all the places that were about the temple were burnt down, and were become an intermediate desert
space, ready for fighting on both sides of it; and that almost all that corn was burnt, which would have been
sufficient for a siege of many years. So they were taken by the means of the famine, which it was impossible they
should have been, unless they had thus prepared the way for it by this procedure.

5. And now, as the city was engaged in a war on all sides, from these treacherous crowds of wicked men, the people
of the city, between them, were like a great body torn in pieces. The aged men and the women were in such distress
by their internal calamities, that they wished for the Romans, and earnestly hoped for an external war, in order to
their delivery from their domestical miseries. The citizens themselves were under a terrible consternation and fear;
nor had they any opportunity of taking counsel, and of changing their conduct; nor were there any hopes of coming
to an agreement with their enemies; nor could such as had a mind flee away; for guards were set at all places, and
the heads of the robbers, although they were seditious one against another in other respects, yet did they agree in
killing those that were for peace with the Romans, or were suspected of an inclination to desert them, as their
common enemies. They agreed in nothing but this, to kill those that were innocent. The noise also of those that
were fighting was incessant, both by day and by night; but the lamentations of those that mourned exceeded the
other; nor was there ever any occasion for them to leave off their lamentations, because their calamities came
perpetually one upon another, although the deep consternation they were in prevented their outward wailing; but
being constrained by their fear to conceal their inward passions, they were inwardly tormented, without daring to
open their lips in groans. :Nor was any regard paid to those that were still alive, by their relations; nor was there
any care taken of burial for those that were dead; the occasion of both which was this, that every one despaired of
himself; for those that were not among the seditious had no great desires of any thing, as expecting for certain that
they should very soon be destroyed; but for the seditious themselves, they fought against each other, while they
trod upon the dead bodies as they lay heaped one upon another, and taking up a mad rage from those dead bodies
that were under their feet, became the fiercer thereupon. They, moreover, were still inventing somewhat or other
that was pernicious against themselves; and when they had resolved upon any thing, they executed it without
mercy, and omitted no method of torment or of barbarity. Nay, John abused the sacred materials, (5) and employed
them in the construction of his engines of war; for the people and the priests had formerly determined to support
the temple, and raise the holy house twenty cubits higher; for king Agrippa had at a very great expense, and with
very great pains, brought thither such materials as were proper for that purpose, being pieces of timber very well
worth seeing, both for their straightness and their largeness; but the war coming on, and interrupting the work,
John had them cut, and prepared for the building him towers, he finding them long enough to oppose from them
those his adversaries that thought him from the temple that was above him. He also had them brought and erected
behind the inner court over against the west end of the cloisters, where alone he could erect them ; whereas the
other sides of that court had so many steps as would not let them come nigh enough the cloisters.

6. Thus did John hope to be too hard for his enemies by these engines constructed by his impiety; but God himself
demonstrated that his pains would prove of no use to him, by bringing the Romans upon him, before he had reared
any of his towers; for Titus, when he had gotten together part of his forces about him, and had ordered the rest to
meet him at Jerusalem, marched out of Cesarea. He had with him those three legions that had accompanied his
father when he laid Judea waste, together with that twelfth legion which had been formerly beaten with Cestius;
which legion, as it was otherwise remarkable for its valor, so did it march on now with greater alacrity to avenge
themselves on the Jews, as remembering what they had formerly suffered from them. Of these legions he ordered
the fifth to meet him, by going through Emmaus, and the tenth to go up by Jericho; he also moved himself, together
with the rest; besides whom, marched those auxiliaries that came from the kings, being now more in number than
before, together with a considerable number that came to his assistance from Syria. Those also that had been
selected out of these four legions, and sent with Mucianus to Italy, had their places filled up out of these soldiers
that came out of Egypt with Titus; who were two thousand men, chosen out of the armies at Alexandria. There
followed him also three thousand drawn from those that guarded the river Euphrates; as also there came Tiberius
Alexander, who was a friend of his, most valuable, both for his good-will to him, and for his prudence. He had
formerly been governor of Alexandria, but was now thought worthy to be general of the army [under Titus]. The
reason of this was, that he had been the first who encouraged Vespasian very lately to accept this his new
dominion, and joined himself to him with great fidelity, when things were uncertain, and fortune had not yet declared
for him. He also followed Titus as a counselor, very useful to him in this war, both by his age and skill in such
affairs.

1. NOW, as Titus was upon his march into the enemy's country, the auxiliaries that were sent by the kings marched
first, having all the other auxiliaries with them; after whom followed those that were to prepare the roads and
measure out the camp; then came the commander's baggage, and after that the other soldiers, who were completely
armed to support them; then came Titus himself, having with him another select body; and then came the pikemen;
after whom came the horse belonging to that legion. All these came before the engines; and after these engines
came the tribunes and the leaders of the cohorts, with their select bodies; after these came the ensigns, with the
eagle; and before those ensigns came the trumpeters belonging to them; next these came the main body of the
army in their ranks, every rank being six deep; the servants belonging to every legion came after these; and before
these last their baggage; the mercenaries came last, and those that guarded them brought up the rear. Now Titus,
according to the Roman usage, went in the front of the army after a decent manner, and marched through Samaria
to Gophna, a city that had been formerly taken by his father, and was then garrisoned by Roman soldiers; and
when he had lodged there one night, he marched on in the morning; and when he had gone as far as a day's march,
he pitched his camp at that valley which the Jews, in their own tongue, call "the Valley of Thorns," near a certain
village called Gabaothsath, which signifies "the Hill of Saul," being distant from Jerusalem about thirty furlongs.
(6) There it was that he chose out six hundred select horsemen, and went to take a view of the city, to observe what
strength it was of, and how courageous the Jews were; whether, when they saw him, and before they came to a
direct battle, they would be affrighted and submit; for he had been informed what was really true, that the people
who were fallen under the power of the seditious and the robbers were greatly desirous of peace; but being too
weak to rise up against the rest, they lay still.

2. Now, so long as he rode along the straight road which led to the wall of the city, nobody appeared out of the
gates; but when he went out of that road, and declined towards the tower Psephinus, and led the band of horsemen
obliquely, an immense number of the Jews leaped out suddenly at the towers called the "Women's Towers,"
through that gate which was over against the monuments of queen Helena, and intercepted his horse; and standing
directly opposite to those that still ran along the road, hindered them from joining those that had declined out of it.
They intercepted Titus also, with a few other. Now it was here impossible for him to go forward, because all the
places had trenches dug in them from the wall, to preserve the gardens round about, and were full of gardens
obliquely situated, and of many hedges; and to return back to his own men, he saw it was also impossible, by reason
of the multitude of the enemies that lay between them; many of whom did not so much as know that the king was in
any danger, but supposed him still among them. So he perceived that his preservation must be wholly owing to his
own courage, and turned his horse about, and cried out aloud to those that were about him to follow him, and ran
with violence into the midst of his enemies, in order to force his way through them to his own men. And hence we
may principally learn, that both the success of wars, and the dangers that kings (7) are in, are under the providence
of God; for while such a number of darts were thrown at Titus, when he had neither his head-piece on, nor his
breastplate, (for, as I told you, he went out not to fight, but to view the city,) none of them touched his body, but
went aside without hurting him; as if all of them missed him on purpose, and only made a noise as they passed by
him. So he diverted those perpetually with his sword that came on his side, and overturned many of those that
directly met him, and made his horse ride over those that were overthrown. The enemy indeed made a shout at the
boldness of Caesar, and exhorted one another to rush upon him. Yet did these against whom he marched fly away,
and go off from him in great numbers; while those that were in the same danger with him kept up close to him,
though they were wounded both on their backs and on their sides; for they had each of them but this one hope of
escaping, if they could assist Titus in opening himself a way, that he might not be encompassed round by his
enemies before he got away from them. Now there were two of those that were with him, but at some distance; the
one of which the enemy compassed round, and slew him with their darts, and his horse also; but the other they slew
as he leaped down from his horse, and carried off his horse with them. But Titus escaped with the rest, and came
safe to the camp. So this success of the Jews' first attack raised their minds, and gave them an ill-grounded hope;
and this short inclination of fortune, on their side, made them very courageous for the future.

3. But now, as soon as that legion that had been at Emmaus was joined to Caesar at night, he removed thence,
when it was day, and came to a place called Seopus; from whence the city began already to be seen, and a plain
view might be taken of the great temple. Accordingly, this place, on the north quarter of the city, and joining
thereto, was a plain, and very properly named Scopus, [the prospect,] and was no more than seven furlongs distant
from it. And here it was that Titus ordered a camp to be fortified for two legions that were to be together; but
ordered another camp to be fortified, at three furlongs farther distance behind them, for the fifth legion; for he
thought that, by marching in the night, they might be tired, and might deserve to be covered from the enemy, and
with less fear might fortify themselves; and as these were now beginning to build, the tenth legion, who came
through Jericho, was already come to the place, where a certain party of armed men had formerly lain, to guard
that pass into the city, and had been taken before by Vespasian. These legions had orders to encamp at the
distance of six furlongs from Jerusalem, at the mount called the Mount of Olives (8) which lies over against the city
on the east side, and is parted from it by a deep valley, interposed between them, which is named Cedron.

4. Now when hitherto the several parties in the city had been dashing one against another perpetually, this foreign
war, now suddenly come upon them after a violent manner, put the first stop to their contentions one against
another; and as the seditious now saw with astonishment the Romans pitching three several camps, they began to
think of an awkward sort of concord, and said one to another, "What do we here, and what do we mean, when we
suffer three fortified walls to be built to coop us in, that we shall not be able to breathe freely? while the enemy is
securely building a kind of city in opposition to us, and while we sit still within our own walls, and become spectators
only of what they are doing, with our hands idle, and our armor laid by, as if they were about somewhat that was for
our good and advantage. We are, it seems, (so did they cry out,) only courageous against ourselves, while the
Romans are likely to gain the city without bloodshed by our sedition." Thus did they encourage one another when
they were gotten together, and took their armor immediately, and ran out upon the tenth legion, and fell upon the
Romans with great eagerness, and with a prodigious shout, as they were fortifying their camp. These Romans were
caught in different parties, and this in order to perform their several works, and on that account had in great
measure laid aside their arms; for they thought the Jews would not have ventured to make a sally upon them; and
had they been disposed so to do, they supposed their sedition would have distracted them. So they were put into
disorder unexpectedly; when some of hem left their works they were about, and immediately marched off, while
many ran to their arms, but were smitten and slain before they could turn back upon the enemy. The Jews became
still more and more in number, as encouraged by the good success of those that first made the attack; and while
they had such good fortune, they seemed both to themselves and to the enemy to be many more than they really
were. The disorderly way of their fighting at first put the Romans also to a stand, who had been constantly used to
fight skillfully in good order, and with keeping their ranks, and obeying the orders that were given them; for which
reason the Romans were caught unexpectedly, and were obliged to give way to the assaults that were made upon
them. Now when these Romans were overtaken, and turned back upon the Jews, they put a stop to their career; yet
when they did not take care enough of themselves through the vehemency of their pursuit, they were wounded by
them; but as still more and more Jews sallied out of the city, the Romans were at length brought into confusion, and
put to fight, and ran away from their camp. Nay, things looked as though the entire legion would have been in
danger, unless Titus had been informed of the case they were in, and had sent them succors immediately. So he
reproached them for their cowardice, and brought those back that were running away, and fell himself upon the
Jews on their flank, with those select troops that were with him, and slew a considerable number, and wounded
more of them, and put them all to flight, and made them run away hastily down the valley. Now as these Jews
suffered greatly in the declivity of the valley, so when they were gotten over it, they turned about, and stood over
against the Romans, having the valley between them, and there fought with them. Thus did they continue the fight
till noon; but when it was already a little after noon, Titus set those that came to the assistance of the Romans with
him, and those that belonged to the cohorts, to prevent the Jews from making any more sallies, and then sent the
rest of the legion to the upper part of the mountain, to fortify their camp.

5. This march of the Romans seemed to the Jews to be a flight; and as the watchman who was placed upon the wall
gave a signal by shaking his garment, there came out a fresh multitude of Jews, and that with such mighty violence,
that one might compare it to the running of the most terrible wild beasts. To say the truth, none of those that
opposed them could sustain the fury with which they made their attacks; but, as if they had been cast out of an
engine, they brake the enemies' ranks to pieces, who were put to flight, and ran away to the mountain; none but
Titus himself, and a few others with him, being left in the midst of the acclivity. Now these others, who were his
friends, despised the danger they were in, and were ashamed to leave their general, earnestly exhorting him to give
way to these Jews that are fond of dying, and not to run into such dangers before those that ought to stay before
him; to consider what his fortune was, and not, by supplying the place of a common soldier, to venture to turn back
upon the enemy so suddenly; and this because he was general in the war, and lord of the habitable earth, on whose
preservation the public affairs do all depend. These persuasions Titus seemed not so much as to hear, but opposed
those that ran upon him, and smote them on the face; and when he had forced them to go back, he slew them: he
also fell upon great numbers as they marched down the hill, and thrust them forward; while those men were so
amazed at his courage and his strength, that they could not fly directly to the city, but declined from him on both
sides, and pressed after those that fled up the hill; yet did he still fall upon their flank, and put a stop to their fury.
In the mean time, a disorder and a terror fell again upon those that were fortifying their camp at the top of the hill,
upon their seeing those beneath them running away; insomuch that the whole legion was dispersed, while they
thought that the sallies of the Jews upon them were plainly insupportable, and that Titus was himself put to flight;
because they took it for granted, that, if he had staid, the rest would never have fled for it. Thus were they
encompassed on every side by a kind of panic fear, and some dispersed themselves one way, and some another, till
certain of them saw their general in the very midst of an action, and being under great concern for him, they loudly
proclaimed the danger he was in to the entire legion; and now shame made them turn back, and they reproached
one another that they did worse than run away, by deserting Caesar. So they used their utmost force against the
Jews, and declining from the straight declivity, they drove them on heaps into the bottom of the valley. Then did the
Jews turn about and fight them; but as they were themselves retiring, and now, because the Romans had the
advantage of the ground, and were above the Jews, they drove them all into the valley. Titus also pressed upon
those that were near him, and sent the legion again to fortify their camp; while he, and those that were with him
before, opposed the enemy, and kept them from doing further mischief; insomuch that, if I may be allowed neither
to add any thing out of flattery, nor to diminish any thing out of envy, but to speak the plain truth, Caesar did twice
deliver that entire legion when it was in jeopardy, and gave them a quiet opportunity of fortifying their camp.

1. AS now the war abroad ceased for a while, the sedition within was revived; and on the feast of unleavened bread,
which was now come, it being the fourteenth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] when it is believed the Jews were
first freed from the Egyptians, Eleazar and his party opened the gates of this [inmost court of the] temple, and
admitted such of the people as were desirous to worship God into it. (9) But John made use of this festival as a
cloak for his treacherous designs, and armed the most inconsiderable of his own party, the greater part of whom
were not purified, with weapons concealed under their garments, and sent them with great zeal into the temple, in
order to seize upon it; which armed men, when they were gotten in, threw their garments away, and presently
appeared in their armor. Upon which there was a very great disorder and disturbance about the holy house; while
the people, who had no concern in the sedition, supposed that this assault was made against all without distinction,
as the zealots thought it was made against themselves only. So these left off guarding the gates any longer, and
leaped down from their battlements before they came to an engagement, and fled away into the subterranean
caverns of the temple; while the people that stood trembling at the altar, and about the holy house, were rolled on
heaps together, and trampled upon, and were beaten both with wooden and with iron weapons without mercy. Such
also as had differences with others slew many persons that were quiet, out of their own private enmity and hatred,
as if they were opposite to the seditious; and all those that had formerly offended any of these plotters were now
known, and were now led away to the slaughter; and when they had done abundance of horrid mischief to the
guiltless, they granted a truce to the guilty, and let those go off that came cut of the caverns. These followers of
John also did now seize upon this inner temple, and upon all the warlike engines therein, and then ventured to
oppose Simon. And thus that sedition, which had been divided into three factions, was now reduced to two.

2. But Titus, intending to pitch his camp nearer to the city than Scopus, placed as many of his choice horsemen and
footmen as he thought sufficient opposite to the Jews, to prevent their sallying out upon them, while he gave orders
for the whole army to level the distance, as far as the wall of the city. So they threw down all the hedges and walls
which the inhabitants had made about their gardens and groves of trees, and cut down all the fruit trees that lay
between them and the wall of the city, and filled up all the hollow places and the chasms, and demolished the rocky
precipices with iron instruments; and thereby made all the place level from Scopus to Herod's monuments, which
adjoined to the pool called the Serpent's Pool.

3. Now at this very time the Jews contrived the following stratagem against the Romans. The bolder sort of the
seditious went out at the towers, called the Women's Towers, as if they had been ejected out of the city by those
who were for peace, and rambled about as if they were afraid of being assaulted by the Romans, and were in fear of
one another; while those that stood upon the wall, and seemed to be of the people's side, cried out aloud for peace,
and entreated they might have security for their lives given them, and called for the Romans, promising to open the
gates to them; and as they cried out after that manner, they threw stones at their own people, as though they would
drive them away from the gates. These also pretended that they were excluded by force, and that they petitioned
those that were within to let them in; and rushing upon the Romans perpetually, with violence, they then came back,
and seemed to be in great disorder. Now the Roman soldiers thought this cunning stratagem of theirs was to be
believed real, and thinking they had the one party under their power, and could punish them as they pleased, and
hoping that the other party would open their gates to them, set to the execution of their designs accordingly. But for
Titus himself, he had this surprising conduct of the Jews in suspicion; for whereas he had invited them to come to
terms of accommodation, by Josephus, but one day before, he could then receive no civil answer from them; so he
ordered the soldiers to stay where they were. However, some of them that were set in the front of the works
prevented him, and catching up their arms ran to the gates; whereupon those that seemed to have been ejected at
the first retired; but as soon as the soldiers were gotten between the towers on each side of the gate, the Jews ran
out and encompassed them round, and fell upon them behind, while that multitude which stood upon the wall threw a
heap of stones and darts of all kinds at them, insomuch that they slew a considerable number, and wounded many
more; for it was not easy for the Romans to escape, by reason those behind them pressed them forward; besides
which, the shame they were under for being mistaken, and the fear they were in of their commanders, engaged
them to persevere in their mistake; wherefore they fought with their spears a great while, and received many blows
from the Jews, though indeed they gave them as many blows again, and at last repelled those that had
encompassed them about, while the Jews pursued them as they retired, and followed them, and threw darts at them
as far as the monuments of queen Helena.

4. After this these Jews, without keeping any decorum, grew insolent upon their good fortune, and jested upon the
Romans for being deluded by the trick they bad put upon them, and making a noise with beating their shields,
leaped for gladness, and made joyful exclamations; while these soldiers were received with threatenings by their
officers, and with indignation by Caesar himself, [who spake to them thus]: These Jews, who are only conducted by
their madness, do every thing with care and circumspection; they contrive stratagems, and lay ambushes, and
fortune gives success to their stratagems, because they are obedient, and preserve their goodwill and fidelity to
one another; while the Romans, to whom fortune uses to be ever subservient, by reason of their good order, and
ready submission to their commanders, have now had ill success by their contrary behavior, and by not being able
to restrain their hands from action, they have been caught; and that which is the most to their reproach, they have
gone on without their commanders, in the very presence of Caesar. "Truly," says Titus, "the laws of war cannot
but groan heavily, as will my father also himself, when he shall be informed of this wound that hath been given us,
since he who is grown old in wars did never make so great a mistake. Our laws of war do also ever inflict capital
punishment on those that in the least break into good order, while at this time they have seen an entire army run
into disorder. However, those that have been so insolent shall be made immediately sensible, that even they who
conquer among the Romans without orders for fighting are to be under disgrace." When Titus had enlarged upon
this matter before the commanders, it appeared evident that he would execute the law against all those that were
concerned; so these soldiers' minds sunk down in despair, as expecting to be put to death, and that justly and
quickly. However, the other legions came round about Titus, and entreated his favor to these their fellow soldiers,
and made supplication to him, that he would pardon the rashness of a few, on account of the better obedience of all
the rest; and promised for them that they should make amends for their present fault, by their more virtuous
behavior for the time to come.

5. So Caesar complied with their desires, and with what prudence dictated to him also; for he esteemed it fit to
punish single persons by real executions, but that the punishment of great multitudes should proceed no further
than reproofs; so he was reconciled to the soldiers, but gave them a special charge to act more wisely for the
future; and he considered with himself how he might be even with the Jews for their stratagem. And now when the
space between the Romans and the wall had been leveled, which was done in four days, and as he was desirous to
bring the baggage of the army, with the rest of the multitude that followed him, safely to the camp, he set the
strongest part of his army over against that wall which lay on the north quarter of the city, and over against the
western part of it, and made his army seven deep, with the foot-men placed before them, and the horsemen behind
them, each of the last in three ranks, whilst the archers stood in the midst in seven ranks. And now as the Jews
were prohibited, by so great a body of men, from making sallies upon the Romans, both the beasts that bare the
burdens, and belonged to the three legions, and the rest of the multitude, marched on without any fear. But as for
Titus himself, he was but about two furlongs distant from the wall, at that part of it where was the corner (10) and
over against that tower which was called Psephinus, at which tower the compass of the wall belonging to the north
bended, and extended itself over against the west; but the other part of the army fortified itself at the tower called
Hippicus, and was distant, in like manner, by two furlongs from the city. However, the tenth legion continued in its
own place, upon the Mount of Olives.

1. THE city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls, on such parts as were not encompassed with unpassable
valleys; for in such places it had but one wall. The city was built upon two hills, which are opposite to one another,
and have a valley to divide them asunder; at which valley the corresponding rows of houses on both hills end. Of
these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called
the "Citadel," by king David; he was the father of that Solomon who built this temple at the first; but it is by us
called the "Upper Market-place." But the other hill, which was called "Acra," and sustains the lower city, is of the
shape of a moon when she is horned; over against this there was a third hill, but naturally lower than Acra, and
parted formerly from the other by a broad valley. However, in those times when the Asamoneans reigned, they
filled up that valley with earth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then took off part of the height of
Acra, and reduced it to be of less elevation than it was before, that the temple might be superior to it. Now the
Valley of the Cheesemongers, as it was called, and was that which we told you before distinguished the hill of the
upper city from that of the lower, extended as far as Siloam; for that is the name of a fountain which hath sweet
water in it, and this in great plenty also. But on the outsides, these hills are surrounded by deep valleys, and by
reason of the precipices to them belonging on both sides they are every where unpassable.

2. Now, of these three walls, the old one was hard to be taken, both by reason of the valleys, and of that hill on
which it was built, and which was above them. But besides that great advantage, as to the place where they were
situated, it was also built very strong; because David and Solomon, and the following kings, were very zealous
about this work. Now that wall began on the north, at the tower called "Hippicus," and extended as far as the
"Xistus," a place so called, and then, joining to the council-house, ended at the west cloister of the temple. But if
we go the other way westward, it began at the same place, and extended through a place called "Bethso," to the
gate of the Essens; and after that it went southward, having its bending above the fountain Siloam, where it also
bends again towards the east at Solomon's pool, and reaches as far as a certain place which they called "Ophlas,"
where it was joined to the eastern cloister of the temple. The second wall took its beginning from that gate which
they called "Gennath," which belonged to the first wall; it only encompassed the northern quarter of the city, and
reached as far as the tower Antonia. The beginning of the third wall was at the tower Hippicus, whence it reached
as far as the north quarter of the city, and the tower Psephinus, and then was so far extended till it came over
against the monuments of Helena, which Helena was queen of Adiabene, the daughter of Izates; it then extended
further to a great length, and passed by the sepulchral caverns of the kings, and bent again at the tower of the
corner, at the monument which is called the "Monument of the Fuller," and joined to the old wall at the valley
called the "Valley of Cedron." It was Agrippa who encompassed the parts added to the old city with this wall, which
had been all naked before; for as the city grew more populous, it gradually crept beyond its old limits, and those
parts of it that stood northward of the temple, and joined that hill to the city, made it considerably larger, and
occasioned that hill, which is in number the fourth, and is called "Bezetha," to be inhabited also. It lies over against
the tower Antonia, but is divided from it by a deep valley, which was dug on purpose, and that in order to hinder the
foundations of the tower of Antonia from joining to this hill, and thereby affording an opportunity for getting to it
with ease, and hindering the security that arose from its superior elevation; for which reason also that depth of the
ditch made the elevation of the towers more remarkable. This new-built part of the city was called "Bezetha," in
our language, which, if interpreted in the Grecian language, may be called "the New City." Since, therefore, its
inhabitants stood in need of a covering, the father of the present king, and of the same name with him, Agrippa,
began that wall we spoke of; but he left off building it when he had only laid the foundations, out of the fear he was
in of Claudius Caesar, lest he should suspect that so strong a wall was built in order to make some innovation in
public affairs; for the city could no way have been taken if that wall had been finished in the manner it was begun;
as its parts were connected together by stones twenty cubits long, and ten cubits broad, which could never have
been either easily undermined by any iron tools, or shaken by any engines. The wall was, however, ten cubits wide,
and it would probably have had a height greater than that, had not his zeal who began it been hindered from
exerting itself. After this, it was erected with great diligence by the Jews, as high as twenty cubits, above which it
had battlements of two cubits, and turrets of three cubits altitude, insomuch that the entire altitude extended as far
as twenty-five cubits.

3. Now the towers that were upon it were twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height; they were square
and solid, as was the wall itself, wherein the niceness of the joints, and the beauty of the stones, were no way
inferior to those of the holy house itself. Above this solid altitude of the towers, which was twenty cubits, there were
rooms of great magnificence, and over them upper rooms, and cisterns to receive rain-water. They were many in
number, and the steps by which you ascended up to them were every one broad: of these towers then the third wall
had ninety, and the spaces between them were each two hundred cubits; but in the middle wall were forty towers,
and the old wall was parted into sixty, while the whole compass of the city was thirty-three furlongs. Now the third
wall was all of it wonderful; yet was the tower Psephinus elevated above it at the north-west corner, and there Titus
pitched his own tent; for being seventy cubits high it both afforded a prospect of Arabia at sun-rising, as well as it
did of the utmost limits of the Hebrew possessions at the sea westward. Moreover, it was an octagon, and over
against it was the tower Hipplicus, and hard by two others were erected by king Herod, in the old wall. These were
for largeness, beauty, and strength beyond all that were in the habitable earth; for besides the magnanimity of his
nature, and his magnificence towards the city on other occasions, he built these after such an extraordinary
manner, to gratify his own private affections, and dedicated these towers to the memory of those three persons who
had been the dearest to him, and from whom he named them. They were his brother, his friend, and his wife. This
wife he had slain, out of his love [and jealousy], as we have already related; the other two he lost in war, as they
were courageously fighting. Hippicus, so named from his friend, was square; its length and breadth were each
twenty-five cubits, and its height thirty, and it had no vacuity in it. Over this solid building, which was composed of
great stones united together, there was a reservoir twenty cubits deep, over which there was a house of two stories,
whose height was twenty-five cubits, and divided into several parts; over which were battlements of two cubits, and
turrets all round of three cubits high, insomuch that the entire height added together amounted to fourscore cubits.
The second tower, which he named from his brother Phasaelus, had its breadth and its height equal, each of them
forty cubits; over which was its solid height of forty cubits; over which a cloister went round about, whose height
was ten cubits, and it was covered from enemies by breast-works and bulwarks. There was also built over that
cloister another tower, parted into magnificent rooms, and a place for bathing; so that this tower wanted nothing
that might make it appear to be a royal palace. It was also adorned with battlements and turrets, more than was the
foregoing, and the entire altitude was about ninety cubits; the appearance of it resembled the tower of Pharus,
which exhibited a fire to such as sailed to Alexandria, but was much larger than it in compass. This was now
converted to a house, wherein Simon exercised his tyrannical authority. The third tower was Mariamne, for that
was his queen's name; it was solid as high as twenty cubits; its breadth and its length were twenty cubits, and were
equal to each other; its upper buildings were more magnificent, and had greater variety, than the other towers had;
for the king thought it most proper for him to adorn that which was denominated from his wife, better than those
denominated from men, as those were built stronger than this that bore his wife's name. The entire height of this
tower was fifty cubits.

4. Now as these towers were so very tall, they appeared much taller by the place on which they stood; for that very
old wall wherein they were was built on a high hill, and was itself a kind of elevation that was still thirty cubits taller;
over which were the towers situated, and thereby were made much higher to appearance. The largeness also of the
stones was wonderful; for they were not made of common small stones, nor of such large ones only as men could
carry, but they were of white marble, cut out of the rock; each stone was twenty cubits in length, and ten in breadth,
and five in depth. They were so exactly united to one another, that each tower looked like one entire rock of stone,
so growing naturally, and afterward cut by the hand of the artificers into their present shape and corners; so little,
or not at all, did their joints or connexion appear. low as these towers were themselves on the north side of the wall,
the king had a palace inwardly thereto adjoined, which exceeds all my ability to describe it; for it was so very
curious as to want no cost nor skill in its construction, but was entirely walled about to the height of thirty cubits,
and was adorned with towers at equal distances, and with large bed-chambers, that would contain beds for a
hundred guests a-piece, in which the variety of the stones is not to be expressed; for a large quantity of those that
were rare of that kind was collected together. Their roofs were also wonderful, both for the length of the beams,
and the splendor of their ornaments. The number of the rooms was also very great, and the variety of the figures
that were about them was prodigious; their furniture was complete, and the greatest part of the vessels that were
put in them was of silver and gold. There were besides many porticoes, one beyond another, round about, and in
each of those porticoes curious pillars; yet were all the courts that were exposed to the air every where green.
There were, moreover, several groves of trees, and long walks through them, with deep canals, and cisterns, that in
several parts were filled with brazen statues, through which the water ran out. There were withal many dove-courts
(11) of tame pigeons about the canals. But indeed it is not possible to give a complete description of these palaces;
and the very remembrance of them is a torment to one, as putting one in mind what vastly rich buildings that fire
which was kindled by the robbers hath consumed; for these were not burnt by the Romans, but by these internal
plotters, as we have already related, in the beginning of their rebellion. That fire began at the tower of Antonia, and
went on to the palaces, and consumed the upper parts of the three towers themselves.

1. NOW this temple, as I have already said, was built upon a strong hill. At first the plain at the top was hardly
sufficient for the holy house and the altar, for the ground about it was very uneven, and like a precipice; but when
king Solomon, who was the person that built the temple, had built a wall to it on its east side, there was then added
one cloister founded on a bank cast up for it, and on the other parts the holy house stood naked. But in future ages
the people added new banks, (12) and the hill became a larger plain. They then broke down the wall on the north
side, and took in as much as sufficed afterward for the compass of the entire temple. And when they had built walls
on three sides of the temple round about, from the bottom of the hill, and had performed a work that was greater
than could be hoped for, (in which work long ages were spent by them, as well as all their sacred treasures were
exhausted, which were still replenished by those tributes which were sent to God from the whole habitable earth,)
they then encompassed their upper courts with cloisters, as well as they [afterward] did the lowest [court of the]
temple. The lowest part of this was erected to the height of three hundred cubits, and in some places more; yet did
not the entire depth of the foundations appear, for they brought earth, and filled up the valleys, as being desirous to
make them on a level with the narrow streets of the city; wherein they made use of stones of forty cubits in
magnitude; for the great plenty of money they then had, and the liberality of the people, made this attempt of theirs
to succeed to an incredible degree; and what could not be so much as hoped for as ever to be accomplished, was, by
perseverance and length of time, brought to perfection.

2. Now for the works that were above these foundations, these were not unworthy of such foundations; for all the
cloisters were double, and the pillars to them belonging were twenty-five cubits in height, and supported the
cloisters. These pillars were of one entire stone each of them, and that stone was white marble; and the roofs were
adorned with cedar, curiously graven. The natural magnificence, and excellent polish, and the harmony of the joints
in these cloisters, afforded a prospect that was very remarkable; nor was it on the outside adorned with any work of
the painter or engraver. The cloisters [of the outmost court] were in breadth thirty cubits, while the entire compass
of it was by measure six furlongs, including the tower of Antonia; those entire courts that were exposed to the air
were laid with stones of all sorts. When you go through these [first] cloisters, unto the second [court of the] temple,
there was a partition made of stone all round, whose height was three cubits: its construction was very elegant;
upon it stood pillars, at equal distances from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek, and some in
Roman letters, that "no foreigner should go within that sanctuary" for that second [court of the] temple was called
"the Sanctuary," and was ascended to by fourteen steps from the first court. This court was four-square, and had a
wall about it peculiar to itself; the height of its buildings, although it were on the outside forty cubits, (13) was
hidden by the steps, and on the inside that height was but twenty-five cubits; for it being built over against a higher
part of the hill with steps, it was no further to be entirely discerned within, being covered by the hill itself. Beyond
these thirteen steps there was the distance of ten cubits; this was all plain; whence there were other steps, each of
five cubits a-piece, that led to the gates, which gates on the north and south sides were eight, on each of those sides
four, and of necessity two on the east. For since there was a partition built for the women on that side, as the proper
place wherein they were to worship, there was a necessity for a second gate for them: this gate was cut out of its
wall, over against the first gate. There was also on the other sides one southern and one northern gate, through
which was a passage into the court of the women; for as to the other gates, the women were not allowed to pass
through them; nor when they went through their own gate could they go beyond their own wall. This place was
allotted to the women of our own country, and of other countries, provided they were of the same nation, and that
equally. The western part of this court had no gate at all, but the wall was built entire on that side. But then the
cloisters which were betwixt the gates extended from the wall inward, before the chambers; for they were supported
by very fine and large pillars. These cloisters were single, and, excepting their magnitude, were no way inferior to
those of the lower court.

3. Now nine of these gates were on every side covered over with gold and silver, as were the jambs of their doors
and their lintels; but there was one gate that was without the [inward court of the] holy house, which was of
Corinthian brass, and greatly excelled those that were only covered over with silver and gold. Each gate had two
doors, whose height was severally thirty cubits, and their breadth fifteen. However, they had large spaces within of
thirty cubits, and had on each side rooms, and those, both in breadth and in length, built like towers, and their
height was above forty cubits. Two pillars did also support these rooms, and were in circumference twelve cubits.
Now the magnitudes of the other gates were equal one to another; but that over the Corinthian gate, which opened
on the east over against the gate of the holy house itself, was much larger; for its height was fifty cubits; and its
doors were forty cubits; and it was adorned after a most costly manner, as having much richer and thicker plates of
silver and gold upon them than the other. These nine gates had that silver and gold poured upon them by
Alexander, the father of Tiberius. Now there were fifteen steps, which led away from the wall of the court of the
women to this greater gate; whereas those that led thither from the other gates were five steps shorter.

4. As to the holy house itself, which was placed in the midst [of the inmost court], that most sacred part of the
temple, it was ascended to by twelve steps; and in front its height and its breadth were equal, and each a hundred
cubits, though it was behind forty cubits narrower; for on its front it had what may be styled shoulders on each side,
that passed twenty cubits further. Its first gate was seventy cubits high, and twenty-five cubits broad; but this gate
had no doors; for it represented the universal visibility of heaven, and that it cannot be excluded from any place. Its
front was covered with gold all over, and through it the first part of the house, that was more inward, did all of it
appear; which, as it was very large, so did all the parts about the more inward gate appear to shine to those that
saw them; but then, as the entire house was divided into two parts within, it was only the first part of it that was
open to our view. Its height extended all along to ninety cubits in height, and its length was fifty cubits, and its
breadth twenty. But that gate which was at this end of the first part of the house was, as we have already observed,
all over covered with gold, as was its whole wall about it; it had also golden vines above it, from which clusters of
grapes hung as tall as a man's height. But then this house, as it was divided into two parts, the inner part was lower
than the appearance of the outer, and had golden doors of fifty-five cubits altitude, and sixteen in breadth; but
before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered
with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture
of colors without its mystical interpretation, but was a kind of image of the universe; for by the scarlet there
seemed to be enigmatically signified fire, by the fine flax the earth, by the blue the air, and by the purple the sea;
two of them having their colors the foundation of this resemblance; but the fine flax and the purple have their own
origin for that foundation, the earth producing the one, and the sea the other. This curtain had also embroidered
upon it all that was mystical in the heavens, excepting that of the [twelve] signs, representing living creatures.

5. When any persons entered into the temple, its floor received them. This part of the temple therefore was in
height sixty cubits, and its length the same; whereas its breadth was but twenty cubits: but still that sixty cubits in
length was divided again, and the first part of it was cut off at forty cubits, and had in it three things that were very
wonderful and famous among all mankind, the candlestick, the table [of shew-bread], and the altar of incense. Now
the seven lamps signified the seven planets; for so many there were springing out of the candlestick. Now the
twelve loaves that were upon the table signified the circle of the zodiac and the year; but the altar of incense, by its
thirteen kinds of sweet-smelling spices with which the sea replenished it, signified that God is the possessor of all
things that are both in the uninhabitable and habitable parts of the earth, and that they are all to be dedicated to his
use. But the inmost part of the temple of all was of twenty cubits. This was also separated from the outer part by a
veil. In this there was nothing at all. It was inaccessible and inviolable, and not to be seen by any; and was called
the Holy of Holies. Now, about the sides of the lower part of the temple, there were little houses, with passages out
of one into another; there were a great many of them, and they were of three stories high; there were also
entrances on each side into them from the gate of the temple. But the superior part of the temple had no such little
houses any further, because the temple was there narrower, and forty cubits higher, and of a smaller body than the
lower parts of it. Thus we collect that the whole height, including the sixty cubits from the floor, amounted to a
hundred cubits.

6. Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men's minds or
their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected
back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as
they would have done at the sun's own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were coming to it at
a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceeding
white. On its top it had spikes with sharp points, to prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its stones,
some of them were forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth. Before this temple stood the altar,
fifteen cubits high, and equal both in length and breadth; each of which dimensions was fifty cubits. The figure it
was built in was a square, and it had corners like horns; and the passage up to it was by an insensible acclivity. It
was formed without any iron tool, nor did any such iron tool so much as touch it at any time. There was also a wall
of partition, about a cubit in height, made of fine stones, and so as to be grateful to the sight; this encompassed the
holy house and the altar, and kept the people that were on the outside off from the priests. Moreover, those that
had the gonorrhea and the leprosy were excluded out of the city entirely; women also, when their courses were
upon them, were shut out of the temple; nor when they were free from that impurity, were they allowed to go
beyond the limit before-mentioned; men also, that were not thoroughly pure, were prohibited to come into the inner
[court of the] temple; nay, the priests themselves that were not pure were prohibited to come into it also.

7. Now all those of the stock of the priests that could not minister by reason of some defect in their bodies, came
within the partition, together with those that had no such imperfection, and had their share with them by reason of
their stock, but still made use of none except their own private garments; for nobody but he that officiated had on
his sacred garments; but then those priests that were without any blemish upon them went up to the altar clothed in
fine linen. They abstained chiefly from wine, out of this fear, lest otherwise they should transgress some rules of
their ministration. The high priest did also go up with them; not always indeed, but on the seventh days and new
moons, and if any festivals belonging to our nation, which we celebrate every year, happened. When he officiated,
he had on a pair of breeches that reached beneath his privy parts to his thighs, and had on an inner garment of
linen, together with a blue garment, round, without seam, with fringe work, and reaching to the feet. There were
also golden bells that hung upon the fringes, and pomegranates intermixed among them. The bells signified
thunder, and the pomegranates lightning. But that girdle that tied the garment to the breast was embroidered with
five rows of various colors, of gold, and purple, and scarlet, as also of fine linen and blue, with which colors we told
you before the veils of the temple were embroidered also. The like embroidery was upon the ephod; but the
quantity of gold therein was greater. Its figure was that of a stomacher for the breast. There were upon it two
golden buttons like small shields, which buttoned the ephod to the garment; in these buttons were enclosed two
very large and very excellent sardonyxes, having the names of the tribes of that nation engraved upon them: on the
other part there hung twelve stones, three in a row one way, and four in the other; a sardius, a topaz, and an
emerald; a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire; an agate, an amethyst, and a ligure; an onyx, a beryl, and a
chrysolite; upon every one of which was again engraved one of the forementioned names of the tribes. A mitre also
of fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue ribbon, about which there was another golden crown, in
which was engraven the sacred name [of God]: it consists of four vowels. However, the high priest did not wear
these garments at other times, but a more plain habit; he only did it when he went into the most sacred part of the
temple, which he did but once in a year, on that day when our custom is for all of us to keep a fast to God. And thus
much concerning the city and the temple; but for the customs and laws hereto relating, we shall speak more
accurately another time; for there remain a great many things thereto relating which have not been here touched
upon.

8. Now as to the tower of Antonia, it was situated at the corner of two cloisters of the court of the temple; of that on
the west, and that on the north; it was erected upon a rock of fifty cubits in height, and was on a great precipice; it
was the work of king Herod, wherein he demonstrated his natural magnanimity. In the first place, the rock itself
was covered over with smooth pieces of stone, from its foundation, both for ornament, and that any one who would
either try to get up or to go down it might not be able to hold his feet upon it. Next to this, and before you come to
the edifice of the tower itself, there was a wall three cubits high; but within that wall all the space of the tower of
Antonia itself was built upon, to the height of forty cubits. The inward parts had the largeness and form of a palace,
it being parted into all kinds of rooms and other conveniences, such as courts, and places for bathing, and broad
spaces for camps; insomuch that, by having all conveniences that cities wanted, it might seem to be composed of
several cities, but by its magnificence it seemed a palace. And as the entire structure resembled that of a tower, it
contained also four other distinct towers at its four corners; whereof the others were but fifty cubits high; whereas
that which lay upon the southeast corner was seventy cubits high, that from thence the whole temple might be
viewed; but on the corner where it joined to the two cloisters of the temple, it had passages down to them both,
through which the guard (for there always lay in this tower a Roman legion) went several ways among the cloisters,
with their arms, on the Jewish festivals, in order to watch the people, that they might not there attempt to make any
innovations; for the temple was a fortress that guarded the city, as was the tower of Antonia a guard to the temple;
and in that tower were the guards of those three (14). There was also a peculiar fortress belonging to the upper city,
which was Herod's palace; but for the hill Bezetha, it was divided from the tower Antonia, as we have already told
you; and as that hill on which the tower of Antonia stood was the highest of these three, so did it adjoin to the new
city, and was the only place that hindered the sight of the temple on the north. And this shall suffice at present to
have spoken about the city and the walls about it, because I have proposed to myself to make a more accurate
description of it elsewhere.

1. NOW the warlike men that were in the city, and the multitude of the seditious that were with Simon, were ten
thousand, besides the Idumeans. Those ten thousand had fifty commanders, over whom this Simon was supreme.
The Idumeans that paid him homage were five thousand, and had eight commanders, among whom those of
greatest fame were Jacob the son of Sosas, and Simon the son of Cathlas. Jotre, who had seized upon the temple,
had six thousand armed men under twenty commanders; the zealots also that had come over to him, and left off
their opposition, were two thousand four hundred, and had the same commander that they had formerly, Eleazar,
together with Simon the son of Arinus. Now, while these factions fought one against another, the people were their
prey on both sides, as we have said already; and that part of the people who would not join with them in their
wicked practices were plundered by both factions. Simon held the upper city, and the great wall as far as Cedron,
and as much of the old wall as bent from Siloam to the east, and which went down to the palace of Monobazus, who
was king of the Adiabeni, beyond Euphrates; he also held that fountain, and the Acra, which was no other than the
lower city; he also held all that reached to the palace of queen Helena, the mother of Monobazus. But John held the
temple, and the parts thereto adjoining, for a great way, as also Ophla, and the valley called "the Valley of
Cedron;" and when the parts that were interposed between their possessions were burnt by them, they left a space
wherein they might fight with each other; for this internal sedition did not cease even when the Romans were
encamped near their very wall. But although they had grown wiser at the first onset the Romans made upon them,
this lasted but a while; for they returned to their former madness, and separated one from another, and fought it
out, and did everything that the besiegers could desire them to do; for they never suffered any thing that was worse
from the Romans than they made each other suffer; nor was there any misery endured by the city after these men's
actions that could be esteemed new. But it was most of all unhappy before it was overthrown, while those that took
it did it a greater kindness for I venture to affirm that the sedition destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed
the sedition, which it was a much harder thing to do than to destroy the walls; so that we may justly ascribe our
misfortunes to our own people, and the just vengeance taken on them to the Romans; as to which matter let every
one determine by the actions on both sides.

2. Now when affairs within the city were in this posture, Titus went round the city on the outside with some chosen
horsemen, and looked about for a proper place where he might make an impression upon the walls; but as he was in
doubt where he could possibly make an attack on any side, (for the place was no way accessible where the valleys
were, and on the other side the first wall appeared too strong to be shaken by the engines,) he thereupon thought it
best to make his assault upon the monument of John the high priest; for there it was that the first fortification was
lower, and the second was not joined to it, the builders neglecting to build strong where the new city was not much
inhabited; here also was an easy passage to the third wall, through which he thought to take the upper city, and,
through the tower of Antonia, the temple itself But at this time, as he was going round about the city, one of his
friends, whose name was Nicanor, was wounded with a dart on his left shoulder, as he approached, together with
Josephus, too near the wall, and attempted to discourse to those that were upon the wall, about terms of peace; for
he was a person known by them. On this account it was that Caesar, as soon as he knew their vehemence, that they
would not hear even such as approached them to persuade them to what tended to their own preservation, was
provoked to press on the siege. He also at the same time gave his soldiers leave to set the suburbs on fire, and
ordered that they should bring timber together, and raise banks against the city; and when he had parted his army
into three parts, in order to set about those works, he placed those that shot darts and the archers in the midst of
the banks that were then raising; before whom he placed those engines that threw javelins, and darts, and stones,
that he might prevent the enemy from sallying out upon their works, and might hinder those that were upon the wall
from being able to obstruct them. So the trees were now cut down immediately, and the suburbs left naked. But now
while the timber was carrying to raise the banks, and the whole army was earnestly engaged in their works, the
Jews were not, however, quiet; and it happened that the people of Jerusalem, who had been hitherto plundered and
murdered, were now of good courage, and supposed they should have a breathing time, while the others were very
busy in opposing their enemies without the city, and that they should now be avenged on those that had been the
authors of their miseries, in case the Romans did but get the victory.

3. However, John staid behind, out of his fear of Simon, even while his own men were earnest in making a sally
upon their enemies without. Yet did not Simon lie still, for he lay near the place of the siege; he brought his engines
of war, and disposed of them at due distances upon the wall, both those which they took from Cestius formerly, and
those which they got when they seized the garrison that lay in the tower Antonia. But though they had these engines
in their possession, they had so little skill in using them, that they were in great measure useless to them; but a few
there were who had been taught by deserters how to use them, which they did use, though after an awkward
manner. So they cast stones and arrows at those that were making the banks; they also ran out upon them by
companies, and fought with them. Now those that were at work covered themselves with hurdles spread over their
banks, and their engines were opposed to them when they made their excursions. The engines, that all the legions
had ready prepared for them, were admirably contrived; but still more extraordinary ones belonged to the tenth
legion: those that threw darts and those that threw stones were more forcible and larger than the rest, by which
they not only repelled the excursions of the Jews, but drove those away that were upon the walls also. Now the
stones that were cast were of the weight of a talent, and were carried two furlongs and further. The blow they gave
was no way to be sustained, not only by those that stood first in the way, but by those that were beyond them for a
great space. As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for it was of a white color, and could
therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness;
accordingly the watchmen that sat upon the towers gave them notice when the engine was let go, and the stone
came from it, and cried out aloud, in their own country language, THE STONE COMETH (15) so those that were in
its way stood off, and threw themselves down upon the ground; by which means, and by their thus guarding
themselves, the stone fell down and did them no harm. But the Romans contrived how to prevent that by blacking
the stone, who then could aim at them with success, when the stone was not discerned beforehand, as it had been till
then; and so they destroyed many of them at one blow. Yet did not the Jews, under all this distress, permit the
Romans to raise their banks in quiet; but they shrewdly and boldly exerted themselves, and repelled them both by
night and by day.

4. And now, upon the finishing the Roman works, the workmen measured the distance there was from the wall, and
this by lead and a line, which they threw to it from their banks; for they could not measure it any otherwise, because
the Jews would shoot at them, if they came to measure it themselves; and when they found that the engines could
reach the wall, they brought them thither. Then did Titus set his engines at proper distances, so much nearer to the
wall, that the Jews might not be able to repel them, and gave orders they should go to work; and when thereupon a
prodigious noise echoed round about from three places, and that on the sudden there was a great noise made by the
citizens that were within the city, and no less a terror fell upon the seditious themselves; whereupon both sorts,
seeing the common danger they were in, contrived to make a like defense. So those of different factions cried out
one to another, that they acted entirely as in concert with their enemies; whereas they ought however,
notwithstanding God did not grant them a lasting concord, in their present circumstances, to lay aside their enmities
one against another, and to unite together against the Romans. Accordingly, Simon gave those that came from the
temple leave, by proclamation, to go upon the wall; John also himself, though he could not believe Simon was in
earnest, gave them the same leave. So on both sides they laid aside their hatred and their peculiar quarrels, and
formed themselves into one body; they then ran round the walls, and having a vast number of torches with them,
they threw them at the machines, and shot darts perpetually upon those that impelled those engines which battered
the wall; nay, the bolder sort leaped out by troops upon the hurdles that covered the machines, and pulled them to
pieces, and fell upon those that belonged to them, and beat them, not so much by any skill they had, as principally
by the boldness of their attacks. However, Titus himself still sent assistance to those that were the hardest set, and
placed both horsemen and archers on the several sides of the engines, and thereby beat off those that brought the
fire to them; he also thereby repelled those that shot stones or darts from the towers, and then set the engines to
work in good earnest; yet did not the wall yield to these blows, excepting where the battering ram of the fifteenth
legion moved the corner of a tower, while the wall itself continued unhurt; for the wall was not presently in the same
danger with the tower, which was extant far above it; nor could the fall of that part of the tower easily break down
any part of the wall itself together with it.

5. And now the Jews intermitted their sallies for a while; but when they observed the Romans dispersed all abroad
at their works, and in their several camps, (for they thought the Jews had retired out of weariness and fear,) they
all at once made a sally at the tower Hippicus, through an obscure gate, and at the same time brought fire to burn
the works, and went boldly up to the Romans, and to their very fortifications themselves, where, at the cry they
made, those that were near them came presently to their assistance, and those farther off came running after them;
and here the boldness of the Jews was too hard for the good order of the Romans; and as they beat those whom
they first fell upon, so they pressed upon those that were now gotten together. So this fight about the machines was
very hot, while the one side tried hard to set them on fire, and the other side to prevent it; on both sides there was a
confused cry made, and many of those in the forefront of the battle were slain. However, the Jews were now too
hard for the Romans, by the furious assaults they made like madmen; and the fire caught hold of the works, and
both all those works, and the engines themselves, had been in danger of being burnt, had not many of these select
soldiers that came from Alexandria opposed themselves to prevent it, and had they not behaved themselves with
greater courage than they themselves supposed they could have done; for they outdid those in this fight that had
greater reputation than themselves before. This was the state of things till Caesar took the stoutest of his
horsemen, and attacked the enemy, while he himself slew twelve of those that were in the forefront of the Jews;
which death of these men, when the rest of the multitude saw, they gave way, and he pursued them, and drove them
all into the city, and saved the works from the fire. Now it happened at this fight that a certain Jew was taken alive,
who, by Titus's order, was crucified before the wall, to see whether the rest of them would be aftrighted, and abate
of their obstinacy. But after the Jews were retired, John, who was commander of the Idumeans, and was talking to
a certain soldier of his acquaintance before the wall, was wounded by a dart shot at him by an Arabian, and died
immediately, leaving the greatest lamentation to the Jews, and sorrow to the seditious. For he was a man of great
eminence, both for his actions and his conduct also.

1. NOW, on the next night, a surprising disturbance fell upon the Romans; for whereas Titus had given orders for
the erection of three towers of fifty cubits high, that by setting men upon them at every bank, he might from thence
drive those away who were upon the wall, it so happened that one of these towers fell down about midnight; and as
its fall made a very great noise, fear fell upon the army, and they, supposing that the enemy was coming to attack
them, ran all to their arms. Whereupon a disturbance and a tumult arose among the legions, and as nobody could
tell what had happened, they went on after a disconsolate manner; and seeing no enemy appear, they were afraid
one of another, and every one demanded of his neighbor the watchword with great earnestness, as though the Jews
had invaded their camp. And now were they like people under a panic fear, till Titus was informed of what had
happened, and gave orders that all should be acquainted with it; and then, though with some difficulty, they got
clear of the disturbance they had been under.

2. Now these towers were very troublesome to the Jews, who otherwise opposed the Romans very courageously;
for they shot at them out of their lighter engines from those towers, as they did also by those that threw darts, and
the archers, and those that flung stones. For neither could the Jews reach those that were over them, by reason of
their height; and it was not practicable to take them, nor to overturn them, they were so heavy, nor to set them on
fire, because they were covered with plates of iron. So they retired out of the reach of the darts, and did no longer
endeavor to hinder the impression of their rams, which, by continually beating upon the wall, did gradually prevail
against it; so that the wall already gave way to the Nico, for by that name did the Jews themselves call the greatest
of their engines, because it conquered all things. And now they were for a long while grown weary of fighting, and of
keeping guards, and were retired to lodge in the night time at a distance from the wall. It was on other accounts
also thought by them to be superfluous to guard the wall, there being besides that two other fortifications still
remaining, and they being slothful, and their counsels having been ill concerted on all occasions; so a great many
grew lazy and retired. Then the Romans mounted the breach, where Nico had made one, and all the Jews left the
guarding that wall, and retreated to the second wall; so those that had gotten over that wall opened the gates, and
received all the army within it. And thus did the Romans get possession of this first wall, on the fifteenth day of the
siege, which was the seventh day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] when they demolished a great part of it, as well
as they did of the northern parts of the city, which had been demolished also by Cestius formerly.

3. And now Titus pitched his camp within the city, at that place which was called "the Camp of the Assyrians,"
having seized upon all that lay as far as Cedron, but took care to be out of the reach of the Jews' darts. He then
presently began his attacks, upon which the Jews divided themselves into several bodies, and courageously
defended that wall; while John and his faction did it from the tower of Antonia, and from the northern cloister of the
temple, and fought the Romans before the monuments of king Alexander; and Sireoh's army also took for their
share the spot of ground that was near John's monument, and fortified it as far as to that gate where water was
brought in to the tower Hippicus. However, the Jews made violent sallies, and that frequently also, and in bodies
together out of the gates, and there fought the Romans; and when they were pursued all together to the wall, they
were beaten in those fights, as wanting the skill of the Romans. But when they fought them from the walls, they
were too hard for them; the Romans being encouraged by their power, joined to their skill, as were the Jews by
their boldness, which was nourished by the fear they were in, and that hardiness which is natural to our nation under
calamities; they were also encouraged still by the hope of deliverance, as were the Romans by their hopes of
subduing them in a little time. Nor did either side grow weary; but attacks and rightings upon the wall, and
perpetual sallies out in bodies, were there all the day long; nor were there any sort of warlike engagements that
were not then put in use. And the night itself had much ado to part them, when they began to fight in the morning;
nay, the night itself was passed without sleep on both sides, and was more uneasy than the day to them, while the
one was afraid lest the wall should be taken, and the other lest the Jews should make sallies upon their camps; both
sides also lay in their armor during the night time, and thereby were ready at the first appearance of light to go to
the battle. Now among the Jews the ambition was who should undergo the first dangers, and thereby gratify their
commanders. Above all, they had a great veneration and dread of Simon; and to that degree was he regarded by
every one of those that were under him, that at his command they were very ready to kill themselves with their own
hands. What made the Romans so courageous was their usual custom of conquering and disuse of being defeated,
their constant wars, and perpetual warlike exercises, and the grandeur of their dominion; and what was now their
chief encouragement -Titus who was present every where with them all; for it appeared a terrible thing to grow
weary while Caesar was there, and fought bravely as well as they did, and was himself at once an eye-witness of
such as behaved themselves valiantly, and he who was to reward them also. It was, besides, esteemed an
advantage at present to have any one's valor known by Caesar; on which account many of them appeared to have
more alacrity than strength to answer it. And now, as the Jews were about this time standing in array before the
wall, and that in a strong body, and while both parties were throwing their darts at each other, Longinus, one of the
equestrian order, leaped out of the army of the Romans, and leaped into the very midst of the army of the Jews;
and as they dispersed themselves upon the attack, he slew two of their men of the greatest courage; one of them he
struck in his mouth as he was coming to meet him, the other was slain by him by that very dart which he drew out of
the body of the other, with which he ran this man through his side as he was running away from him; and when he
had done this, he first of all ran out of the midst of his enemies to his own side. So this man signalized himself for
his valor, and many there were who were ambitious of gaining the like reputation. And now the Jews were
unconcerned at what they suffered themselves from the Romans, and were only solicitous about what mischief they
could do them; and death itself seemed a small matter to them, if at the same time they could but kill any one of
their enemies. But Titus took care to secure his own soldiers from harm, as well as to have them overcome their
enemies. He also said that inconsiderate violence was madness, and that this alone was the true courage that was
joined with good conduct. He therefore commanded his men to take care, when they fought their enemies, that they
received no harm from them at the same time, and thereby show themselves to be truly valiant men.

4. And now Titus brought one of his engines to the middle tower of the north part of the wall, in which a certain
crafty Jew, whose name was Castor, lay in ambush, with ten others like himself, the rest being fled away by reason
of the archers. These men lay still for a while, as in great fear, under their breastplates; but when the tower was
shaken, they arose, and Castor did then stretch out his hand, as a petitioner, and called for Caesar, and by his
voice moved his compassion, and begged of him to have mercy upon them; and Titus, in the innocency of his heart,
believing him to be in earnest, and hoping that the Jews did now repent, stopped the working of the battering ram,
and forbade them to shoot at the petitioners, and bid Castor say what he had a mind to say to him. He said that he
would come down, if he would give him his right hand for his security. To which Titus replied, that he was well
pleased with such his agreeable conduct, and would be well pleased if all the Jews would be of his mind, and that he
was ready to give the like security to the city. Now five of the ten dissembled with him, and pretended to beg for
mercy, while the rest cried out aloud that they would never be slaves to the Romans, while it was in their power to
die in a state of freedom. Now while these men were quarrelling for a long while, the attack was delayed; Castor
also sent to Simon, and told him that they might take some time for consultation about what was to be done,
because he would elude the power of the Romans for a considerable time. And at the same time that he sent thus to
him, he appeared openly to exhort those that were obstinate to accept of Titus's hand for their security; but they
seemed very angry at it, and brandished their naked swords upon the breast-works, and struck themselves upon
their breast, and fell down as if they had been slain. Hereupon Titus, and those with him, were amazed at the
courage of the men; and as they were not able to see exactly what was done, they admired at their great fortitude,
and pitied their calamity. During this interval, a certain person shot a dart at Castor, and wounded him in his nose;
whereupon he presently pulled out the dart, and showed it to Titus, and complained that this was unfair treatment;
so Caesar reproved him that shot the dart, and sent Josephus, who then stood by him, to give his right hand to
Castor. But Josephus said that he would not go to him, because these pretended petitioners meant nothing that was
good; he also restrained those friends of his who were zealous to go to him. But still there was one Eneas, a
deserter, who said he would go to him. Castor also called to them, that somebody should come and receive the
money which he had with him; this made Eneas the more earnestly to run to him with his bosom open. Then did
Castor take up a great stone, and threw it at him, which missed him, because he guarded himself against it; but still
it wounded another soldier that was coining to him. When Caesar understood that this was a delusion, he perceived
that mercy in war is a pernicious thing, because such cunning tricks have less place under the exercise of greater
severity. So he caused the engine to work more strongly than before, on account of his anger at the deceit put upon
him. But Castor and his companions set the tower on fire when it began to give way, and leaped through the flame
into a hidden vault that was under it, which made the Romans further suppose that they were men of great courage,
as having cast themselves into the fire.

1. NOW Caesar took this wall there on the fifth day after he had taken the first; and when the Jews had fled from
him, he entered into it with a thousand armed men, and those of his choice troops, and this at a place where were
the merchants of wool, the braziers, and the market for cloth, and where the narrow streets led obliquely to the wall.
Wherefore, if Titus had either demolished a larger part of the wall immediately, or had come in, and, according to
the law of war, had laid waste what was left, his victory would not, I suppose, have been mixed with any loss to
himself. But now, out of the hope he had that he should make the Jews ashamed of their obstinacy, by not being
willing, when he was able, to afflict them more than he needed to do, he did not widen the breach of the wall, in
order to make a safer retreat upon occasion; for he did not think they would lay snares for him that did them such a
kindness. When therefore he came in, he did not permit his soldiers to kill any of those they caught, nor to set fire
to their houses neither; nay, he gave leave to the seditious, if they had a mind, to fight without any harm to the
people, and promised to restore the people's effects to them; for he was very desirous to preserve the city for his
own sake, and the temple for the sake of the city. As to the people, he had them of a long time ready to comply with
his proposals; but as to the fighting men, this humanity of his seemed a mark of his weakness, and they imagined
that he made these proposals because he was not able to take the rest of the city. They also threatened death to
the people, if they should any one of them say a word about a surrender. They moreover cut the throats of such as
talked of a peace, and then attacked those Romans that were come within the wall. Some of them they met in the
narrow streets, and some they fought against from their houses, while they made a sudden sally out at the upper
gates, and assaulted such Romans as were beyond the wall, till those that guarded the wall were so aftrighted, that
they leaped down from their towers, and retired to their several camps: upon which a great noise was made by the
Romans that were within, because they were encompassed round on every side by their enemies; as also by them
that were without, because they were in fear for those that were left in the city. Thus did the Jews grow more
numerous perpetually, and had great advantages over the Romans, by their full knowledge of those narrow lanes;
and they wounded a great many of them, and fell upon them, and drove them out of the city. Now these Romans
were at present forced to make the best resistance they could; for they were not able, in great numbers, to get out
at the breach in the wall, it was so narrow. It is also probable that all those that were gotten within had been cut to
pieces, if Titus had not sent them succors; for he ordered the archers to stand at the upper ends of these narrow
lakes, and he stood himself where was the greatest multitude of his enemies, and with his darts he put a stop to
them; as with him did Domitius Sabinus also, a valiant man, and one that in this battle appeared so to be. Thus did
Caesar continue to shoot darts at the Jews continually, and to hinder them from coming upon his men, and this until
all his soldiers had retreated out of the city.

2. And thus were the Romans driven out, after they had possessed themselves of the second wall. Whereupon the
fighting men that were in the city were lifted up in their minds, and were elevated upon this their good success, and
began to think that the Romans would never venture to come into the city any more; and that if they kept within it
themselves, they should not be any more conquered. For God had blinded their minds for the transgressions they
had been guilty of, nor could they see how much greater forces the Romans had than those that were now expelled,
no more than they could discern how a famine was creeping upon them; for hitherto they had fed themselves out of
the public miseries, and drank the blood of the city. But now poverty had for a long time seized upon the better part,
and a great many had died already for want of necessaries; although the seditious indeed supposed the destruction
of the people to be an easement to themselves; for they desired that none others might be preserved but such as
were against a peace with the Romans, and were resolved to live in opposition to them, and they were pleased when
the multitude of those of a contrary opinion were consumed, as being then freed from a heavy burden. And this was
their disposition of mind with regard to those that were within the city, while they covered themselves with their
armor, and prevented the Romans, when they were trying to get into the city again, and made a wall of their own
bodies over against that part of the wall that was cast down. Thus did they valiantly defend themselves for three
days; but on the fourth day they could not support themselves against the vehement assaults of Titus but were
compelled by force to fly whither they had fled before; so he quietly possessed himself again of that wall, and
demolished it entirely. And when he had put a garrison into the towers that were on the south parts of the city, he
contrived how he might assault the third wall.

1. A RESOLUTION was now taken by Titus to relax the siege for a little while, and to afford the seditious an
interval for consideration, and to see whether the demolishing of their second wall would not make them a little
more compliant, or whether they were not somewhat afraid of a famine, because the spoils they had gotten by
rapine would not be sufficient for them long; so he made use of this relaxation in order to compass his own designs.
Accordingly, as the usual appointed time when he must distribute subsistence money to the soldiers was now come,
he gave orders that the commanders should put the army into battle-array, in the face of the enemy, and then give
every one of the soldiers their pay. So the soldiers, according to custom, opened the cases wherein their arms
before lay covered, and marched with their breastplates on, as did the horsemen lead their horses in their fine
trappings. Then did the places that were before the city shine very splendidly for a great way; nor was there any
thing so grateful to Titus's own men, or so terrible to the enemy, as that sight. For the whole old wall, and the north
side of the temple, were full of spectators, and one might see the houses full of such as looked at them; nor was
there any part of the city which was not covered over with their multitudes; nay, a very great consternation seized
upon the hardiest of the Jews themselves, when they saw all the army in the same place, together with the fineness
of their arms, and the good order of their men. And I cannot but think that the seditious would have changed their
minds at that sight, unless the crimes they had committed against the people had been so horrid, that they
despaired of forgiveness from the Romans; but as they believed death with torments must be their punishment, if
they did not go on in the defense of the city, they thought it much better to die in war. Fate also prevailed so far
over them, that the innocent were to perish with the guilty, and the city was to be destroyed with the seditious that
were in it.

2. Thus did the Romans spend four days in bringing this subsistence-money to the several legions. But on the fifth
day, when no signs of peace appeared to come from the Jews, Titus divided his legions, and began to raise banks,
both at the tower of Antonia and at John's monument. Now his designs were to take the upper city at that
monument, and the temple at the tower of Antonia; for if the temple were not taken, it would be dangerous to keep
the city itself; so at each of these parts he raised him banks, each legion raising one. As for those that wrought at
John's monument, the Idumeans, and those that were in arms with Simon, made sallies upon them, and put some
stop to them; while John's party, and the multitude of zealots with them, did the like to those that were before the
tower of Antonia. These Jews were now too hard for the Romans, not only in direct fighting, because they stood
upon the higher ground, but because they had now learned to use their own engines; for their continual use of them
one day after another did by degrees improve their skill about them; for of one sort of engines for darts they had
three hundred, and forty for stones; by the means of which they made it more tedious for the Romans to raise their
banks. But then Titus, knowing that the city would be either saved or destroyed for himself, did not only proceed
earnestly in the siege, but did not omit to have the Jews exhorted to repentance; so he mixed good counsel with his
works for the siege. And being sensible that exhortations are frequently more effectual than arms, he persuaded
them to surrender the city, now in a manner already taken, and thereby to save themselves, and sent Josephus to
speak to them in their own language; for he imagined they might yield to the persuasion of a countryman of their
own.

3. So Josephus went round about the wall, and tried to find a place that was out of the reach of their darts, and yet
within their hearing, and besought them, in many words, to spare themselves, to spare their country and their
temple, and not to be more obdurate in these cases than foreigners themselves; for that the Romans, who had no
relation to those things, had a reverence for their sacred rites and places, although they belonged to their enemies,
and had till now kept their hands off from meddling with them; while such as were brought up under them, and, if
they be preserved, will be the only people that will reap the benefit of them, hurry on to have them destroyed. That
certainly they have seen their strongest walls demolished, and that the wall still remaining was weaker than those
that were already taken. That they must know the Roman power was invincible, and that they had been used to
serve them; for, that in case it be allowed a right thing to fight for liberty, that ought to have been done at first; but
for them that have once fallen under the power of the Romans, and have now submitted to them for so many long
years, to pretend to shake off that yoke afterward, was the work of such as had a mind to die miserably, not of such
as were lovers of liberty. Besides, men may well enough grudge at the dishonor of owning ignoble masters over
them, but ought not to do so to those who have all things under their command; for what part of the world is there
that hath escaped the Romans, unless it be such as are of no use for violent heat, or for violent cold? And evident it
is that fortune is on all hands gone over to them; and that God, when he had gone round the nations with this
dominion, is now settled in Italy. That, moreover, it is a strong and fixed law, even among brute beasts, as well as
among men, to yield to those that are too strong for them; and to stiffer those to have the dominion who are too
hard for the rest in war; for which reason it was that their forefathers, who were far superior to them, both in their
souls and bodies, and other advantages, did yet submit to the Romans, which they would not have suffered, had
they not known that God was with them. As for themselves, what can they depend on in this their opposition, when
the greatest part of their city is already taken? and when those that are within it are under greater miseries than if
they were taken, although their walls be still standing? For that the Romans are not unacquainted with that famine
which is in the city, whereby the people are already consumed, and the fighting men will in a little time be so too; for
although the Romans should leave off the siege, and not fall upon the city with their swords in their hands, yet was
there an insuperable war that beset them within, and was augmented every hour, unless they were able to wage war
with famine, and fight against it, or could alone conquer their natural appetites. He added this further, how right a
thing it was to change their conduct before their calamities were become incurable, and to have recourse to such
advice as might preserve them, while opportunity was offered them for so doing; for that the Romans would not be
mindful of their past actions to their disadvantage, unless they persevered in their insolent behavior to the end;
because they were naturally mild in their conquests, and preferred what was profitable, before what their passions
dictated to them; which profit of theirs lay not in leaving the city empty of inhabitants, nor the country a desert; on
which account Caesar did now offer them his right hand for their security. Whereas, if he took the city by force, he
would not save any of them, and this especially, if they rejected his offers in these their utmost distresses; for the
walls that were already taken could not but assure them that the third wall would quickly be taken also. And though
their fortifications should prove too strong for the Romans to break through them, yet would the famine fight for
the Romans against them.

4. While Josephus was making this exhortation to the Jews, many of them jested upon him from the wall, and many
reproached him; nay, some threw their darts at him: but when he could not himself persuade them by such open
good advice, he betook himself to the histories belonging to their own nation, and cried out aloud, "O miserable
creatures! are you so unmindful of those that used to assist you, that you will fight by your weapons and by your
hands against the Romans? When did we ever conquer any other nation by such means? and when was it that God,
who is the Creator of the Jewish people, did not avenge them when they had been injured? Will not you turn again,
and look back, and consider whence it is that you fight with such violence, and how great a Supporter you have
profanely abused? Will not you recall to mind the prodigious things done for your forefathers and this holy place,
and how great enemies of yours were by him subdued under you? I even tremble myself in declaring the works of
God before your ears, that are unworthy to hear them; however, hearken to me, that you may be informed how you
fight not only against the Romans, but against God himself. In old times there was one Necao, king of Egypt, who
was also called Pharaoh; he came with a prodigious army of soldiers, and seized queen Sarah, the mother of our
nation. What did Abraham our progenitor then do? Did he defend himself from this injurious person by war,
although he had three hundred and eighteen captains under him, and an immense army under each of them? Indeed
he deemed them to be no number at all without God's assistance, and only spread out his hands towards this holy
place, (16) which you have now polluted, and reckoned upon him as upon his invincible supporter, instead of his own
army. Was not our queen sent back, without any defilement, to her husband, the very next evening? - while the king
of Egypt fled away, adoring this place which you have defiled by shedding thereon the blood of your own
countrymen; and he also trembled at those visions which he saw in the night season, and bestowed both silver and
gold on the Hebrews, as on a people beloved by God. Shall I say nothing, or shall I mention the removal of our
fathers into Egypt, who, (17) when they were used tyrannically, and were fallen under the power of foreign kings for
four hundred ears together, and might have defended themselves by war and by fighting, did yet do nothing but
commit themselves to God! Who is there that does not know that Egypt was overrun with all sorts of wild beasts,
and consumed by all sorts of distempers? how their land did not bring forth its fruit? how the Nile failed of water?
how the ten plagues of Egypt followed one upon another? and how by those means our fathers were sent away
under a guard, without any bloodshed, and without running any dangers, because God conducted them as his
peculiar servants? Moreover, did not Palestine groan under the ravage the Assyrians made, when they carried
away our sacred ark? as did their idol Dagon, and as also did that entire nation of those that carried it away, how
they were smitten with a loathsome distemper in the secret parts of their bodies, when their very bowels came down
together with what they had eaten, till those hands that stole it away were obliged to bring it back again, and that
with the sound of cymbals and timbrels, and other oblations, in order to appease the anger of God for their violation
of his holy ark. It was God who then became our General, and accomplished these great things for our fathers, and
this because they did not meddle with war and fighting, but committed it to him to judge about their affairs. When
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, brought along with him all Asia, and encompassed this city round with his army, did
he fall by the hands of men? were not those hands lifted up to God in prayers, without meddling with their arms,
when an angel of God destroyed that prodigious army in one night? when the Assyrian king, as he rose the next
day, found a hundred fourscore and five thousand dead bodies, and when he, with the remainder of his army, fled
away from the Hebrews, though they were unarmed, and did not pursue them. You are also acquainted with the
slavery we were under at Babylon, where the people were captives for seventy years; yet were they not delivered
into freedom again before God made Cyrus his gracious instrument in bringing it about; accordingly they were set
free by him, and did again restore the worship of their Deliverer at his temple. And, to speak in general, we can
produce no example wherein our fathers got any success by war, or failed of success when without war they
committed themselves to God. When they staid at home, they conquered, as pleased their Judge; but when they
went out to fight, they were always disappointed: for example, when the king of Babylon besieged this very city,
and our king Zedekiah fought against him, contrary to what predictions were made to him by Jeremiah the prophet,
he was at once taken prisoner, and saw the city and the temple demolished. Yet how much greater was the
moderation of that king, than is that of your present governors, and that of the people then under him, than is that
of you at this time! for when Jeremiah cried out aloud, how very angry God was at them, because of their
transgressions, and told them they should be taken prisoners, unless they would surrender up their city, neither did
the king nor the people put him to death; but for you, (to pass over what you have done within the city, which I am
not able to describe as your wickedness deserves,) you abuse me, and throw darts at me, who only exhort you to
save yourselves, as being provoked when you are put in mind of your sins, and cannot bear the very mention of
those crimes which you every day perpetrate. For another example, when Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, lay
before this city, and had been guilty of many indignities against God, and our forefathers met him in arms, they
then were slain in the battle, this city was plundered by our enemies, and our sanctuary made desolate for three
years and six months. And what need I bring any more examples? Indeed what can it be that hath stirred up an
army of the Romans against our nation? Is it not the impiety of the inhabitants? Whence did our servitude
commence? Was it not derived from the seditions that were among our forefathers, when the madness of
Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, and our mutual quarrels, brought Pompey upon this city, and when God reduced those
under subjection to the Romans who were unworthy of the liberty they had enjoyed? After a siege, therefore, of
three months, they were forced to surrender themselves, although they had not been guilty of such offenses, with
regard to our sanctuary and our laws, as you have; and this while they had much greater advantages to go to war
than you have. Do not we know what end Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came to, under whose reign God
provided that this city should be taken again upon account of the people's offenses? When Herod, the son of
Antipater, brought upon us Sosius, and Sosius brought upon us the Roman army, they were then encompassed and
besieged for six months, till, as a punishment for their sins, they were taken, and the city was plundered by the
enemy. Thus it appears that arms were never given to our nation, but that we are always given up to be fought
against, and to be taken; for I suppose that such as inhabit this holy place ought to commit the disposal of all things
to God, and then only to disregard the assistance of men when they resign themselves up to their Arbitrator, who is
above. As for you, what have you done of those things that are recommended by our legislator? and what have you
not done of those things that he hath condemned? How much more impious are you than those who were so quickly
taken! You have not avoided so much as those sins that are usually done in secret; I mean thefts, and treacherous
plots against men, and adulteries. You are quarrelling about rapines and murders, and invent strange ways of
wickedness. Nay, the temple itself is become the receptacle of all, and this Divine place is polluted by the hands of
those of our own country; which place hath yet been reverenced by the Romans when it was at a distance from
them, when they have suffered many of their own customs to give place to our law. And, after all this, do you expect
Him whom you have so impiously abused to be your supporter? To be sure then you have a right to be petitioners,
and to call upon Him to assist you, so pure are your hands! Did your king [Hezekiah] lift up such hands in prayer to
God against the king of Assyria, when he destroyed that great army in one night? And do the Romans commit such
wickedness as did the king of Assyria, that you may have reason to hope for the like vengeance upon them? Did
not that king accept of money from our king on this condition, that he should not destroy the city, and yet, contrary
to the oath he had taken, he came down to burn the temple? while the Romans do demand no more than that
accustomed tribute which our fathers paid to their fathers; and if they may but once obtain that, they neither aim to
destroy this city, nor to touch this sanctuary; nay, they will grant you besides, that your posterity shall be free, and
your posses