Flavius Josephus
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.
From Vespasian’s Coming To Subdue The Jews To The Taking Of Gamala.
Containing The Interval Of About One Year.
CHAPTER 1.
Vespasian Is Sent Into Syria By Nero In Order To Make War With The Jews.
1. When Nero was informed of the Romans’ ill success in Judea, a concealed consternation
and terror, as is usual in such cases, fell upon him; although he openly looked
very big, and was very angry, and said that what had happened was rather owing to
the negligence of the commander, than to any valor of the enemy: and as he thought
it fit for him, who bare the burden of the whole empire, to despise such misfortunes,
he now pretended so to do, and to have a soul superior to all such sad accidents
whatsoever. Yet did the disturbance that was in his soul plainly appear by the solicitude
he was in [how to recover his affairs again].
2. And as he was deliberating to whom he should commit the care of the East,
now it was in so great a commotion, and who might be best able to punish the Jews
for their rebellion, and might prevent the same distemper from seizing upon the
neighboring nations also, – he found no one but Vespasian equal to the task, and
able to undergo the great burden of so mighty a war, seeing he was growing an old
man already in the camp, and from his youth had been exercised in warlike exploits:
he was also a man that had long ago pacified the west, and made it subject to the
Romans, when it had been put into disorder by the Germans; he had also recovered
to them Britain by his arms, which had been little known before whereby he procured
to his father Claudius to have a triumph bestowed on him without any sweat or labor
of his own.
3. So Nero esteemed these circumstances as favorable omens, and saw that Vespasian’s
age gave him sure experience, and great skill, and that he had his sons as hostages
for his fidelity to himself, and that the flourishing age they were in would make
them fit instruments under their father’s prudence. Perhaps also there was some
interposition of Providence, which was paving the way for Vespasian’s being himself
emperor afterwards. Upon the whole, he sent this man to take upon him the command
of the armies that were in Syria; but this not without great encomiums and flattering
compellations, such as necessity required, and such as might mollify him into complaisance.
So Vespasian sent his son Titus from Achaia, where he had been with Nero, to Alexandria,
to bring back with him from thence the fifth and. the tenth legions, while he himself,
when he had passed over the Hellespont, came by land into Syria, where he gathered
together the Roman forces, with a considerable number of auxiliaries from the kings
in that neighborhood.
CHAPTER 2.
A Great Slaughter About Ascalon. Vespasian Comes To Ptolemais.
1. Now the Jews, after they had beaten Cestius, were so much elevated with their
unexpected success, that they could not govern their zeal, but, like people blown
up into a flame by their good fortune, carried the war to remoter places. Accordingly,
they presently got together a great multitude of all their most hardy soldiers,
and marched away for Ascalon. This is an ancient city that is distant from Jerusalem
five hundred and twenty furlongs, and was always an enemy to the Jews; on which
account they determined to make their first effort against it, and to make their
approaches to it as near as possible. This excursion was led on by three men, who
were the chief of them all, both for strength and sagacity; Niger, called the Persite,
Silas of Babylon, and besides them John the Essene. Now Ascalon was strongly walled
about, but had almost no assistance to be relied on [near them], for the garrison
consisted of one cohort of footmen, and one troop of horsemen, whose captain was
Antonius.
2. These Jews, therefore, out of their anger, marched faster than ordinary, and,
as if they had come but a little way, approached very near the city, and were come
even to it; but Antonius, who was not unapprized of the attack they were going to
make upon the city, drew out his horsemen beforehand, and being neither daunted
at the multitude, nor at the courage of the enemy, received their first attacks
with great bravery; and when they crowded to the very walls, he beat them off. Now
the Jews were unskillful in war, but were to fight with those who were skillful
therein; they were footmen to fight with horsemen; they were in disorder, to fight
those that were united together; they were poorly armed, to fight those that were
completely so; they were to fight more by their rage than by sober counsel, and
were exposed to soldiers that were exactly obedient; and did every thing they were
bidden upon the least intimation. So they were easily beaten; for as soon as ever
their first ranks were once in disorder, they were put to flight by the enemy’s
cavalry, and those of them that came behind such as crowded to the wall fell upon
their own party’s weapons, and became one another’s enemies; and this so long till
they were all forced to give way to the attacks of the horsemen, and were dispersed
all the plain over, which plain was wide, and all fit for the horsemen; which circumstance
was very commodious for the Romans, and occasioned the slaughter of the greatest
number of the Jews; for such as ran away, they could overrun them, and make them
turn back; and when they had brought them back after their flight, and driven them
together, they ran them through, and slew a vast number of them, insomuch that others
encompassed others of them, and drove them before them whithersoever they turned
themselves, and slew them easily with their arrows; and the great number there were
of the Jews seemed a solitude to themselves, by reason of the distress they were
in, while the Romans had such good success with their small number, that they seemed
to themselves to be the greater multitude. And as the former strove zealously under
their misfortunes, out of the shame of a sudden flight, and hopes of the change
in their success, so did the latter feel no weariness by reason of their good fortune;
insomuch that the fight lasted till the evening, till ten thousand men of the Jews’
side lay dead, with two of their generals, John and Silas, and the greater part
of the remainder were wounded, with Niger, their remaining general, who fled away
together to a small city of Idumea, called Sallis. Some few also of the Romans were
wounded in this battle.
3. Yet were not the spirits of the Jews broken by so great a calamity, but the
losses they had sustained rather quickened their resolution for other attempts;
for, overlooking the dead bodies which lay under their feet, they were enticed by
their former glorious actions to venture on a second destruction; so when they had
lain still so little a while that their wounds were not yet thoroughly cured, they
got together all their forces, and came with greater fury, and in much greater numbers,
to Ascalon. But their former ill fortune followed them, as the consequence of their
unskilfulness, and other deficiencies in war; for Antonius laid ambushes for them
in the passages they were to go through, where they fell into snares unexpectedly,
and where they were encompassed about with horsemen, before they could form themselves
into a regular body for fighting, and were above eight thousand of them slain; so
all the rest of them ran away, and with them Niger, who still did a great many bold
exploits in his flight. However, they were driven along together by the enemy, who
pressed hard upon them, into a certain strong tower belonging to a village called
Bezedeh However, Antonius and his party, that they might neither spend any considerable
time about this tower, which was hard to be taken, nor suffer their commander, and
the most courageous man of them all, to escape from them, they set the wall on fire;
and as the tower was burning, the Romans went away rejoicing, as taking it for granted
that Niger was destroyed; but he leaped out of the tower into a subterraneous cave,
in the innermost part of it, and was preserved; and on the third day afterward he
spake out of the ground to those that with great lamentation were searching for
him, in order to give him a decent funeral; and when he was come out, he filled
all the Jews with an unexpected joy, as though he were preserved by God’s providence
to be their commander for the time to come.
4. And now Vespasian took along with him his army from Antioch, (which is the
metropolis of Syria, and without dispute deserves the place of the third city in
the habitable earth that was under the Roman empire, both in magnitude, and other
marks of prosperity,) where he found king Agrippa, with all his forces, waiting
for his coming, and marched to Ptolemais. At this city also the inhabitants of Sepphoris
of Galilee met him, who were for peace with the Romans. These citizens had beforehand
taken care of their own safety, and being sensible of the power of the Romans, they
had been with Cestius Gallus before Vespasian came, and had given their faith to
him, and received the security of his right hand, and had received a Roman garrison;
and at this time withal they received Vespasian, the Roman general, very kindly,
and readily promised that they would assist him against their own countrymen. Now
the general delivered them, at their desire, as many horsemen and footmen as he
thought sufficient to oppose the incursions of the Jews, if they should come against
them. And indeed the danger of losing Sepphoris would be no small one, in this war
that was now beginning, seeing it was the largest city of Galilee, and built in
a place by nature very strong, and might be a security of the whole nation’s [fidelity
to the Romans].
CHAPTER 3.
A Description Op Galilee, Samaria, And Judea.
1. Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which are two, and called
the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded toward the sun-setting, with the
borders of the territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had
formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain
adjoins Gaba, which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that
were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with
Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east with Hippeae and
Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its
northern parts are hounded by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that
Galilee which is called the Lower, it, extends in length from Tiberias to Zabulon,
and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor; its breadth is from the village
called Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning
also is taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which
divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella,
a village near to Jordan.
2. These two Galilees, of so great largeness, and encompassed with so many nations
of foreigners, have been always able to make a strong resistance on all occasions
of war; for the Galileans are inured to war from their infancy, and have been always
very numerous; nor hath the country been ever destitute of men of courage, or wanted
a numerous set of them; for their soil is universally rich and fruitful, and full
of the plantations of trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most slothful
to take pains in its cultivation, by its fruitfulness; accordingly, it is all cultivated
by its inhabitants, and no part of it lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very
thick, and the very many villages there are here are every where so full of people,
by the richness of their soil, that the very least of them contain above fifteen
thousand inhabitants.
3. In short, if any one will suppose that Galilee is inferior to Perea in magnitude,
he will be obliged to prefer it before it in its strength; for this is all capable
of cultivation, and is every where fruitful; but for Perea, which is indeed much
larger in extent, the greater part of it is desert and rough, and much less disposed
for the production of the milder kinds of fruits; yet hath it a moist soil [in other
parts], and produces all kinds of fruits, and its plains are planted with trees
of all sorts, while yet the olive tree, the vine, and the palm tree are chiefly
cultivated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents, which issue out
of the mountains, and with springs that never fail to run, even when the torrents
fail them, as they do in the dog-days. Now the length of Perea is from Macherus
to Pella, and its breadth from Philadelphia to Jordan; its northern parts are bounded
by Pella, as we have already said, as well as its Western with Jordan; the land
of Moab is its southern border, and its eastern limits reach to Arabia, and Silbonitis,
and besides to Philadelphene and Gerasa.
4. Now as to the country of Samaria, it lies between Judea and Galilee; it begins
at a village that is in the great plain called Ginea, and ends at the Acrabbene
toparchy, and is entirely of the same nature with Judea; for both countries are
made up of hills and valleys, and are moist enough for agriculture, and are very
fruitful. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, both that
which grows wild, and that which is the effect of cultivation. They are not naturally
watered by many rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain-water, of which
they have no want; and for those rivers which they have, all their waters are exceeding
sweet: by reason also of the excellent grass they have, their cattle yield more
milk than do those in other places; and, what is the greatest sign of excellency
and of abundance, they each of them are very full of people.
5. In the limits of Samaria and Judea lies the village Anuath, which is also
named Borceos. This is the northern boundary of Judea. The southern parts of Judea,
if they be measured lengthways, are bounded by a Village adjoining to the confines
of Arabia; the Jews that dwell there call it Jordan. However, its breadth is extended
from the river Jordan to Joppa. The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle;
on which account some have, with sagacity enough, called that city the Navel of
the country. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such delights as come from the sea,
since its maritime places extend as far as Ptolemais: it was parted into eleven
portions, of which the royal city Jerusalem was the supreme, and presided over all
the neighboring country, as the head does over the body. As to the other cities
that were inferior to it, they presided over their several toparchies; Gophna was
the second of those cities, and next to that Acrabatta, after them Thamna, and Lydda,
and Emmaus, and Pella, and Idumea, and Engaddi, and Herodium, and Jericho; and after
them came Jamnia and Joppa, as presiding over the neighboring people; and besides
these there was the region of Gamala, and Gaulonitis, and Batanea, and Trachonitis,
which are also parts of the kingdom of Agrippa. This [last] country begins at Mount
Libanus, and the fountains of Jordan, and reaches breadthways to the lake of Tiberias;
and in length is extended from a village called Arpha, as far as Julias. Its inhabitants
are a mixture of Jews and Syrians. And thus have I, with all possible brevity, described
the country of Judea, and those that lie round about it.
CHAPTER 4.
Josephus Makes An Attempt Upon Sepphoris But Is Repelled. Titus Comes With A
Great Army To Ptolemais.
1. Now the auxiliaries which were sent to assist the people of Sepphoris, being
a thousand horsemen, and six thousand footmen, under Placidus the tribune, pitched
their camp in two bodies in the great plain. The foot were put into the city to
be a guard to it, but the horse lodged abroad in the camp. These last, by marching
continually one way or other, and overrunning the parts of the adjoining country,
were very troublesome to Josephus and his men; they also plundered all the places
that were out of the city’s liberty, and intercepted such as durst go abroad. On
this account it was that Josephus marched against the city, as hoping to take what
he had lately encompassed with so strong a wall, before they revolted from the rest
of the Galileans, that the Romans would have much ado to take it; by which means
he proved too weak, and failed of his hopes, both as to the forcing the place, and
as to his prevailing with the people of Sepphoris to deliver it up to him. By this
means he provoked the Romans to treat the country according to the law of war; nor
did the Romans, out of the anger they bore at this attempt, leave off, either by
night or by day, burning the places in the plain, and stealing away the cattle that
were in the country, and killing whatsoever appeared capable of fighting perpetually,
and leading the weaker people as slaves into captivity; so that Galilee was all
over filled with fire and blood; nor was it exempted from any kind of misery or
calamity, for the only refuge they had was this, that when they were pursued, they
could retire to the cities which had walls built them by Josephus.
2. But as to Titus, he sailed over from Achaia to Alexandria, and that sooner
than the winter season did usually permit; so he took with him those forces he was
sent for, and marching with great expedition, he came suddenly to Ptolemais, and
there finding his father, together with the two legions, the fifth and the tenth,
which were the most eminent legions of all, he joined them to that fifteenth legion
which was with his father; eighteen cohorts followed these legions; there came also
five cohorts from Cesarea, with one troop of horsemen, and five other troops of
horsemen from Syria. Now these ten cohorts had severally a thousand footmen, but
the other thirteen cohorts had no more than six hundred footmen apiece, with a hundred
and twenty horsemen. There were also a considerable number of auxiliaries got together,
that came from the kings Antiochus, and Agrippa, and Sohemus, each of them contributing
one thousand footmen that were archers, and a thousand horsemen. Malchus also, the
king of Arabia, sent a thousand horsemen, besides five thousand footmen, the greatest
part of which were archers; so that the whole army, including the auxiliaries sent
by the kings, as well horsemen as footmen, when all were united together, amounted
to sixty thousand, besides the servants, who, as they followed in vast numbers,
so because they had been trained up in war with the rest, ought not to be distinguished
from the fighting men; for as they were in their masters’ service in times of peace,
so did they undergo the like dangers with them in times of war, insomuch that they
were inferior to none, either in skill or in strength, only they were subject to
their masters.
CHAPTER 5.
A Description Of The Roman Armies And Roman Camps And Of Other Particulars For
Which The Romans Are Commended.
1. Now here one cannot but admire at the precaution of the Romans, in providing
themselves of such household servants, as might not only serve at other times for
the common offices of life, but might also be of advantage to them in their wars.
And, indeed, if any one does but attend to the other parts of their military discipline,
he will be forced to confess that their obtaining so large a dominion hath been
the acquisition of their valor, and not the bare gift of fortune; for they do not
begin to use their weapons first in time of war, nor do they then put their hands
first into motion, while they avoided so to do in times of peace; but, as if their
weapons did always cling to them, they have never any truce from warlike exercises;
nor do they stay till times of war admonish them to use them; for their military
exercises differ not at all from the real use of their arms, but every soldier is
every day exercised, and that with great diligence, as if it were in time of war,
which is the reason why they bear the fatigue of battles so easily; for neither
can any disorder remove them from their usual regularity, nor can fear affright
them out of it, nor can labor tire them; which firmness of conduct makes them always
to overcome those that have not the same firmness; nor would he be mistaken that
should call those their exercises unbloody battles, and their battles bloody exercises.
Nor can their enemies easily surprise them with the suddenness of their incursions;
for as soon as they have marched into an enemy’s land, they do not begin to fight
till they have walled their camp about; nor is the fence they raise rashly made,
or uneven; nor do they all abide ill it, nor do those that are in it take their
places at random; but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it is first leveled:
their camp is also four-square by measure, and carpenters are ready, in great numbers,
with their tools, to erect their buildings for them.
2. As for what is within the camp, it is set apart for tents, but the outward
circumference hath the resemblance to a wall, and is adorned with towers at equal
distances, where between the towers stand the engines for throwing arrows and darts,
and for slinging stones, and where they lay all other engines that can annoy the
enemy, all ready for their several operations. They also erect four gates, one at
every side of the circumference, and those large enough for the entrance of the
beasts, and wide enough for making excursions, if occasion should require. They
divide the camp within into streets, very conveniently, and place the tents of the
commanders in the middle; but in the very midst of all is the general’s own tent,
in the nature of a temple, insomuch, that it appears to be a city built on the sudden,
with its market-place, and place for handicraft trades, and with seats for the officers
superior and inferior, where, if any differences arise, their causes are heard and
determined. The camp, and all that is in it, is encompassed with a wall round about,
and that sooner than one would imagine, and this by the multitude and the skill
of the laborers; and, if occasion require, a trench is drawn round the whole, whose
depth is four cubits, and its breadth equal.
3. When they have thus secured themselves, they live together by companies, with
quietness and decency, as are all their other affairs managed with good order and
security. Each company hath also their wood, and their corn, and their water brought
them, when they stand in need of them; for they neither sup nor dine as they please
themselves singly, but all together. Their times also for sleeping, and watching,
and rising are notified beforehand by the sound of trumpets, nor is any thing done
without such a signal; and in the morning the soldiery go every one to their centurions,
and these centurions to their tribunes, to salute them; with whom all the superior
officers go to the general of the whole army, who then gives them of course the
watchword and other orders, to be by them cared to all that are under their command;
which is also observed when they go to fight, and thereby they turn themselves about
on the sudden, when there is occasion for making sallies, as they come back when
they are recalled in crowds also.
4. Now when they are to go out of their camp, the trumpet gives a sound, at which
time nobody lies still, but at the first intimation they take down their tents,
and all is made ready for their going out; then do the trumpets sound again, to
order them to get ready for the march; then do they lay their baggage suddenly upon
their mules, and other beasts of burden, and stand, as at the place of starting,
ready to march; when also they set fire to their camp, and this they do because
it will be easy for them to erect another camp, and that it may not ever be of use
to their enemies. Then do the trumpets give a sound the third time, that they are
to go out, in order to excite those that on any account are a little tardy, that
so no one may be out of his rank when the army marches. Then does the crier stand
at the general’s right hand, and asks them thrice, in their own tongue, whether
they be now ready to go out to war or not? To which they reply as often, with a
loud and cheerful voice, saying, “We are ready.” And this they do almost before
the question is asked them: they do this as filled with a kind of martial fury,
and at the same time that they so cry out, they lift up their right hands also.
5. When, after this, they are gone out of their camp, they all march without
noise, and in a decent manner, and every one keeps his own rank, as if they were
going to war. The footmen are armed with breastplates and head-pieces, and have
swords on each side; but the sword which is upon their left side is much longer
than the other, for that on the right side is not longer than a span. Those foot-men
also that are chosen out from the rest to be about the general himself have a lance
and a buckler, but the rest of the foot soldiers have a spear and a long buckler,
besides a saw and a basket, a pick-axe and an axe, a thong of leather and a hook,
with provisions for three days, so that a footman hath no great need of a mule to
carry his burdens. The horsemen have a long sword on their right sides, axed a long
pole in their hand; a shield also lies by them obliquely on one side of their horses,
with three or more darts that are borne in their quiver, having broad points, and
not smaller than spears. They have also head-pieces and breastplates, in like manner
as have all the footmen. And for those that are chosen to be about the general,
their armor no way differs from that of the horsemen belonging to other troops;
and he always leads the legions forth to whom the lot assigns that employment.
6. This is the manner of the marching and resting of the Romans, as also these
are the several sorts of weapons they use. But when they are to fight, they leave
nothing without forecast, nor to be done off-hand, but counsel is ever first taken
before any work is begun, and what hath been there resolved upon is put in execution
presently; for which reason they seldom commit any errors; and if they have been
mistaken at any time, they easily correct those mistakes. They also esteem any errors
they commit upon taking counsel beforehand to be better than such rash success as
is owing to fortune only; because such a fortuitous advantage tempts them to be
inconsiderate, while consultation, though it may sometimes fail of success, hath
this good in it, that it makes men more careful hereafter; but for the advantages
that arise from chance, they are not owing to him that gains them; and as to what
melancholy accidents happen unexpectedly, there is this comfort in them, that they
had however taken the best consultations they could to prevent them.
7. Now they so manage their preparatory exercises of their weapons, that not
the bodies of the soldiers only, but their souls may also become stronger: they
are moreover hardened for war by fear; for their laws inflict capital punishments,
not only for soldiers running away from the ranks, but for slothfulness and inactivity,
though it be but in a lesser degree; as are their generals more severe than their
laws, for they prevent any imputation of cruelty toward those under condemnation,
by the great rewards they bestow on the valiant soldiers; and the readiness of obeying
their commanders is so great, that it is very ornamental in peace; but when they
come to a battle, the whole army is but one body, so well coupled together are their
ranks, so sudden are their turnings about, so sharp their hearing as to what orders
are given them, so quick their sight of the ensigns, and so nimble are their hands
when they set to work; whereby it comes to pass that what they do is done quickly,
and what they suffer they bear with the greatest patience. Nor can we find any examples
where they have been conquered in battle, when they came to a close fight, either
by the multitude of the enemies, or by their stratagems, or by the difficulties
in the places they were in; no, nor by fortune neither, for their victories have
been surer to them than fortune could have granted them. In a case, therefore, where
counsel still goes before action, and where, after taking the best advice, that
advice is followed by so active an army, what wonder is it that Euphrates on the
east, the ocean on the west, the most fertile regions of Libya on the south, and
the Danube and the Rhine on the north, are the limits of this empire? One might
well say that the Roman possessions are not inferior to the Romans themselves.
8. This account I have given the reader, not so much with the intention of commending
the Romans, as of comforting those that have been conquered by them, and for the
deterring others from attempting innovations under their government. This discourse
of the Roman military conduct may also perhaps be of use to such of the curious
as are ignorant of it, and yet have a mind to know it. I return now from this digression.
CHAPTER 6.
Placidus Attempts To Take Jotapata And Is Beaten Off. Vespasian Marches Into
Galilee.
1. And now Vespasian, with his son Titus, had tarried some time at Ptolemais,
and had put his army in order. But when Placidus, who had overrun Galilee, and had
besides slain a number of those whom he had caught, (which were only the weaker
part of the Galileans, and such as were of timorous souls,) saw that the warriors
ran always to those cities whose walls had been built by Josephus, he marched furiously
against Jotapata, which was of them all the strongest, as supposing he should easily
take it by a sudden surprise, and that he should thereby obtain great honor to himself
among the commanders, and bring a great advantage to them in their future campaign;
because if this strongest place of them all were once taken, the rest would be so
aftrighted as to surrender themselves. But he was mightily mistaken in his undertaking;
for the men of Jotapata were apprized of his coming to attack them, and came out
of the city, and expected him there. So they fought the Romans briskly when they
least expected it, being both many in number, and prepared for fighting, and of
great alacrity, as esteeming their country, their wives, and their children to be
in danger, and easily put the Romans to flight, and wounded many of them, and slew
seven of them; because their retreat was not made in a disorderly manner, be-cause
the strokes only touched the surface of their bodies, which were covered with their
armor in all parts, and because the Jews did rather throw their weapons upon them
from a great distance, than venture to come hand to hand with them, and had only
light armor on, while the others were completely armed. However, three men of the
Jews’ side were slain, and a few wounded; so Placidus, finding himself unable to
assault the city, ran away.
2. But as Vespasian had a great mind to fall upon Galilee, he marched out of
Ptolemais, having put his army into that order wherein the Romans used to march.
He ordered those auxiliaries which were lightly armed, and the archers, to march
first, that they might prevent any sudden insults from the enemy, and might search
out the woods that looked suspiciously, and were capable of ambuscades. Next to
these followed that part of the Romans which was completely armed, both footmen
,and horsemen. Next to these followed ten out of every hundred, carrying along with
them their arms, and what was necessary to measure out a camp withal; and after
them, such as were to make the road even and straight, and if it were any where
rough and hard to be passed over, to plane it, and to cut down the woods that hindered
their march, that the army might not be in distress, or tired with their march.
Behind these he set such carriages of the army as belonged both to himself and to
the other commanders, with a considerable number of their horsemen for their security.
After these he marched himself, having with him a select body of footmen, and horsemen,
and pikemen. After these came the peculiar cavalry of his own legion, for there
were a hundred and twenty horsemen that peculiarly belonged to every legion. Next
to these came the mules that carried the engines for sieges, and the other warlike
machines of that nature. After these came the commanders of the cohorts and tribunes,
having about them soldiers chosen out of the rest. Then came the ensigns encompassing
the eagle, which is at the head of every Roman legion, the king, and the strongest
of all birds, which seems to them a signal of dominion, and an omen that they shall
conquer all against whom they march; these sacred ensigns are followed by the trumpeters.
Then came the main army in their squadrons and battalions, with six men in depth,
which were followed at last by a centurion, who, according to custom, observed the
rest. As for the servants of every legion, they all followed the footmen, and led
the baggage of the soldiers, which was borne by the mules and other beasts of burden.
But behind all the legions carne the whole multitude of the mercenaries; and those
that brought up the rear came last of all for the security of the whole army, being
both footmen, and those in their armor also, with a great number of horsemen.
3. And thus did Vespasian march with his army, and came to the bounds of Galileo,
where he pitched his camp and restrained his soldiers, who were eager for war; he
also showed his army to the enemy, in order to affright them, and to afford them
a season for repentance, to see whether they would change their minds before it
came to a battle, and at the same time he got things ready for besieging their strong
minds. And indeed this sight of the general brought many to repent of their revolt,
and put them all into a consternation; for those that were in Josephus’s camp, which
was at the city called Garis, not far from Sepphoris, when they heard that the war
was come near them, and that the Romans would suddenly fight them hand to hand,
dispersed themselves and fled, not only before they came to a battle, but before
the enemy ever came in sight, while Josephus and a few others were left behind;
and as he saw that he had not an army sufficient to engage the enemy, that the spirits
of the Jews were sunk, and that the greater part would willingly come to terms,
if they might be credited, he already despaired of the success of the whole war,
and determined to get as far as he possibly could out of danger; so he took those
that staid along with him, and fled to Tiberias.
CHAPTER 7.
Vespasian, When He Had Taken The City Gadaea Marches To Jotapata. After A Long
Siege The City Is Betrayed By A Deserter, And Taken By Vespasian.
1. So Vespasian marched to the city Gadara, and took it upon the first onset,
because he found it destitute of any considerable number of men grown up and fit
for war. He came then into it, and slew all the youth, the Romans having no mercy
on any age whatsoever; and this was done out of the hatred they bore the nation,
and because of the iniquity they had been guilty of in the affair of Cestius. He
also set fire not only to the city itself, but to all the villas and small cities
that were round about it; some of them were quite destitute of inhabitants, and
out of some of them he carried the inhabitants as slaves into captivity.
2. As to Josephus, his retiring to that city which he chose as the most fit for
his security, put it into great fear; for the people of Tiberias did not imagine
that he would have run away, unless he had entirely despaired of the success of
the war. And indeed, as to that point, they were not mistaken about his opinion;
for he saw whither the affairs of the Jews would tend at last, and was sensible
that they had but one way of escaping, and that was by repentance. However, although
he expected that the Romans would forgive him, yet did he chose to die many times
over, rather than to betray his country, and to dishonor that supreme command of
the army which had been intrusted with him, or to live happily under those against
whom he was sent to fight. He determined, therefore, to give an exact account of
affairs to the principal men at Jerusalem by a letter, that he might not, by too
much aggrandizing the power of the enemy, make them too timorous; nor, by relating
that their power beneath the truth, might encourage them to stand out when they
were perhaps disposed to repentance. He also sent them word, that if they thought
of coming to terms, they must suddenly write him an answer; or if they resolved
upon war, they must send him an army sufficient to fight the Romans. Accordingly,
he wrote these things, and sent messengers immediately to carry his letter to Jerusalem.
3. Now Vespasian was very desirous of demolishing Jotapata, for he had gotten
intelligence that the greatest part of the enemy had retired thither, and that it
was, on other accounts, a place of great security to them. Accordingly, he sent
both foot-men and horsemen to level the road, which was mountainous and rocky, not
without difficulty to be traveled over by footmen, but absolutely impracticable
for horsemen. Now these workmen accomplished what they were about in four days’
time, and opened a broad way for the army. On the fifth day, which was the twenty-first
of the month Artemisius, (Jyar,) Josephus prevented him, and came from Tiberias,
and went into Jotapata, and raised the drooping spirits of the Jews. And a certain
deserter told this good news to Vespasian, that Josephus had removed himself thither,
which made him make haste to the city, as supposing that with taking that he should
take all Judea, in case he could but withal get Josephus under his power. So he
took this news to be of the vastest advantage to him, and believed it to be brought
about by the providence of God, that he who appeared to be the most prudent man
of all their enemies, had, of his own accord, shut himself up in a place of sure
custody. Accordingly, he sent Placidus with a thousand horsemen, and Ebutius a decurion,
a person that was of eminency both in council and in action, to encompass the city
round, that Josephus might not escape away privately.
4. Vespasian also, the very next day, took his whole army and followed them,
and by marching till late in the evening, arrived then at Jotapata; and bringing
his army to the northern side of the city, he pitched his camp on a certain small
hill which was seven furlongs from the city, and still greatly endeavored to be
well seen by the enemy, to put them into a consternation; which was indeed so terrible
to the Jews immediately, that no one of them durst go out beyond the wall. Yet did
the Romans put off the attack at that time, because they had marched all the day,
although they placed a double row of battalions round the city, with a third row
beyond them round the whole, which consisted of cavalry, in order to stop up every
way for an exit; which thing making the Jews despair of escaping, excited them to
act more boldly; for nothing makes men fight so desperately in war as necessity.
5. Now when the next day an assault was made by the Romans, the Jews at first
staid out of the walls and opposed them, and met them, as having formed themselves
a camp before the city walls. But when Vespasian had set against them the archers
and slingers, and the whole multitude that could throw to a great distance, he permitted
them to go to work, while he himself, with the footmen, got upon an acclivity, whence
the city might easily be taken. Josephus was then in fear for the city, and leaped
out, and all the Jewish multitude with him; these fell together upon the Romans
in great numbers, and drove them away from the wall, and performed a great many
glorious and bold actions. Yet did they suffer as much as they made the enemy suffer;
for as despair of deliverance encouraged the Jews, so did a sense of shame equally
encourage the Romans. These last had skill as well as strength; the other had only
courage, which armed them, and made them fight furiously. And when the fight had
lasted all day, it was put an end to by the coming on of the night. They had wounded
a great many of the Romans, and killed of them thirteen men; of the Jews’ side seventeen
were slain, and six hundred wounded.
6. On the next day the Jews made another attack upon the Romans, and went out
of the walls and fought a much more desperate battle with them titan before. For
they were now become more courageous than formerly, and that on account of the unexpected
good opposition they had made the day before, as they found the Romans also to fight
more desperately; for a sense of shame inflamed these into a passion, as esteeming
their failure of a sudden victory to be a kind of defeat. Thus did the Romans try
to make an impression upon the Jews till the fifth day continually, while the people
of Jotapata made sallies out, and fought at the walls most desperately; nor were
the Jews affrighted at the strength of the enemy, nor were the Romans discouraged
at the difficulties they met with in taking the city.
7. Now Jotapata is almost all of it built on a precipice, having on all the other
sides of it every way valleys immensely deep and steep, insomuch that those who
would look down would have their sight fail them before it reaches to the bottom.
It is only to be come at on the north side, where the utmost part of the city is
built on the mountain, as it ends obliquely at a plain. This mountain Josephus had
encompassed with a wall when he fortified the city, that its top might not be capable
of being seized upon by the enemies. The city is covered all round with other mountains,
and can no way be seen till a man comes just upon it. And this was the strong situation
of Jotapata.
8. Vespasian, therefore, in order to try how he might overcome the natural strength
of the place, as well as the bold defense of the Jews, made a resolution to prosecute
the siege with vigor. To that end he called the commanders that were under him to
a council of war, and consulted with them which way the assault might be managed
to the best advantage. And when the resolution was there taken to raise a bank against
that part of the wall which was practicable, he sent his whole army abroad to get
the materials together. So when they had cut down all the trees on the mountains
that adjoined to the city, and had gotten together a vast heap of stones, besides
the wood they had cut down, some of them brought hurdles, in order to avoid the
effects of the darts that were shot from above them. These hurdles they spread over
their banks, under cover whereof they formed their bank, and so were little or nothing
hurt by the darts that were thrown upon them from the wall, while others pulled
the neighboring hillocks to pieces, and perpetually brought earth to them; so that
while they were busy three sorts of ways, nobody was idle. However, the Jews cast
great stones from the walls upon the hurdles which protected the men, with all sorts
of darts also; and the noise of what could not reach them was yet so terrible, that
it was some impediment to the workmen.
9. Vespasian then set the engines for throwing stones and darts round about the
city. The number of the engines was in all a hundred and sixty, and bid them fall
to work, and dislodge those that were upon the wall. At the same time such engines
as were intended for that purpose threw at once lances upon them with a great noise,
and stones of the weight of a talent were thrown by the engines that were prepared
for that purpose, together with fire, and a vast multitude of arrows, which made
the wall so dangerous, that the Jews durst not only not come upon it, but durst
not come to those parts within the walls which were reached by the engines; for
the multitude of the Arabian archers, as well also as all those that threw darts
and slung stones, fell to work at the same time with the engines. Yet did not the
otters lie still, when they could not throw at the Romans from a higher place; for
they then made sallies out of the city, like private robbers, by parties, and pulled
away the hurdles that covered the workmen, and killed them when they were thus naked;
and when those workmen gave way, these cast away the earth that composed the bank,
and burnt the wooden parts of it, together with the hurdles, till at length Vespasian
perceived that the intervals there were between the works were of disadvantage to
him; for those spaces of ground afforded the Jews a place for assaulting the Romans.
So he united the hurdles, and at the same time joined one part of the army to the
other, which prevented the private excursions of the Jews.
10. And when the bank was now raised, and brought nearer than ever to the battlements
that belonged to the walls, Josephus thought it would be entirely wrong in him if
he could make no contrivances in opposition to theirs, and that might be for the
city’s preservation; so he got together his workmen, and ordered them to build the
wall higher; and while they said that this was impossible to be done while so many
darts were thrown at them, he invented this sort of cover for them: He bid them
fix piles, and expand before them the raw hides of oxen newly killed, that these
hides by yielding and hollowing themselves when the stones were thrown at them might
receive them, for that the other darts would slide off them, and the fire that was
thrown would be quenched by the moisture that was in them. And these he set before
the workmen, and under them these workmen went on with their works in safety, and
raised the wall higher, and that both by day and by night, fill it was twenty cubits
high. He also built a good number of towers upon the wall, and fitted it to strong
battlements. This greatly discouraged the Romans, who in their own opinions were
already gotten within the walls, while they were now at once astonished at Josephus’s
contrivance, and at the fortitude of the citizens that were in the city.
11. And now Vespasian was plainly irritated at the great subtlety of this stratagem,
and at the boldness of the citizens of Jotapata; for taking heart again upon the
building of this wall, they made fresh sallies upon the Romans, and had every day
conflicts with them by parties, together with all such contrivances, as robbers
make use of, and with the plundering of all that came to hand, as also with the
setting fire to all the other works; and this till Vespasian made his army leave
off fighting them, and resolved to lie round the city, and to starve them into a
surrender, as supposing that either they would be forced to petition him for mercy
by want of provisions, or if they should have the courage to hold out till the last,
they should perish by famine: and he concluded he should conquer them the more easily
in fighting, if he gave them an interval, and then fell upon them when they were
weakened by famine; but still he gave orders that they should guard against their
coming out of the city.
12. Now the besieged had plenty of corn within the city, and indeed of all necessaries,
but they wanted water, because there was no fountain in the city, the people being
there usually satisfied with rain water; yet is it a rare thing in that country
to have rain in summer, and at this season, during the siege, they were in great
distress for some contrivance to satisfy their thirst; and they were very sad at
this time particularly, as if they were already in want of water entirely, for Josephus
seeing that the city abounded with other necessaries, and that the men were of good
courage, and being desirous to protract the siege to the Romans longer than they
expected, ordered their drink to be given them by measure; but this scanty distribution
of water by measure was deemed by them as a thing more hard upon them than the want
of it; and their not being able to drink as much as they would made them more desirous
of drinking than they otherwise had been; nay, they were as much disheartened hereby
as if they were come to the last degree of thirst. Nor were the Romans unacquainted
with the state they were in, for when they stood over against them, beyond the wall,
they could see them running together, and taking their water by measure, which made
them throw their javelins thither the place being within their reach, and kill a
great many of them.
13. Hereupon Vespasian hoped that their receptacles of water would in no long
time be emptied, and that they would be forced to deliver up the city to him; but
Josephus being minded to break such his hope, gave command that they should wet
a great many of their clothes, and hang them out about the battlements, till the
entire wall was of a sudden all wet with the running down of the water. At this
sight the Romans were discouraged, and under consternation, when they saw them able
to throw away in sport so much water, when they supposed them not to have enough
to drink themselves. This made the Roman general despair of taking the city by their
want of necessaries, and to betake himself again to arms, and to try to force them
to surrender, which was what the Jews greatly desired; for as they despaired of
either themselves or their city being able to escape, they preferred a death in
battle before one by hunger and thirst.
14. However, Josephus contrived another stratagem besides the foregoing, to get
plenty of what they wanted. There was a certain rough and uneven place that could
hardly be ascended, and on that account was not guarded by the soldiers; so Josephus
sent out certain persons along the western parts of the valley, and by them sent
letters to whom he pleased of the Jews that were out of the city, and procured from
them what necessaries soever they wanted in the city in abundance; he enjoined them
also to creep generally along by the watch as they came into the city, and to cover
their backs with such sheep-skins as had their wool upon them, that if any one should
spy them out in the night time, they might be believed to be dogs. This was done
till the watch perceived their contrivance, and encompassed that rough place about
themselves.
15. And now it was that Josephus perceived that the city could not hold out long,
and that his own life would be in doubt if he continued in it; so he consulted how
he and the most potent men of the city might fly out of it. When the multitude understood
this, they came all round about him, and begged of him not to overlook them while
they entirely depended on him, and him alone; for that there was still hope of the
city’s deliverance, if he would stay with them, because every body would undertake
any pains with great cheerfulness on his account, and in that case there would be
some comfort for them also, though they should be taken: that it became him neither
to fly from his enemies, nor to desert his friends, nor to leap out of that city,
as out of a ship that was sinking in a storm, into which he came when it was quiet
and in a calm; for that by going away he would be the cause of drowning the city,
because nobody would then venture to oppose the enemy when he was once gone, upon
whom they wholly confided.
16. Hereupon Josephus avoided letting them know that he was to go away to provide
for his own safety, but told them that he would go out of the city for their sakes;
for that if he staid with them, he should be able to do them little good while they
were in a safe condition; and that if they were once taken, he should only perish
with them to no purpose; but that if he were once gotten free from this siege, he
should be able to bring them very great relief; for that he would then immediately
get the Galileans together, out of the country, in great multitudes, and draw the
Romans off their city by another war. That he did not see what advantge he could
bring to them now, by staying among them, but only provoke the Romans to besiege
them more closely, as esteeming it a most valuable thing to take him; but that if
they were once informed that he was fled out of the city, they would greatly remit
of their eagerness against it. Yet did not this plea move the people, but inflamed
them the more to hang about him. Accordingly, both the children and the old men,
and the women with their infants, came mourning to him, and fell down before him,
and all of them caught hold of his feet, and held him fast, and besought him, with
great lamentations, that he would take his share with them in their fortune; and
I think they did this, not that they envied his deliverance, but that they hoped
for their own; for they could not think they should suffer any great misfortune,
provided Josephus would but stay with them.
17. Now Josephus thought, that if he resolved to stay, it would be ascribed to
their entreaties; and if he resolved to go away by force, he should be put into
custody. His commiseration also of the people under their lamentations had much
broken that his eagerness to leave them; so he resolved to stay, and arming himself
with the common despair of the citizens, he said to them, “Now is the time to begin
to fight in earnest, when there is no hope of deliverance left. It is a brave thing
to prefer glory before life, and to set about some such noble undertaking as may
be remembered by late posterity.” Having said this, he fell to work immediately,
and made a sally, and dispersed the enemies’ out-guards, and ran as far as the Roman
camp itself, and pulled the coverings of their tents to pieces, that were upon their
banks, and set fire to their works. And this was the manner in which he never left
off fighting, neither the next day, nor the day after it, but went on with it for
a considerable number of both days and nights.
18. Upon this, Vespasian, when he saw the Romans distressed by these sallies,
(though they were ashamed to be made to run away by the Jews; and when at any time
they made the Jews run away, their heavy armor would not let them pursue them far;
while the Jews, when they had performed any action, and before they could be hurt
themselves, still retired into the city,) ordered his armed men to avoid their onset,
and not fight it out with men under desperation, while nothing is more courageous
than despair; but that their violence would be quenched when they saw they failed
of their purposes, as fire is quenched when it wants fuel; and that it was proper
for the Romans to gain their victories as cheap as they could, since they are not
forced to fight, but only to enlarge their own dominions. So he repelled the Jews
in great measure by the Arabian archers, and the Syrian slingers, and by those that
threw stones at them, nor was there any intermission of the great number of their
offensive engines. Now the Jews suffered greatly by these engines, without being
able to escape from them; and when these engines threw their stones or javelins
a great way, and the Jews were within their reach, they pressed hard upon the Romans,
and fought desperately, without sparing either soul or body, one part succoring
another by turns, when it was tired down.
19. When, therefore, Vespasian looked upon himself as in a manner besieged by
these sallies of the Jews, and when his banks were now not far from the walls, he
determined to make use of his battering ram. This battering ram is a vast beam of
wood like the mast of a ship, its forepart is armed with a thick piece of iron at
the head of it, which is so carved as to be like the head of a ram, whence its name
is taken. This ram is slung in the air by ropes passing over its middle, and is
hung like the balance in a pair of scales from another beam, and braced by strong
beams that pass on both sides of it, in the nature of a cross. When this ram is
pulled backward by a great number of men with united force, and then thrust forward
by the same men, with a mighty noise, it batters the walls with that iron part which
is prominent. Nor is there any tower so strong, or walls so broad, that can resist
any more than its first batteries, but all are forced to yield to it at last. This
was the experiment which the Roman general betook himself to, when he was eagerly
bent upon taking the city; but found lying in the field so long to be to his disadvantage,
because the Jews would never let him be quiet. So these Romans brought the several
engines for galling an enemy nearer to the walls, that they might reach such as
were upon the wall, and endeavored to frustrate their attempts; these threw stones
and javelins at them; in the like manner did the archers and slingers come both
together closer to the wall. This brought matters to such a pass that none of the
Jews durst mount the walls, and then it was that the other Romans brought the battering
ram that was cased with hurdles all over, and in the tipper part was secured by
skins that covered it, and this both for the security of themselves and of the engine.
Now, at the very first stroke of this engine, the wall was shaken, and a terrible
clamor was raised by the people within the city, as if they were already taken.
20. And now, when Josephus saw this ram still battering the same place, and that
the wall would quickly be thrown down by it, he resolved to elude for a while the
force of the engine. With this design he gave orders to fill sacks with chaff, and
to hang them down before that place where they saw the ram always battering, that
the stroke might be turned aside, or that the place might feel less of the strokes
by the yielding nature of the chaff. This contrivance very much delayed the attempts
of the Romans, because, let them remove their engine to what part they pleased,
those that were above it removed their sacks, and placed them over against the strokes
it made, insomuch that the wall was no way hurt, and this by diversion of the strokes,
till the Romans made an opposite contrivance of long poles, and by tying hooks at
their ends, cut off the sacks. Now when the battering ram thus recovered its force,
and the wall having been but newly built, was giving way, Josephus and those about
him had afterward immediate recourse to fire, to defend themselves withal; whereupon
they took what materials soever they had that were but dry, and made a sally three
ways, and set fire to the machines, and the hurdles, and the banks of the Romans
themselves; nor did the Romans well know how to come to their assistance, being
at once under a consternation at the Jews’ boldness, and being prevented by the
flames from coming to their assistance; for the materials being dry with the bitumen
and pitch that were among them, as was brimstone also, the fire caught hold of every
thing immediately, and what cost the Romans a great deal of pains was in one hour
consumed.
21. And here a certain Jew appeared worthy of our relation and commendation;
he was the son of Sameas, and was called Eleazar, and was born at Saab, in Galilee.
This man took up a stone of a vast bigness, and threw it down from the wall upon
the ram, and this with so great a force, that it broke off the head of the engine.
He also leaped down, and took up the head of the ram from the midst of them, and
without any concern carried it to the top of the wall, and this while he stood as
a fit mark to he pelted by all his enemies. Accordingly, he received the strokes
upon his naked body, and was wounded with five darts; nor did he mind any of them
while he went up to the top of the wall, where he stood in the sight of them all,
as an instance of the greatest boldness; after which he drew himself on a heap with
his wounds upon him, and fell down together with the head of the ram. Next to him,
two brothers showed their courage; their names were Netir and Philip, both of them
of the village Ruma, and both of them Galileans also; these men leaped upon the
soldiers of the tenth legion, and fell upon the Romans with such a noise and force
as to disorder their ranks, and to put to flight all upon whomsoever they made their
assaults.
22. After these men’s performances, Josephus, and the rest of the multitude with
him, took a great deal of fire, and burnt both the machines and their coverings,
with the works belonging to the fifth and to the tenth legion, which they put to
flight; when others followed them immediately, and buried those instruments and
all their materials under ground. However, about the evening, the Romans erected
the battering ram again, against that part of the wall which had suffered before;
where a certain Jew that defended the city from the Romans hit Vespasian with a
dart in his foot, and wounded him a little, the distance being so great, that no
mighty impression could be made by the dart thrown so far off. However, this caused
the greatest disorder among the Romans; for when those who stood near him saw his
blood, they were disturbed at it, and a report went abroad, through the whole army,
that the general was wounded, while the greatest part left the siege, and came running
together with surprise and fear to the general; and before them all came Titus,
out of the concern he had for his father, insomuch that the multitude were in great
confusion, and this out of the regard they had for their general, and by reason
of the agony that the son was in. Yet did the father soon put an end to the son’s
fear, and to the disorder the army was under, for being superior to his pains, and
endeavoring soon to be seen by all that had been in a fright about him, he excited
them to fight the Jews more briskly; for now every body was willing to expose himself
to danger immediately, in order to avenge their general; and then they encouraged
one another with loud voices, and ran hastily to the walls.
23. But still Josephus and those with him, although they fell down dead one upon
another by the darts and stones which the engines threw upon them, yet did not they
desert the wall, but fell upon those who managed the ram, under the protection of
the hurdles, with fire, and iron weapons, and stones; and these could do little
or nothing, but fell themselves perpetually, while they were seen by those whom
they could not see, for the light of their own flame shone about them, and made
them a most visible mark to the enemy, as they were in the day time, while the engines
could not be seen at a great distance, and so what was thrown at them was hard to
be avoided; for the force with which these engines threw stones and darts made them
hurt several at a time, and the violent noise of the stones that were cast by the
engines was so great, that they carried away the pinnacles of the wall, and broke
off the corners of the towers; for no body of men could be so strong as not to be
overthrown to the last rank by the largeness of the stones. And any one may learn
the force of the engines by what happened this very night; for as one of those that
stood round about Josephus was near the wall, his head was carried away by such
a stone, and his skull was flung as far as three furlongs. In the day time also,
a woman with child had her belly so violently struck, as she was just come out of
her house, that the infant was carried to the distance of half a furlong, so great
was the force of that engine. The noise of the instruments themselves was very terrible,
the sound of the darts and stones that were thrown by them was so also; of the same
sort was that noise the dead bodies made, when they were dashed against the wall;
and indeed dreadful was the clamor which these things raised in the women within
the city, which was echoed back at the same time by the cries of such as were slain;
while the whole space of ground whereon they fought ran with blood, and the wall
might have been ascended over by the bodies of the dead carcasses; the mountains
also contributed to increase the noise by their echoes; nor was there on that night
any thing of terror wanting that could either affect the hearing or the sight: yet
did a great part of those that fought so hard for Jotapata fall manfully, as were
a great part of them wounded. However, the morning watch was come ere the wall yielded
to the machines employed against it, though it had been battered without intermission.
However, those within covered their bodies with their armor, and raised works over
against that part which was thrown down, before those machines were laid by which
the Romans were to ascend into the city.
24. In the morning Vespasian got his army together, in order to take the city
[by storm], after a little recreation upon the hard pains they had been at the night
before; and as he was desirous to draw off those that opposed him from the places
where the wall had been thrown down, he made the most courageous of the horsemen
get off their horses, and placed them in three ranks over against those ruins of
the wall, but covered with their armor on every side, and with poles in their hands,
that so these might begin their ascent as soon as the instruments for such ascent
were laid; behind them he placed the flower of the footmen; but for the rest of
the horse, he ordered them to extend themselves over against the wall, upon the
whole hilly country, in order to prevent any from escaping out of the city when
it should be taken; and behind these he placed the archers round about, and commanded
them to have their darts ready to shoot. The same command he gave to the slingers,
and to those that managed the engines, and bid them to take up other ladders, and
have them ready to lay upon those parts of the wall which were yet untouched, that
the besieged might be engaged in trying to hinder their ascent by them, and leave
the guard of the parts that were thrown down, while the rest of them should be overborne
by the darts cast at them, and might afford his men an entrance into the city.
25. But Josephus, understanding the meaning of Vespasian’s contrivance, set the
old men, together with those that were tired out, at the sound parts of the wall,
as expecting no harm from those quarters, but set the strongest of his men at the
place where the wall was broken down, and before them all six men by themselves,
among whom he took his share of the first and greatest danger. He also gave orders,
that when the legions made a shout, they should stop their ears, that they might
not be affrighted at it, and that, to avoid the multitude of the enemy’s darts,
they should bend down on their knees, and cover themselves with their shields, and
that they should retreat a little backward for a while, till the archers should
have emptied their quivers; but that When the Romans should lay their instruments
for ascending the walls, they should leap out on the sudden, and with their own
instruments should meet the enemy, and that every one should strive to do his best,
in order not to defend his own city, as if it were possible to be preserved, but
in order to revenge it, when it was already destroyed; and that they should set
before their eyes how their old men were to be slain, and their children and wives
were to be killed immediately by the enemy; and that they would beforehand spend
all their fury, on account of the calamities just coming upon them, and pour it
out on the actors.
26. And thus did Josephus dispose of both his bodies of men; but then for the
useless part of the citizens, the women and children, when they saw their city encompassed
by a threefold army, (for none of the usual guards that had been fighting before
were removed,) when they also saw, not only the walls thrown down, but their enemies
with swords in their hands, as also the hilly country above them shining with their
weapons, d the darts in the hands of the Arabian archers, they made a final and
lamentable outcry of the destruction, as if the misery were not only threatened,
but actually come upon them already. But Josephus ordered the women to be shut up
in their houses, lest they should render the warlike actions of the men too effeminate,
by making them commiserate their condition, and commanded them to hold their peace,
and threatened them if they did not, while he came himself before the breach, where
his allotment was; for all those who brought ladders to the other places, he took
no notice of them, but earnestly waited for the shower of arrows that was coming.
27. And now the trumpeters of the several Roman legions sounded together, and
the army made a terrible shout; and the darts, as by order, flew so last, that they
intercepted the light. However, Josephus’s men remembered the charges he had given
them, they stopped their ears at the sounds, and covered their bodies against the
darts; and as to the engines that were set ready to go to work, the Jews ran out
upon them, before those that should have used them were gotten upon them. And now,
on the ascending of the soldiers, there was a great conflict, and many actions of
the hands and of the soul were exhibited; while the Jews did earnestly endeavor,
in the extreme danger they were in, not to show less courage than those who, without
being in danger, fought so stoutly against them; nor did they leave struggling with
the Romans till they either fell down dead themselves, or killed their antagonists.
But the Jews grew weary with defending themselves continually, and had not enough
to come in their places, and succor them; while, on the side of the Romans, fresh
men still succeeded those that were tired; and still new men soon got upon the machines
for ascent, in the room of those that were thrust down; those encouraging one another,
and joining side to side with their shields, which were a protection to them, they
became a body of men not to be broken; and as this band thrust away the Jews, as
though they were themselves but one body, they began already to get upon the wall.
28. Then did Josephus take necessity for his counselor in this utmost distress,
(which necessity is very sagacious in invention when it is irritated by despair,)
and gave orders to pour scalding oil upon those whose shields protected them. Whereupon
they soon got it ready, being many that brought it, and what they brought being
a great quantity also, and poured it on all sides upon the Romans, and threw down
upon them their vessels as they were still hissing from the heat of the fire: this
so burnt the Romans, that it dispersed that united band, who now tumbled clown from
the wall with horrid pains, for the oil did easily run down the whole body from
head to foot, under their entire armor, and fed upon their flesh like flame itself,
its fat and unctuous nature rendering it soon heated and slowly cooled; and as the
men were cooped up in their head-pieces and breastplates, they could no way get
free from this burning oil; they could only leap and roll about in their pains,
as they fell down from the bridges they had laid. And as they thus were beaten back,
and retired to their own party, who still pressed them forward, they were easily
wounded by those that were behind them.
29. However, in this ill success of the Romans, their courage did not fail them,
nor did the Jews want prudence to oppose them; for the Romans, although they saw
their own men thrown down, and in a miserable condition, yet were they vehemently
bent against those that poured the oil upon them; while every one reproached the
man before him as a coward, and one that hindered him from exerting himself; and
while the Jews made use of another stratagem to prevent their ascent, and poured
boiling fenugreek upon the boards, in order to make them slip and fall down; by
which means neither could those that were coming up, nor those that were going down,
stand on their feet; but some of them fell backward upon the machines on which they
ascended, and were trodden upon; many of them fell down upon the bank they had raised,
and when they were fallen upon it were slain by the Jews; for when the Romans could
not keep their feet, the Jews being freed from fighting hand to hand, had leisure
to throw their darts at them. So the general called off those soldiers in the evening
that had suffered so sorely, of whom the number of the slain was not a few, while
that of the wounded was still greater; but of the people of Jotapata no more than
six men were killed, although more than three hundred were carried off wounded.
This fight happened on the twentieth day of the month Desius [Sivan].
30. Hereupon Vespasian comforted his army on occasion of what happened, and as
he found them angry indeed, but rather wanting somewhat to do than any further exhortations,
he gave orders to raise the banks still higher, and to erect three towers, each
fifty feet high, and that they should cover them with plates of iron on every side,
that they might be both firm by their weight, and not easily liable to be set on
fire. These towers he set upon the banks, and placed upon them such as could shoot
darts and arrows, with the lighter engines for throwing stones and darts also; and
besides these, he set upon them the stoutest men among the slingers, who not being
to be seen by reason of the height they stood upon, and the battlements that protected
them, might throw their weapons at those that were upon the wall, and were easily
seen by them. Hereupon the Jews, not being easily able to escape those darts that
were thrown down upon their heads, nor to avenge themselves on those whom they could
not see, and perceiving that the height of the towers was so great, that a dart
which they threw with their hand could hardly reach it, and that the iron plates
about them made it very hard to come at them by fire, they ran away from the walls,
and fled hastily out of the city, and fell upon those that shot at them. And thus
did the people of Jotapata resist the Romans, while a great number of them were
every day killed, without their being able to retort the evil upon their enemies;
nor could they keep them out of the city without danger to themselves.
31. About this time it was that Vespasian sent out Trajan against a city called
Japha, that lay near to Jotapata, and that desired innovations, and was puffed up
with the unexpected length of the opposition of Jotapata. This Trajan was the commander
of the tenth legion, and to him Vespasian committed one thousand horsemen, and two
thousand footmen. When Trajan came to the city, he found it hard to be taken, for
besides the natural strength of its situation, it was also secured by a double wall;
but when he saw the people of this city coming out of it, and ready to fight him,
he joined battle with them, and after a short resistance which they made, he pursued
after them; and as they fled to their first wall, the Romans followed them so closely,
that they fell in together with them: but when the Jews were endeavoring to get
again within their second wall, their fellow citizens shut them out, as being afraid
that the Romans would force themselves in with them. It was certainly God therefore
who brought the Romans to punish the Galileans, and did then expose the people of
the city every one of them manifestly to be destroyed by their bloody enemies; for
they fell upon the gates in great crowds, and earnestly calling to those that kept
them, and that by their names also, yet had they their throats cut in the very midst
of their supplications; for the enemy shut the gates of the first wall, and their
own citizens shut the gates of the second, so they were enclosed between two walls,
and were slain in great numbers together; many of them were run through by swords
of their own men, and many by their own swords, besides an immense number that were
slain by the Romans. Nor had they any courage to revenge themselves; for there was
added to the consternation they were in from the enemy, their being betrayed by
their own friends, which quite broke their spirits; and at last they died, cursing
not the Romans, but their own citizens, till they were all destroyed, being in number
twelve thousand. So Trajan gathered that the city was empty of people that could
fight, and although there should a few of them be therein, he supposed that they
would be too timorous to venture upon any opposition; so he reserved the taking
of the city to the general. Accordingly, he sent messengers to Vespasian, and desired
him to send his son Titus to finish the victory he had gained. Vespasian hereupon
imagining there might be some pains still necessary, sent his son with an army of
five hundred horsemen, and one thousand footmen. So he came quickly to the city,
and put his army in order, and set Trajan over the left wing, while he had the right
himself, and led them to the siege: and when the soldiers brought ladders to be
laid against the wall on every side, the Galileans opposed them from above for a
while; but soon afterward they left the walls. Then did Titus’s men leap into the
city, and seized upon it presently; but when those that were in it were gotten together,
there was a fierce battle between them; for the men of power fell upon the Romans
in the narrow streets, and the women threw whatsoever came next to hand at them,
and sustained a fight with them for six hours’ time; but when the fighting men were
spent, the rest of the multitude had their throats cut, partly in the open air,
and partly in their own houses, both young and old together. So there were no males
now remaining, besides infants, which, with the women, were carried as slaves into
captivity; so that the number of the slain, both now in the city and at the former
fight, was fifteen thousand, and the captives were two thousand one hundred and
thirty. This calamity befell the Galileans on the twenty-fifth day of the month
Desius [Sivan.]
32. Nor did the Samaritans escape their share of misfortunes at this time; for
they assembled themselves together upon file mountain called Gerizzim, which is
with them a holy mountain, and there they remained; which collection of theirs,
as well as the courageous minds they showed, could not but threaten somewhat of
war; nor were they rendered wiser by the miseries that had come upon their neighboring
cities. They also, notwithstanding the great success the Romans had, marched on
in an unreasonable manner, depending on their own weakness, and were disposed for
any tumult upon its first appearance. Vespasian therefore thought it best to prevent
their motions, and to cut off the foundation of their attempts. For although all
Samaria had ever garrisons settled among them, yet did the number of those that
were come to Mount Gerizzim, and their conspiracy together, give ground for fear
what they would be at; he therefore sent I thither Cerealis, the commander of the
fifth legion, with six hundred horsemen, and three thousand footmen, who did not
think it safe to go up to the mountain, and give them battle, because many of the
enemy were on the higher part of the ground; so he encompassed all the lower part
of the mountain with his army, and watched them all that day. Now it happened that
the Samaritans, who were now destitute of water, were inflamed with a violent heat,
(for it was summer time, and the multitude had not provided themselves with necessaries,)
insomuch that some of them died that very day with heat, while others of them preferred
slavery before such a death as that was, and fled to the Romans; by whom Cerealis
understood that those which still staid there were very much broken by their misfortunes.
So he went up to the mountain, and having placed his forces round about the enemy,
he, in the first place, exhorted them to take the security of his right hand, and
come to terms with him, and thereby save themselves; and assured them, that if they
would lay down their arms, he would secure them from any harm; but when he could
not prevail with them, he fell upon them and slew them all, being in number eleven
thousand and six hundred. This was done on the twenty-seventh day of the month Desius
[Sivan]. And these were the calamities that befell the Samaritans at this time.
33. But as the people of Jotapata still held out manfully, and bore up tinder
their miseries beyond all that could be hoped for, on the forty-seventh day [of
the siege] the banks cast up by the Romans were become higher than the wall; on
which day a certain deserter went to Vespasian, and told him how few were left in
the city, and how weak they were, and that they had been so worn out with perpetual
watching, and as perpetual fighting, that they could not now oppose any force that
came against them, and that they might he taken by stratagem, if any one would attack
them; for that about the last watch of the night, when they thought they might have
some rest from the hardships they were under, and when a morning sleep used to come
upon them, as they were thoroughly weary, he said the watch used to fall asleep;
accordingly his advice was, that they should make their attack at that hour. But
Vespasian had a suspicion about this deserter, as knowing how faithful the Jews
were to one another, and how much they despised any punishments that could be inflicted
on them; this last because one of the people of Jotapata had undergone all sorts
of torments, and though they made him pass through a fiery trial of his enemies
in his examination, yet would he inform them nothing of the affairs within the city,
and as he was crucified, smiled at them. However, the probability there was in the
relation itself did partly confirm the truth of what the deserter told them, and
they thought he might probably speak truth. However, Vespasian thought they should
be no great sufferers if the report was a sham; so he commanded them to keep the
man in custody, and prepared the army for taking the city.
34. According to which resolution they marched without noise, at the hour that
had been told them, to the wall; and it was Titus himself that first got upon it,
with one of his tribunes, Domitius Sabinus, and had a few of the fifteenth legion
along with him. So they cut the throats of the watch, and entered the city very
quietly. After these came Cerealis the tribune, and Placidus, and led on those that
were tinder them. Now when the citadel was taken, and the enemy were in the very
midst of the city, and when it was already day, yet was not the taking of the city
known by those that held it; for a great many of them were fast asleep, and a great
mist, which then by chance fell upon the city, hindered those that got up from distinctly
seeing the case they were in, till the whole Roman army was gotten in, and they
were raised up only to find the miseries they were under; and as they were slaying,
they perceived the city was taken. And for the Romans, they so well remembered what
they had suffered during the siege, that they spared none, nor pitied any, but drove
the people down the precipice from the citadel, and slew them as they drove them
down; at which time the difficulties of the place hindered those that were still
able to fight from defending themselves; for as they were distressed in the narrow
streets, and could not keep their feet sure along the precipice, they were overpowered
with the crowd of those that came fighting them down from the citadel. This provoked
a great many, even of those chosen men that were about Josephus, to kill themselves
with their own hands; for when they saw that they could kill none of the Romans,
they resolved to prevent being killed by the Romans, and got together in great numbers
in the utmost parts of the city, and killed themselves.
35. However, such of the watch as at the first perceived they were taken, and
ran away as fast as they could, went up into one of the towers on the north side
of the city, and for a while defended themselves there; but as they were encompassed
with a multitude of enemies, they tried to use their right hands when it was too
late, and at length they cheerfully offered their necks to be cut off by those that
stood over them. And the Romans might have boasted that the conclusion of that siege
was without blood [on their side] if there had not been a centurion, Antonius, who
was slain at the taking of the city. His death was occasioned by the following treachery;
for there was one of those that were fled into the caverns, which were a great number,
who desired that this Antonius would reach him his right hand for his security,
and would assure him that he would preserve him, and give him his assistance in
getting up out of the cavern; accordingly, he incautiously reached him his right
hand, when the other man prevented him, and stabbed him under his loins with a spear,
and killed him immediately.
36. And on this day it was that the Romans slew all the multitude that appeared
openly; but on the following days they searched the hiding-places, and fell upon
those that were under ground, and in the caverns, and went thus through every age,
excepting the infants and the women, and of these there were gathered together as
captives twelve hundred; and as for those that were slain at the taking of the city,
and in the former fights, they were numbered to be forty thousand. So Vespasian
gave order that the city should be entirely demolished, and all the fortifications
burnt down. And thus was Jotapata taken, in the thirteenth year of the reign of
Nero, on the first day of the month Panemus [Tamuz].
CHAPTER 8.
How Josephus Was Discovered By A Woman, And Was Willing To Deliver Himself Up
To The Romans; And What Discourse He Had With His Own Men, When They Endeavored
To Hinder Him; And What He Said To Vespasian, When He Was Brought To Him; And After
What Manner Vespasian Used Him Afterward.
1. And now the Romans searched for Josephus, both out of the hatred they bore
him, and because their general was very desirous to have him taken; for he reckoned
that if he were once taken, the greatest part of the war would be over. They then
searched among the dead, and looked into the most concealed recesses of the city;
but as the city was first taken, he was assisted by a certain supernatural providence;
for he withdrew himself from the enemy when he was in the midst of them, and leaped
into a certain deep pit, whereto there adjoined a large den at one side of it, which
den could not be seen by those that were above ground; and there he met with forty
persons of eminency that had concealed themselves, and with provisions enough to
satisfy them for not a few days. So in the day time he hid himself from the enemy,
who had seized upon all places, and in the night time he got up out of the den and
looked about for some way of escaping, and took exact notice of the watch; but as
all places were guarded every where on his account, that there was no way of getting
off unseen, he went down again into the den. Thus he concealed himself two days;
but on the third day, when they had taken a woman who had been with them, he was
discovered. Whereupon Vespasian sent immediately and zealously two tribunes, Paulinus
and Gallicanus, and ordered them to give Josephus their right hands as a security
for his life, and to exhort him to come up.
2. So they came and invited the man to come up, and gave him assurances that
his life should be preserved: but they did not prevail with him; for he gathered
suspicions from the probability there was that one who had done so many things against
the Romans must suffer for it, though not from the mild temper of those that invited
him. However, he was afraid that he was invited to come up in order to be punished,
until Vespasian sent besides these a third tribune, Nicanor, to him; he was one
that was well known to Josephus, and had been his familiar acquaintance in old time.
When he was come, he enlarged upon the natural mildness of the Romans towards those
they have once conquered; and told him that he had behaved himself so valiantly,
that the commanders rather admired than hated him; that the general was very desirous
to have him brought to him, not in order to punish him, for that he could do though
he should not come voluntarily, but that he was determined to preserve a man of
his courage. He moreover added this, that Vespasian, had he been resolved to impose
upon him, would not have sent to him a friend of his own, nor put the fairest color
upon the vilest action, by pretending friendship and meaning perfidiousness; nor
would he have himself acquiesced, or come to him, had it been to deceive him.
3. Now as Josephus began to hesitate with himself about Nicanor’s proposal, the
soldiery were so angry, that they ran hastily to set fire to the den; but the tribune
would not permit them so to do, as being very desirous to take the man alive. And
now, as Nicanor lay hard at Josephus to comply, and he understood how the multitude
of the enemies threatened him, he called to mind the dreams which he had dreamed
in the night time, whereby God had signified to him beforehand both the future calamities
of the Jews, and the events that concerned the Roman emperors. Now Josephus was
able to give shrewd conjectures about the interpretation of such dreams as have
been ambiguously delivered by God. Moreover, he was not unacquainted with the prophecies
contained in the sacred books, as being a priest himself, and of the posterity of
priests: and just then was he in an ecstasy; and setting before him the tremendous
images of the dreams he had lately had, he put up a secret prayer to God, and said,
Since it pleaseth thee, who hast created the Jewish nation, to depress the same,
and since all their good fortune is gone over to the Romans, and since thou hast
made choice of this soul of mine to foretell what is to come to pass hereafter,
I willingly give them my hands, and am content to live. And I protest openly that
I do not go over to the Romans as a deserter of the Jews, but as a minister from
thee.”
4. When he had said this, he complied with Nicanor’s invitation. But when those
Jews who had fled with him understood that he yielded to those that invited him
to come up, they came about him in a body, and cried out, “Nay, indeed, now may
the laws of our forefathers, which God ordained himself, well groan to purpose;
that God we mean who hath created the souls of the Jews of such a temper, that they
despise death. O Josephus! art thou still fond of life? and canst thou bear to see
the light in a state of slavery? How soon hast thou forgotten thyself! How many
hast thou persuaded to lose their lives for liberty! Thou hast therefore had a false
reputation for manhood, and a like false reputation for wisdom, if thou canst hope
for preservation from those against whom thou hast fought so zealously, and art
however willing to be preserved by them, if they be in earnest. But although the
good fortune of the Romans hath made thee forget thyself, we ought to take care
that the glory of our forefathers may not be tarnished. We will lend thee our right
hand and a sword; and if thou wilt die willingly, thou wilt die as general of the
Jews; but if unwillingly, thou wilt die as a traitor to them.” As soon as they said
this, they began to thrust their swords at him, and threatened they would kill him,
if he thought of yielding himself to the Romans.
5. Upon this Josephus was afraid of their attacking him, and yet thought he should
be a betrayer of the commands of God, if he died before they were delivered. So
he began to talk like a philosopher to them in the distress he was then in, when
he said thus to them: “O my friends, why are we so earnest to kill ourselves? and
why do we set our soul and body, which are such dear companions, at such variance?
Can any one pretend that I am not the man I was formerly? Nay, the Romans are sensible
how that matter stands well enough. It is a brave thin to die in war; but so that
it be according to the law of war, by the hand of conquerors. If, therefore, I avoid
death from the sword of the Romans, I am truly worthy to be killed by my own sword,
and my own hand; but if they admit of mercy, and would spare their enemy, how much
more ought we to have mercy upon ourselves, and to spare ourselves? For it is certainly
a foolish thing to do that to ourselves which we quarrel with them for doing to
us. I confess freely that it is a brave thing to die for liberty; but still so that
it be in war, and done by those who take that liberty from us; but in the present
case our enemies do neither meet us in battle, nor do they kill us. Now he is equally
a coward who will not die when he is obliged to die, and he who will die when he
is not obliged so to do. What are we afraid of, when we will not go up to the Romans?
Is it death? If so, what we are afraid of, when we but suspect our enemies will
inflict it on us, shall we inflict it on ourselves for certain? But it may be said
we must be slaves. And are we then in a clear state of liberty at present? It may
also be said that it is a manly act for one to kill himself. No, certainly, but
a most unmanly one; as I should esteem that pilot to be an arrant coward, who, out
of fear of a storm, should sink his ship of his own accord. Now self-murder is a
crime most remote from the common nature of all animals, and an instance of impiety
against God our Creator; nor indeed is there any animal that dies by its own contrivance,
or by its own means, for the desire of life is a law engraven in them all; on which
account we deem those that openly take it away from us to be our enemies, and those
that do it by treachery are punished for so doing. And do not you think that God
is very angry when a man does injury to what he hath bestowed on him? For from him
it is that we have received our being, and we ought to leave it to his disposal
to take that being away from us. The bodies of all men are indeed mortal, and are
created out of corruptible matter; but the soul is ever immortal, and is a portion
of the divinity that inhabits our bodies. Besides, if any one destroys or abuses
a depositum he hath received from a mere man, he is esteemed a wicked and perfidious
person; but then if any one cast out of his body this Divine depositum, can we imagine
that he who is thereby affronted does not know of it? Moreover, our law justly ordains
that slaves which run away from their master shall be punished, though the masters
they run away from may have been wicked masters to them. And shall we endeavor to
run away from God, who is the best of all masters, and not guilty of impeity? Do
not you know that those who depart out of this life according to the law of nature,
and pay that debt which was received from God, when he that lent it us is pleased
to require it back again, enjoy eternal fame; that their houses and their posterity
are sure, that their souls are pure and obedient, and obtain a most holy place in
heaven, from whence, in the revolutions of ages, they are again sent into pure bodies;
while the souls of those whose hands have acted madly against themselves are received
by the darkest place in Hades, and while God, who is their Father, punishes those
that offend against either of them in their posterity? for which reason God hates
such doings, and the crime is punished by our most wise legislator. Accordingly,
our laws determine that the bodies of such as kill themselves should be exposed
till the sun be set, without burial, although at the same time it be allowed by
them to be lawful to bury our enemies [sooner]. The laws of other nations also enjoin
such men’s hands to be cut off when they are dead, which had been made use of in
destroying themselves when alive, while they reckoned that as the body is alien
from the soul, so is the hand alien from the body. It is therefore, my friends,
a right thing to reason justly, and not add to the calamities which men bring upon
us impiety towards our Creator. If we have a mind to preserve ourselves, let us
do it; for to be preserved by those our enemies, to whom we have given so many demonstrations
of our courage, is no way inglorious; but if we have a mind to die, it is good to
die by the hand of those that have conquered us. For nay part, I will not run over
to our enemies’ quarters, in order to be a traitor to myself; for certainly I should
then be much more foolish than those that deserted to the enemy, since they did
it in order to save themselves, and I should do it for destruction, for my own destruction.
However, I heartily wish the Romans may prove treacherous in this matter; for if,
after their offer of their right hand for security, I be slain by them, I shall
die cheerfully, and carry away with me the sense of their perfidiousness, as a consolation
greater than victory itself.”
6. Now these and many the like motives did Josephus use to these men to prevent
their murdering themselves; but desperation had shut their ears, as having long
ago devoted themselves to die, and they were irritated at Josephus. They then ran
upon him with their swords in their hands, one from one quarter, and another from
another, and called him a coward, and everyone of them appeared openly as if he
were ready to smite him; but he calling to one of them by name, and looking like
a general to another, and taking a third by the hand, and making a fourth ashamed
of himself, by praying him to forbear, and being in this condition distracted with
various passions, (as he well might in the great distress he was then in,) he kept
off every one of their swords from killing him, and was forced to do like such wild
beasts as are encompassed about on every side, who always turn themselves against
those that last touched them. Nay, some of their right hands were debilitated by
the reverence they bare to their general in these his fatal calamities, and their
swords dropped out of their hands; and not a few of them there were, who, when they
aimed to smite him with their swords, they were not thoroughly either willing or
able to do it.
7. However, in this extreme distress, he was not destitute of his usual sagacity;
but trusting himself to the providence of God, he put his life into hazard [in the
manner following]: “And now,” said he, “since it is resolved among you that you
will die, come on, let us commit our mutual deaths to determination by lot. He whom
the lot falls to first, let him be killed by him that hath the second lot, and thus
fortune shall make its progress through us all; nor shall any of us perish by his
own right hand, for it would be unfair if, when the rest are gone, somebody should
repent and save himself.” This proposal appeared to them to be very just; and when
he had prevailed with them to determine this matter by lots, he drew one of the
lots for himself also. He who had the first lot laid his neck bare to him that had
the next, as supposing that the general would die among them immediately; for they
thought death, if Josephus might but die with them, was sweeter than life; yet was
he with another left to the last, whether we must say it happened so by chance,
or whether by the providence of God. And as he was very desirous neither to be condemned
by the lot, nor, if he had been left to the last, to imbrue his right hand in the
blood of his countrymen, he persuaded him to trust his fidelity to him, and to live
as well as himself.
8. Thus Josephus escaped in the war with the Romans, and in this his own war
with his friends, and was led by Nicanor to Vespasian. But now all the Romans ran
together to see him; and as the multitude pressed one upon another about their general,
there was a tumult of a various kind; while some rejoiced that Josephus was taken,
and some threatened him, and some crowded to see him very near; but those that were
more remote cried out to have this their enemy put to death, while those that were
near called to mind the actions he had done, and a deep concern appeared at the
change of his fortune. Nor were there any of the Roman commanders, how much soever
they had been enraged at him before, but relented when they came to the sight of
him. Above all the rest, Titus’s own valor, and Josephus’s own patience under his
afflictions, made him pity him, as did also the commiseration of his age, when he
recalled to mind that but a little while ago he was fighting, but lay now in the
hands of his enemies, which made him consider the power of fortune, and how quick
is the turn of affairs in war, and how no state of men is sure; for which reason
he then made a great many more to be of the same pitiful temper with himself, and
induced them to commiserate Josephus. He was also of great weight in persuading
his father to preserve him. However, Vespasian gave strict orders that he should
be kept with great caution, as though he would in a very little time send him to
Nero.
9. When Josephus heard him give those orders, he said that he had somewhat in
his mind that he would willingly say to himself alone. When therefore they were
all ordered to withdraw, excepting Titus and two of their friends, he said, “Thou,
O Vespasian, thinkest no more than that thou hast taken Josephus himself captive;
but I come to thee as a messenger of greater tidings; for had not I been sent by
God to thee, I knew what was the law of the Jews in this case? and how it becomes
generals to die. Dost thou send me to Nero? For why? Are Nero’s successors till
they come to thee still alive? Thou, O Vespasian, art Caesar and emperor, thou,
and this thy son. Bind me now still faster, and keep me for thyself, for thou, O
Caesar, are not only lord over me, but over the land and the sea, and all mankind;
and certainly I deserve to be kept in closer custody than I now am in, in order
to be punished, if I rashly affirm any thing of God.” When he had said this, Vespasian
at present did not believe him, but supposed that Josephus said this as a cunning
trick, in order to his own preservation; but in a little time he was convinced,
and believed what he said to be true, God himself erecting his expectations, so
as to think of obtaining the empire, and by other signs fore-showing his advancement.
He also found Josephus to have spoken truth on other occasions; for one of those
friends that were present at that secret conference said to Josephus, “I cannot
but wonder how thou couldst not foretell to the people of Jotapata that they should
be taken, nor couldst foretell this captivity which hath happened to thyself, unless
what thou now sayest be a vain thing, in order to avoid the rage that is risen against
thyself.” To which Josephus replied, “I did foretell to the people of Jotapata that
they would be taken on the forty-seventh day, and that I should be caught alive
by the Romans.” Now when Vespasian had inquired of the captives privately about
these predictions, he found them to be true, and then he began to believe those
that concerned himself. Yet did he not set Josephus at liberty from his hands, but
bestowed on him suits of clothes, and other precious gifts; he treated him also
in a very obliging manner, and continued so to do, Titus still joining his interest
ill the honors that were done him.
CHAPTER 9.
How Joppa Was Taken, And Tiberias Delivered Up.
1. Now Vespasian returned to Ptolemais on the fourth day of the month Panemus,
[Tamus] and from thence he came to Cesarea, which lay by the sea-side. This was
a very great city of Judea, and for the greatest part inhabited by Greeks: the citizens
here received both the Roman army and its general, with all sorts of acclamations
and rejoicings, and this partly out of the good-will they bore to the Romans, but
principally out of the hatred they bore to those that were conquered by them; on
which account they came clamoring against Josephus in crowds, and desired he might
be put to death. But Vespasian passed over this petition concerning him, as offered
by the injudicious multitude, with a bare silence. Two of the legions also he placed
at Cesarea, that they might there take their winter-quarters, as perceiving the
city very fit for such a purpose; but he placed the tenth and the fifth at Scythopolis,
that he might not distress Cesarea with the entire army. This place was warm even
in winter, as it was suffocating hot in the summer time, by reason of its situation
in a plain, and near to the sea [of Galilee].
2. In the mean time, there were gathered together as well such as had seditiously
got out from among their enemies, as those that had escaped out of the demolished
cities, which were in all a great number, and repaired Joppa, which had been left
desolate by Cestius, that it might serve them for a place of refuge; and because
the adjoining region had been laid waste in the war, and was not capable of supporting
them, they determined to go off to sea. They also built themselves a great many
piratical ships, and turned pirates upon the seas near to Syria, and Phoenicia,
and Egypt, and made those seas unnavigable to all men. Now as soon as Vespasian
knew of their conspiracy, he sent both footmen and horsemen to Joppa, which was
unguarded in the night time; however, those that were in it perceived that they
should be attacked, and were afraid of it; yet did they not endeavor to keep the
Romans out, but fled to their ships, and lay at sea all night, out of the reach
of their darts.
3. Now Joppa is not naturally a haven, for it ends in a rough shore, where all
the rest of it is straight, but the two ends bend towards each other, where there
are deep precipices, and great stones that jut out into the sea, and where the chains
wherewith Andromeda was bound have left their footsteps, which attest to the antiquity
of that fable. But the north wind opposes and beats upon the shore, and dashes mighty
waves against the rocks which receive them, and renders the haven more dangerous
than the country they had deserted. Now as those people of Joppa were floating about
in this sea, in the morning there fell a violent wind upon them; it is called by
those that sail there “the black north wind,” and there dashed their ships one against
another, and dashed some of them against the rocks, and carried many of them by
force, while they strove against the opposite waves, into the main sea; for the
shore was so rocky, and had so many of the enemy upon it, that they were afraid
to come to land; nay, the waves rose so very high, that they drowned them; nor was
there any place whither they could fly, nor any way to save themselves; while they
were thrust out of the sea, by the violence of the wind, if they staid where they
were, and out of the city by the violence of the Romans. And much lamentation there
was when the ships were dashed against one another, and a terrible noise when they
were broken to pieces; and some of the multitude that were in them were covered
with waves, and so perished, and a great many were embarrassed with shipwrecks.
But some of them thought that to die by their own swords was lighter than by the
sea, and so they killed themselves before they were drowned; although the greatest
part of them were carried by the waves, and dashed to pieces against the abrupt
parts of the rocks, insomuch that the sea was bloody a long way, and the maritime
parts were full of dead bodies; for the Romans came upon those that were carried
to the shore, and destroyed them; and the number of the bodies that were thus thrown
out of the sea was four thousand and two hundred. The Romans also took the city
without opposition, and utterly demolished it.
4. And thus was Joppa taken twice by the Romans in a little time; but Vespasian,
in order to prevent these pirates from coming thither any more, erected a camp there,
where the citadel of Joppa had been, and left a body of horse in it, with a few
footmen, that these last might stay there and guard the camp, and the horsemen might
spoil the country that lay round it, and might destroy the neighboring villages
and smaller cities. So these troops overran the country, as they were ordered to
do, and every day cut to pieces and laid desolate the whole region.
5. But now, when the fate of Jotapata was related at Jerusalem, a great many
at the first disbelieved it, on account of the vastness of the calamity, and because
they had no eye-witness to attest the truth of what was related about it; for not
one person was saved to be a messenger of that news, but a fame was spread abroad
at random that the city was taken, as such fame usually spreads bad news about.
However, the truth was known by degrees, from the places near Jotapata, and appeared
to all to be too true. Yet were there fictitious stories added to what was really
done; for it was reported that Josephus was slain at the taking of the city, which
piece of news filled Jerusalem full of sorrow. In every house also, and among all
to whom any of the slain were allied, there was a lamentation for them; but the
mourning for the commander was a public one; and some mourned for those that had
lived with them, others for their kindred, others for their friends, and others
for their brethren, but all mourned for Josephus; insomuch that the lamentation
did not cease in the city before the thirtieth day; and a great many hired mourners,
with their pipes, who should begin the melancholy ditties for them.
6. But as the truth came out in time, it appeared how the affairs of Jotapata
really stood; yet was it found that the death of Josephus was a fiction; and when
they understood that he was alive, and was among the Romans, and that the commanders
treated him at another rate than they treated captives, they were as vehemently
angry at him now as they had showed their good-will before, when he appeared to
have been dead. He was also abused by some as having been a coward, and by others
as a deserter; and the city was full of indignation at him, and of reproaches cast
upon him; their rage was also aggravated by their afflictions, and more inflamed
by their ill success; and what usually becomes an occasion of caution to wise men,
I mean affliction, became a spur to them to venture on further calamities, and the
end of one misery became still the beginning of another; they therefore resolved
to fall on the Romans the more vehemently, as resolving to be revenged on him in
revenging themselves on the Romans. And this was the state of Jerusalem as to the
troubles which now came upon it.
7. But Vespasian, in order to see the kingdom of Agrippa, while the king persuaded
himself so to do, (partly in order to his treating the general and his army in the
best and most splendid manner his private affairs would enable him to do, and partly
that he might, by their means, correct such things as were amiss in his government,)
he removed from that Cesarea which was by the sea-side, and went to that which is
called Cesarea Philippi and there he refreshed his army for twenty days, and was
himself feasted by king Agrippa, where he also returned public thanks to God for
the good success he had had in his undertakings. But as soon as he was informed
that Tiberias was fond of innovations, and that Tarichere had revolted, both which
cities were parts of the kingdom of Agrippa, and was satisfied within himself that
the Jews were every where perverted [from their obedience to their governors], he
thought it seasonable to make an expedition against these cities, and that for the
sake of Agrippa, and in order to bring his cities to reason. So he sent away his
son Titus to [the other] Cesarea, that he might bring the army that lay there to
Seythopous, which is the largest city of Decapolis, and in the neighborhood of Tiberias,
whither he came, and where he waited for his son. He then came with three legions,
and pitched his camp thirty furlongs off Tiberias, at a certain station easily seen
by the innovators; it is named Sennabris. He also sent Valerian, a decurion, with
fifty horsemen, to speak peaceably to those that were in the city, and to exhort
them to give him assurances of their fidelity; for he had heard that the people
were desirous of peace, but were obliged by some of the seditious part to join with
them, and so were forced to fight for them. When Valerian had marched up to the
place, and was near the wall, he alighted off his horse, and made those that were
with him to do the same, that they might not be thought to come to skirmish with
them; but before they could come to a discourse one with another, the most potent
men among the seditious made a sally upon them armed; their leader was one whose
name was Jesus, the son of Shaphat, the principal head of a band of robbers. Now
Valerian, neither thinking it safe to fight contrary to the commands of the general,
though he were secure of a victory, and knowing that it was a very hazardous undertaking
for a few to fight with many, for those that were unprovided to fight those that
were ready, and being on other accounts surprised at this unexpected onset of the
Jews, he ran away on foot, as did five of the rest in like manner, and left their
horses behind them; which horses Jesus led away into the city, and rejoiced as if
they had taken them in battle, and not by treachery.
8. Now the seniors of the people, and such as were of principal authority among
them, fearing what would be the issue of this matter, fled to the camp of the Romans;
they then took their king along with them, and fell down before Vespasian, to supplicate
his favor, and besought him not to overlook them, nor to impute the madness of a
few to the whole city, to spare a people that have been ever civil and obliging
to the Romans; but to bring the authors of this revolt to due punishment, who had
hitherto so watched them, that though they were zealous to give them the security
of their right hands of a long time, yet could they not accomplish the same. With
these supplications the general complied, although he were very angry at the whole
city about the carrying off his horses, and this because he saw that Agrippa was
under a great concern for them. So when Vespasian and Agrippa had accepted of their
right hands by way of security, Jesus and his party thought it not safe for them
to continue at Tiberias, so they ran away to Tarichete. The next day Vespasian sent
Trajan before with some horsemen to the citadel, to make trial of the multitude,
whether they were all disposed for peace; and as soon as he knew that the people
were of the same mind with the petitioner, he took his army, and went to the city;
upon which the citizens opened to him their gates, and met him with acclamations
of joy, and called him their savior and benefactor. But as the army was a great
while in getting in at the gates, they were so narrow, Vespasian commanded the south
wall to be broken down, and so made a broad passage for their entrance. However,
he charged them to abstain from rapine and injustice, in order to gratify the king;
and on his account spared the rest of the wall, while the king undertook for them
that they should continue [faithful to the Romans] for the time to come. And thus
did he restore this city to a quiet state, after it had been grievously afflicted
by the sedition.
CHAPTER 10.
How Taricheae Was Taken. A Description Of The River Jordan, And Of The Country
Of Gennesareth.
1. And now Vespasian pitched his camp between this city and Taricheae, but fortified
his camp more strongly, as suspecting that he should be forced to stay there, and
have a long war; for all the innovators had gotten together at Taricheae, as relying
upon the strength of the city, and on the lake that lay by it. This lake is called
by the people of the country the Lake of Gennesareth. The city itself is situated
like Tiberias, at the bottom of a mountain, and on those sides which are not washed
by the sea, had been strongly fortified by Josephus, though not so strongly as Tiberias;
for the wall of Tiberias had been built at the beginning of the Jews’ revolt, when
he had great plenty of money, and great power, but Tarichese partook only the remains
of that liberality, Yet had they a great number of ships gotten ready upon the lake,
that, in case they were beaten at land, they might retire to them; and they were
so fitted up, that they might undertake a Sea-fight also. But as the Romans were
building a wall about their camp, Jesu and his party were neither affrighted at
their number, nor at the good order they were in, but made a sally upon them; and
at the very first onset the builders of the wall were dispersed; and these pulled
what little they had before built to pieces; but as soon as they saw the armed men
getting together, and before they had suffered any thing themselves, they retired
to their own men. But then the Romans pursued them, and drove them into their ships,
where they launched out as far as might give them the opportunity of reaching the
Romans with what they threw at them, and then cast anchor, and brought their ships
close, as in a line of battle, and thence fought the enemy from the sea, who were
themselves at land. But Vespasian hearing that a great multitude of them were gotten
together in the plain that was before the city, he thereupon sent his son, with
six hundred chosen horsemen, to disperse them.
2. But when Titus perceived that the enemy was very numerous, he sent to his
father, and informed him that he should want more forces. But as he saw a great
many of the horsemen eager to fight, and that before any succors could come to them,
and that yet some of them were privately under a sort of consternation at the multitude
of the Jews, he stood in a place whence he might be heard, and said to them, “My
brave Romans! for it is right for me to put you in mind of what nation you are,
in the beginning of my speech, that so you may not be ignorant who you are, and
who they are against whom we are going to fight. For as to us, Romans, no part of
the habitable earth hath been able to escape our hands hitherto; but as for the
Jews, that I may speak of them too, though they have been already beaten, yet do
they not give up the cause; and a sad thing it would be for us to grow wealthy under
good success, when they bear up under their misfortunes. As to the alacrity which
you show publicly, I see it, and rejoice at it; yet am I afraid lest the multitude
of the enemy should bring a concealed fright upon some of you: let such a one consider
again, who we are that are to fight, and who those are against whom we are to fight.
Now these Jews, though they be very bold and great despisers of death, are but a
disorderly body, and unskillful in war, and may rather be called a rout than an
army; while I need say nothing of our skill and our good order; for this is the
reason why we Romans alone are exercised for war in time of peace, that we may not
think of number for number when we come to fight with our enemies: for what advantage
should we reap by our continual sort of warfare, if we must still be equal in number
to such as have not been used to war. Consider further, that you are to have a conflict
with men in effect unarmed, while you are well armed; with footmen, while you are
horsemen; with those that have no good general, while you have one; and as these
advantages make you in effect manifold more than you are, so do their disadvantages
mightily diminish their number. Now it is not the multitude of men, though they
be soldiers, that manages wars with success, but it is their bravery that does it,
though they be but a few; for a few are easily set in battle-array, and can easily
assist one another, while over-numerous armies are more hurt by themselves than
by their enemies. It is boldness and rashness, the effects of madness, that conduct
the Jews. Those passions indeed make a great figure when they succeed, but are quite
extinguished upon the least ill success; but we are led on by courage, and obedience,
and fortitude, which shows itself indeed in our good fortune, but still does not
for ever desert us in our ill fortune. Nay, indeed, your fighting is to be on greater
motives than those of the Jews; for although they run the hazard of war for liberty,
and for their country, yet what can be a greater motive to us than glory? and that.
it may never be said, that after we have got dominion of the habitable earth, the
Jews are able to confront us. We must also reflect upon this, that there is no fear
of our suffering any incurable disaster in the present case; for those that are
ready to assist us are many, and at hand also; yet it is in our power to seize upon
this victory ourselves; and I think we ought to prevent the coming of those my father
is sending to us for our assistance, that our success may be peculiar to ourselves,
and of greater reputation to us. And I cannot but think this an opportunity wherein
my father, and I, and you shall be all put to the trial, whether he be worthy of
his former glorious performances, whether I be his son in reality, and whether you
be really my soldiers; for it is usual for my father to conquer; and for myself,
I should not bear the thoughts of returning to him if I were once taken by the enemy.
And how will you be able to avoid being ashamed, if you do not show equal courage
with your commander, when he goes before you into danger? For you know very well
that I shall go into the danger first, and make the first attack upon the enemy.
Do not you therefore desert me, but persuade yourselves that God will be assisting
to my onset. Know this also before we begin, that we shall now have better success
than we should have, if we were to fight at a distance.”
3. As Titus was saying this, an extraordinary fury fell upon the men; and as
Trajan was already come before the fight began, with four hundred horsemen, they
were uneasy at it, because the reputation of the victory would be diminished by
being common to so many. Vespasian had also sent both Antonius and Silo, with two
thousand archers, and had given it them in charge to seize upon the mountain that
was over against the city, and repel those that were upon the wall; which archers
did as they were commanded, and prevented those that attempted to assist them that
way; And now Titus made his own horse march first against the enemy, as did the
others with a great noise after him, and extended themselves upon the plain as wide
as the enemy which confronted them; by which means they appeared much more numerous
than they really were. Now the Jews, although they were surprised at their onset,
and at their good order, made resistance against their attacks for a little while;
but when they were pricked with their long poles, and overborne by the violent noise
of the horsemen, they came to be trampled under their feet; many also of them were
slain on every side, which made them disperse themselves, and run to the city, as
fast as every one of them were able. So Titus pressed upon the hindmost, and slew
them; and of the rest, some he fell upon as they stood on heaps, and some he prevented,
and met them in the mouth, and run them through; many also he leaped upon as they
fell one upon another, and trod them down, and cut off all the retreat they had
to the wall, and turned them back into the plain, till at last they forced a passage
by their multitude, and got away, and ran into the city.
4. But now there fell out a terrible sedition among them within the city; for
the inhabitants themselves, who had possessions there, and to whom the city belonged,
were not disposed to fight from the very beginning; and now the less so, because
they had been beaten; but the foreigners, which were very numerous, would force
them to fight so much the more, insomuch that there was a clamor and a tumult among
them, as all mutually angry one at another. And when Titus heard this tumult, for
he was not far from the wall, he cried out,” Fellow soldiers, now is the time; and
why do we make any delay, when God is giving up the Jews to us? Take the victory
which is given you: do not you hear what a noise they make? Those that have escaped
our hands are ill an uproar against one another. We have the city if we make haste;
but besides haste, we must undergo some labor, and use some courage; for no great
thing uses to be accomplished without danger: accordingly, we must not only prevent
their uniting again, which necessity will soon compel them to do, but we must also
prevent the coming of our own men to our assistance, that, as few as we are, we
may conquer so great a multitude, and may ourselves alone take the city:”
5. As soon as ever Titus had said this, he leaped upon his horse, and rode apace
down to the lake; by which lake he marched, and entered into the city the first
of them all, as did the others soon after him. Hereupon those that were upon the
walls were seized with a terror at the boldness of the attempt, nor durst any one
venture to fight with him, or to hinder him; so they left guarding the city, and
some of those that were about Jesus fled over the country, while others of them
ran down to the lake, and met the enemy in the teeth, and some were slain as they
were getting up into the ships, but others of them as they attempted to overtake
those that were already gone aboard. There was also a great slaughter made in the
city, while those foreigners that had not fled away already made opposition; but
the natural inhabitants were killed without fighting: for in hopes of Titus’s giving
them his right hand for their security, and out of a consciousness that they had
not given any consent to the war, they avoided fighting, till Titus had slain the
authors of this revolt, and then put a stop to any further slaughters, out of commiseration
of these inhabitants of the place. But for those that had fled to the lake, upon
seeing the city taken, they sailed as far as they possibly could from the enemy.
6. Hereupon Titus sent one of his horsemen to his father, and let him know the
good news of what he had done; at which, as was natural, he was very joyful, both
on account of the courage and glorious actions of his son; for he thought that now
the greatest part of the war was over. He then came thither himself, and set men
to guard the city, and gave them command to take care that nobody got privately
out of it, but to kill such as attempted so to do. And on the next day he went down
to the lake, and commanded that vessels should be fitted up, in order to pursue
those that had escaped in the ships. These vessels were quickly gotten ready accordingly,
because there was great plenty of materials, and a great number of artificers also.
7. Now this lake of Gennesareth is so called from the country adjoining to it.
Its breadth is forty furlongs, and its length one hundred and forty; its waters
are sweet, and very agreeable for drinking, for they are finer than the thick waters
of other fens; the lake is also pure, and on every side ends directly at the shores,
and at the sand; it is also of a temperate nature when you draw it up, and of a
more gentle nature than river or fountain water, and yet always cooler than one
could expect in so diffuse a place as this is. Now when this water is kept in the
open air, it is as cold as that snow which the country people are accustomed to
make by night in summer. There are several kinds of fish in it, different both to
the taste and the sight from those elsewhere. It is divided into two parts by the
river Jordan. Now Panium is thought to be the fountain of Jordan, but in reality
it is carried thither after an occult manner from the place called Phiala: this
place lies as you go up to Trachonitis, and is a hundred and twenty furlongs from
Cesarea, and is not far out of the road on the right hand; and indeed it hath its
name of Phiala [vial or bowl] very justly, from the roundness of its circumference,
as being round like a wheel; its water continues always up to its edges, without
either sinking or running over. And as this origin of Jordan was formerly not known,
it was discovered so to be when Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis; for he had chaff
thrown into Phiala, and it was found at Paninto, where the ancients thought the
fountain-head of the river was, whither it had been therefore carried [by the waters].
As for Panium itself, its natural beauty had been improved by the royal liberality
of Agrippa, and adorned at his expenses. Now Jordan’s visible stream arises from
this cavern, and divides the marshes and fens of the lake Semechonitis; when it
hath run another hundred and twenty furlongs, it first passes by the city Julias,
and then passes through the middle of the lake Gennesareth; after which it runs
a long way over a desert, and then makes its exit into the lake Asphaltitis.
8. The country also that lies over against this lake hath the same name of Gennesareth;
its nature is wonderful as well as its beauty; its soil is so fruitful that all
sorts of trees can grow upon it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts
of trees there; for the temper of the air is so well mixed, that it agrees very
well with those several sorts, particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air,
flourish there in vast plenty; there are palm trees also, which grow best in hot
air; fig trees also and olives grow near them, which yet require an air that is
more temperate. One may call this place the ambition of nature, where it forces
those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together; it is
a happy contention of the seasons, as if every one of them laid claim to this country;
for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruit beyond men’s expectation,
but preserves them a great while; it supplies men with the principal fruits, with
grapes and figs continually, during ten months of the year and the rest of the fruits
as they become ripe together through the whole year; for besides the good temperature
of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain. The people of the country
call it Capharnaum. Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces
the Coracin fish as well as that lake does which is near to Alexandria. The length
of this country extends itself along the banks of this lake that bears the same
name for thirty furlongs, and is in breadth twenty, And this is the nature of that
place.
9. But now, when the vessels were gotten ready, Vespasian put upon ship-board
as many of his forces as he thought sufficient to be too hard for those that were
upon the lake, and set sail after them. Now these which were driven into the lake
could neither fly to the land, where all was in their enemies’ hand, and in war
against them; nor could they fight upon the level by sea, for their ships were small
and fitted only for piracy; they were too weak to fight with Vespasian’s vessels,
and the mariners that were in them were so few, that they were afraid to come near
the Romans, who attacked them in great numbers. However, as they sailed round about
the vessels, and sometimes as they came near them, they threw stones at the Romans
when they were a good way off, or came closer and fought them; yet did they receive
the greatest harm themselves in both cases. As for the stones they threw at the
Romans, they only made a sound one after another, for they threw them against such
as were in their armor, while the Roman darts could reach the Jews themselves; and
when they ventured to come near the Romans, they became sufferers themselves before
they could do any harm to the ether, and were drowned, they and their ships together.
As for those that endeavored to come to an actual fight, the Romans ran many of
them through with their long poles. Sometimes the Romans leaped into their ships,
with swords in their hands, and slew them; but when some of them met the vessels,
the Romans caught them by the middle, and destroyed at once their ships and themselves
who were taken in them. And for such as were drowning in the sea, if they lifted
their heads up above the water, they were either killed by darts, or caught by the
vessels; but if, in the desperate case they were in, they attempted to swim to their
enemies, the Romans cut off either their heads or their hands; and indeed they were
destroyed after various manners every where, till the rest being put to flight,
were forced to get upon the land, while the vessels encompassed them about [on the
sea]: but as many of these were repulsed when they were getting ashore, they were
killed by the darts upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out of their vessels, and
destroyed a great many more upon the land: one might then see the lake all bloody,
and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and
a very sad sight there was on the following days over that country; for as for the
shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled; and as the
dead bodies were inflamed by the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air, insomuch
that the misery was not only the object of commiseration to the Jews, but to those
that hated them, and had been the authors of that misery. This was the upshot of
the sea-fight. The number of the slain, including those that were killed in the
city before, was six thousand and five hundred.
10. After this fight was over, Vespasian sat upon his tribunal at Taricheae,
in order to distinguish the foreigners from the old inhabitants; for those foreigners
appear to have begun the war. So he deliberated with the other commanders, whether
he ought to save those old inhabitants or not. And when those commanders alleged
that the dismission of them would be to his own disadvantage, because, when they
were once set at liberty, they would not be at rest, since they would be people
destitute of proper habitations, and would he able to compel such as they fled to
fight against us, Vespasian acknowledged that they did not deserve to be saved,
and that if they had leave given them to fly away, they would make use of it against
those that gave them that leave. But still he considered with himself after what
manner they should be slain for if he had them slain there, he suspected the people
of the country would thereby become his enemies; for that to be sure they would
never bear it, that so many that had been supplicants to him should be killed; and
to offer violence to them, after he had given them assurances of their lives, he
could not himself bear to do it. However, his friends were too hard for him, and
pretended that nothing against Jews could be any impiety, and that he ought to prefer
what was profitable before what was fit to be done, where both could not be made
consistent. So he gave them an ambiguous liberty to do as they advised, and permitted
the prisoners to go along no other road than that which led to Tiberias only. So
they readily believed what they desired to be true, and went along securely, with
their effects, the way which was allowed them, while the Romans seized upon all
the road that led to Tiberias, that none of them might go out of it, and shut them
up in the city. Then came Vespasian, and ordered them all to stand in the stadium,
and commanded them to kill the old men, together with the others that were useless,
which were in number a thousand and two hundred. Out of the young men he chose six
thousand of the strongest, and sent them to Nero, to dig through the Isthmus, and
sold the remainder for slaves, being thirty thousand and four hundred, besides such
as he made a present of to Agrippa; for as to those that belonged to his kingdom,
he gave him leave to do what he pleased with them; however, the king sold these
also for slaves; but for the rest of the multitude, who were Trachonites, and Gaulanites,
and of Hippos, and some of Gadara, the greatest part of them were seditious persons
and fugitives, who were of such shameful characters, that they preferred war before
peace. These prisoners were taken on the eighth day of the month Gorpiaeus [Elul].
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