The Life Of Flavius Josephus
1. THE family from which I am derived is
not an ignoble one, but hath descended
all
along from the priests; and as nobility
among
several people is of a different origin,
so with us to be of the sacerdotal
dignity,
is an indication of the splendor of
a family.
Now, I am not only sprung from a sacerdotal
family in general, but from the first
of
the twenty-four (1) courses; and as
among
us there is not only a considerable
difference
between one family of each course and
another,
I am of the chief family of that first
course
also; nay, further, by my mother I
am of
the royal blood; for the children of
Asamoneus,
from whom that family was derived,
had both
the office of the high priesthood,
and the
dignity of a king, for a long time
together.
I will accordingly set down my progenitors
in order. My grandfather's father was
named
Simon, with the addition of Psellus:
he lived
at the same time with that son of Simon
the
high priest, who first of all the high
priests
was named Hyrcanus. This Simon Psellus
had
nine sons, one of whom was Matthias,
called
Ephlias: he married the daughter of
Jonathan
the high priest, which Jonathan was
the first
of the sons of Asamoneus, who was high
priest,
and was the brother of Simon the high
priest
also. This Matthias had a son called
Matthias
Curtus, and that in the first year
of the
government of Hyrcanus: his son's name
was
Joseph, born in the ninth year of the
reign
of Alexandra: his son Matthias was
born in
the tenth year of the reign of Archclaus;
as was I born to Matthias in the first
year
of the reign of Caius Caesar. I have
three
sons: Hyrcanus, the eldest, was born
in the
fourth year of the reign of Vespasian,
as
was Justus born in the seventh, and
Agrippa
in the ninth. Thus have I set down
the genealog
of my family as I have found it described
(2) in the public records, and so bid
adieu
to those who calumniate me [as of a
lower
original].
2. Now, my father Matthias was not
only
eminent on account of is nobility,
but had
a higher commendation on account of
his righteousness,
and was in great reputation in Jerusalem,
the greatest city we have. I was myself
brought
up with my brother, whose name was
Matthias,
for he was my own brother, by both
father
and mother; and I made mighty proficiency
in the improvements of my learning,
and appeared
to have both a great memory and understanding.
Moreover, when I was a child, and about
fourteen
years of age, I was commended by all
for
the love I had to learning; on which
account
the high priests and principal men
of the
city came then frequently to me together,
in order to know my opinion about the
accurate
understanding of points of the law.
And when
I was about sixteen years old, I had
a mind
to make trim of the several sects that
were
among us. These sects are three: -
The first
is that of the Pharisees, the second
that
Sadducees, and the third that of the
Essens,
as we have frequently told you; for
I thought
that by this means I might choose the
best,
if I were once acquainted with them
all;
so I contented myself with hard fare,
and
underwent great difficulties, and went
through
them all. Nor did I content myself
with these
trials only; but when I was informed
that
one, whose name was Banus, lived in
the desert,
and used no other clothing than grew
upon
trees, and had no other food than what
grew
of its own accord, and bathed himself
in
cold water frequently, both by night
and
by day, in order to preserve his chastity,
I imitated him in those things, and
continued
with him three years. (3) So when I
had accomplished
my desires, I returned back to the
city,
being now nineteen years old, and began
to
conduct myself according to the rules
of
the sect of the Pharisees, which is
of kin
to the sect of the Stoics, as the Greeks
call them.
3. But when I was in the twenty-sixth
year
of my age, it happened that I took
a voyage
to Rome, and this on the occasion which
I
shall now describe. At the time when
Felix
was procurator of Judea there were
certain
priests of my acquaintance, and very
excellent
persons they were, whom on a small
and trifling
occasion he had put into bonds, and
sent
to Rome to plead their cause before
Caesar.
These I was desirous to procure deliverance
for, and that especially because I
was informed
that they were not unmindful of piety
towards
God, even under their afflictions,
but supported
themselves with figs and nuts. (4)
Accordingly
I came to Rome, though it were through
a
great number of hazards by sea; for
as our
ship was drowned in the Adriatic Sea,
we
that were in it, being about six hundred
in number, (5) swam for our lives all
the
night; when, upon the first appearance
of
the day, and upon our sight of a ship
of
Cyrene, I and some others, eighty in
all,
by God's providence, prevented the
rest,
and were taken up into the other ship.
And
when I had thus escaped, and was come
to
Dieearchia, which the Italians call
Puteoli,
I became acquainted with Aliturius,
an actor
of plays, and much beloved by Nero,
but a
Jew by birth; and through his interest
became
known to Poppea, Caesar's wife, and
took
care, as soon as possible, to entreat
her
to procure that the priests might be
set
at liberty. And when, besides this
favor,
I had obtained many presents from Poppea,
I returned home again.
4. And now I perceived innovations
were
already begun, and that there were
a great
many very much elevated in hopes of
a revolt
from the Romans. I therefore endeavored
to
put a stop to these tumultuous persons,
and
persuaded them to change their minds;
and
laid before their eyes against whom
it was
that they were going to fight, and
told them
that they were inferior to the Romans
not
only in martial skill, but also in
good fortune;
and desired them not rashly, and after
the
most foolish manner, to bring on the
dangers
of the most terrible mischiefs upon
their
country, upon their families, and upon
themselves.
And this I said with vehement exhortation,
because I foresaw that the end of such
a
war would be most unfortunate to us.
But
I could not persuade them; for the
madness
of desperate men was quite too hard
for me.
5. I was then afraid, lest, by inculcating
these things so often, I should incur
their
hatred and their suspicions, as if
I were
of our enemies' party, and should run
into
the danger of being seized by them,
and slain;
since they were already possessed of
Antonia,
which was the citadel; so I retired
into
the inner court of the temple. Yet
did I
go out of the temple again, after Manahem
and the principal of the band of robbers
were put to death, when I abode among
the
high priests and the chief of the Pharisees.
But no small fear seized upon us when
we
saw the people in arms, while we ourselves
knew not what we should do, and were
not
able to restrain the seditious. However,
as the danger was directly upon us,
we pretended
that we were of the same opinion with
them,
but only advised them to be quiet for
the
present, and to let the enemy go away,
still
hoping that Gessius [Florus] would
not be
long ere he came, and that with great
forces,
and so put an end to these seditious
proceedings.
6. But, upon his coming and fighting,
he
was beaten, and a great many of those
that
were with him fell. And this disgrace
which
Gessius [with Cestius] received, became
the
calamity of our whole nation; for those
that
were fond of the war were so far elevated
with this success, that they had hopes
of
finally conquering the Romans. Of which
war
another occasion was ministered; which
was
this: - Those that dwelt in the neighboring
cities of Syria seized upon such Jews
as
dwelt among them, with their wives
and children,
and slew them, when they had not the
least
occasion of complaint against them;
for they
did neither attempt any innovation
or revolt
from the Romans, nor had they given
any marks
of hatred or treacherous designs towards
the Syrians. But what was done by the
inhabitants
of Scythopolis was the most impious
and most
highly criminal of all; (6) for when
the
Jews their enemies came upon them from
without,
they forced the Jews that were among
them
to bear arms against their own countrymen,
which it is unlawful for us to do;
(7) and
when, by their assistance, they had
joined
battle with those who attacked them,
and
had beaten them, after that victory
they
forgot the assurances they had given
these
their fellow citizens and confederates,
and
slew them all, being in number many
ten thousands
[13,000]. The like miseries were undergone
by those Jews that were the inhabitants
of
Damascus. But we have given a more
accurate
account of these things in the books
of the
Jewish war. I only mention them now,
because
I would demonstrate to my readers,
that the
Jews' war with the Romans was not voluntary,
but that, for the main, they were forced
by necessity to enter into it.
7. So when Gessius had been beaten,
as we
have said already, the principal men
of Jerusalem,
seeing that the robbers and innovators
had
arms in great plenty, and fearing lest
they,
while they were unprovided of arms,
should
be in subjection to their enemies,
which
also came to be the case afterward;
and,
being informed that all Galilee had
not yet
revolted from the Romans, but that
some part
of it was still quiet; they sent me
and two
others of the priests, who were men
of excellent
characters, Joazar and Judas, in order
to
persuade the ill men there to lay down
their
arms, and to teach them this lesson,
- That
it were better to have those arms reserved
for the most courageous men that the
nation
had [than to be kept there]; for that
it
had been resolved, That those our best
men
should always have their arms ready
against
futurity; but still so, that they should
wait to see what the Romans would do.
8. When I had therefore received these
instructions,
I came into Galilee, and found the
people
of Sepphoris in no small agony about
their
country, by reason that the Galileans
had
resolved to plunder it, on account
of the
friendship they had with the Romans,
and
because they had given their right
hand,
and made a league with Cestius Gallus,
the
president of Syria. But I delivered
them
all out of the fear they were in, and
persuaded
the multitude to deal kindly with them,
and
permitted them to send to those that
were
their own hostages with Gessius to
Dora,
which is a city of Phoenicia, as often
as
they pleased; though I still found
the inhabitants
of Tiberias ready to take arms, and
that
on the occasion following: -
9. There were three factions in this
city.
The first was composed of men of worth
and
gravity; of these Julius Capellus was
the
head. Now he, as well as all his companions,
Herod the son of Miarus, and Herod
the son
of Gamalus, and Compsus the son of
Compsus;
(for as to Compsus's brother Crispus,
who
had once been governor of the city
under
the great king [Agrippa] (8) he was
beyond
Jordan in his own possessions;) all
these
persons before named gave their advice,
that
the city should then continue in their
allegiance
to the Romans and to the king. But
Pistus,
who was guided by his son Justus, did
not
acquiesce in that resolution; otherwise
he
was himself naturally of a good and
virtuous
character. But the second faction was
composed
of the most ignoble persons, and was
determined
for war. But as for Justus, the son
of Pistus,
who was the head of the third faction,
although
he pretended to be doubtful about going
to
war, yet was he really desirous of
innovation,
as supposing that he should gain power
to
himself by the change of affairs. He
therefore
came into the midst of them, and endeavored
to inform the multitude that "the
city
Tiberius had ever been a city of Galilee,
and that in the days of Herod the tetrarch,
who had built it, it had obtained the
principal
place, and that he had ordered that
the city
Sepphoris should be subordinate to
the city
Tiberias; that they had not lost this
preeminence
even under Agrippa the father, but
had retained
it until Felix was procurator of Judea.
But
he told them, that now they had been
so unfortunate
as to be made a present by Nero to
Agrippa,
junior; and that, upon Sepphoris's
submission
of itself to the Romans, that was become
the capital city of Galilee, and that
the
royal library and the archives were
now removed
from them." When he had spoken
these
things, and a great many more, against
king
Agrippa, in order to provoke the people
to
a revolt, he added that "this
was the
time for them to take arms, and join
with
the Galileans as their confederates
(whom
they might command, and who would now
willingly
assist them, out of the hatred they
bare
to the people of Sepphoris; because
they
preserved their fidelity to the Romans),
and to gather a great number of forces,
in
order to punish them." And as
he said
this, he exhorted the multitude, [to
go to
war;] for his abilities lay in making
harangues
to the people, and in being too hard
in his
speeches for such as opposed him, though
they advised what was more to their
advantage,
and this by his craftiness and his
fallacies,
for he was not unskilful in the learning
of the Greeks; and in dependence on
that
skill it was, that he undertook to
write
a history of these affairs, as aiming,
by
this way of haranguing, to disguise
the truth.
But as to this man, and how ill were
his
character and conduct of life, and
how he
and his brother were, in great measure,
the
authors of our destruction, I shall
give
the reader an account in the progress
of
my narration. So when Justus had, by
his
persuasions, prevailed with the citizens
of Tiberias to take arms, nay, and
had forced
a great many so to do against their
wills,
he went out, and set the villages that
belonged
to Gadara and Hippos on fire; which
villages
were situated on the borders of Tiberias,
and of the region of Scythopolis.
10. And this was the state Tiberias
was
now in. But as for Gischala, its affairs
were thus: - When John, the son of
Levi,
saw some of the citizens much elevated
upon
their revolt from the Romans, he labored
to restrain them, and entreated them
that
they would keep their allegiance to
them.
But he could not gain his purpose,
although
he did his endeavors to the utmost;
for the
neighboring people of Gadara, Gabara,
and
Sogana, wth the Tyrians, got together
a great
army, and fell upon Gischala, and took
Gischala
by force, and set it on fire; and when
they
had entirely demolished it, they returned
home. Upon which John was so enraged,
that
he armed all his men, and joined battle
with
the people forementioned; and rebuilt
Gischala
after a manner better than before,
and fortified
it with walls for its future security.
11. But Gamala persevered in its allegiance
to the Romans, for the reason following:
- Philip, the son of Jacimus, who was
their
governor under king Agrippa, had been
unexpectedly
preserved when the royal palace at
Jerusalem
had been besieged; but, as he fled
away,
had fallen into another danger, and
that
was, of being killed by Manahem, and
the
robbers that were with him; but certain
Babylonians,
who were of his kindred, and were then
in
Jerusalem, hindered the robbers from
executing
their design. So Philip staid there
four
days, and fled away on the fifth, having
disguised himself with fictitious hair,
that
he might not be discovered; and when
he was
come to one of the villages to him
belonging,
but one that was situated at the borders
of the citadel of Gamala, he sent to
some
of those that were under him, and commanded
them to come to him. But God himself
hindered
that his intention, and this for his
own
advantage also; for had it not so happened,
he had certainly perished. For a fever
having
seized upon him immediately, he wrote
to
Agrippa and Bernice, and gave them
to one
of his freed-men to carry them to Varus,
who at this time was procurator of
the kingdom,
which the king and his sister had intrusted
him withal, while they were gone to
Berytus
with an intention of meeting Gessius.
When
Varus had received these letters of
Philip,
and had learned that he was preserved,
he
was very uneasy at it, as supposing
that
he should appear useless to the king
and
his sister, now Philip was come. He
therefore
produced the carrier of the letters
before
the multitude, and accused him of forging
the same; and said that he spake falsely
when he related that Philip was at
Jerusalem,
fighting among the Jews against the
Romans.
So he slew him. And when this freed-man
of
Philip did not return again, Philip
was doubtful
what should be the occasion of his
stay,
and sent a second messenger with letters,
that he might, upon his return, inform
him
what had befallen the other that had
been
sent before, and why he tarried so
long.
Varus accused this messenger also,
when he
came, of telling a falsehood, and slew
him.
For he was puffed up by the Syrians
that
were at Caesarea, and had great expectations;
for they said that Agrippa would be
slain
by the Romans for the crimes which
the Jews
had committed, and that he should himself
take the government, as derived from
their
kings; for Varus was, by the confession
of
all, of the royal family, as being
a descendant
of Sohemus, who had enjoyed a tetrarchy
about
Libanus; for which reason it was that
he
was puffed up, and kept the letters
to himself.
He contrived, also, that the king should
not meet with those writings, by guarding
all the passes, lest any one should
escape,
and inform the king what had been done.
He
moreover slew many of the Jews, in
order
to gratify the Syrians of Cesarea.
He had
a mind also to join with the Trachonites
in Batanea, and to take up arms and
make
an assault upon the Babylonian Jews
that
were at Ecbatana; for that was the
name they
went by. He therefore called to him
twelve
of the Jews of Cesarea, of the best
character,
and ordered them to go to Ecbatana,
and inform
their countrymen who dwelt there, That
Varus
hath heard that "you intend to
march
against the king; but, not believing
that
report, he hath sent us to persuade
you to
lay down your arms, and that this compliance
will be a sign that he did well not
to give
credit to those that raised the report
concerning
you." He also enjoined them to
send
seventy of their principal men to make
a
defense for them as to the accusation
laid
against them. So when the twelve messengers
came to their countrymen at Ecbatana,
and
found that they had no designs of innovation
at all, they persuaded them to send
the seventy
men also; who, not at all suspecting
what
would come, sent them accordingly.
So these
seventy went down to Caesarea, together
with
the twelve ambassadors; where Varus
met them
with the king's forces, and slew them
all,
together with the [twelve] (9) ambassadors,
and made an expedition against the
Jews of
Ecbatana. But one there was of the
seventy
who escaped, and made haste to inform
the
Jews of their coming; upon which they
took
their arms, with their wives and children,
and retired to the citadel at Gamala,
leaving
their own villages full of all sorts
of good
things, and having many ten thousands
of
cattle therein. When Philip was informed
of these things, he also came to the
citadel
of Gamala; and when he was come, the
multitude
cried aloud, and desired him to resume
the
government, and to make an expedition
against
Varus, and the Syrians of Cesarea;
for it
was reported that they had slain the
king.
But Philip restrained their zeal, and
put
them in mind of the benefits the king
had
bestowed upon them; and told them how
powerful
the Romans were, and said it was not
for
their advantage to make war with them;
and
at length he prevailed with them. But
now,
when the king was acquainted with Varus's
design, which was to cut off the Jews
of
Caesarea, being many ten thousands,
with
their wives and children, and all in
one
day, he called to him Equiculus Modius,
and
sent him to be Varus's successor, as
we have
elsewhere related. But still Philip
kept
possession of the citadel of Gamala,
and
of the country adjoining to it, which
thereby
continued in their allegiance to the
Romans.
12. Now, as soon as I was come into
Galilee,
and had learned this state of things
by the
information of such as told me of them,
I
wrote to the sanhedrim at Jerusalem
about
them, and required their direction
what I
should do. Their direction was, that
I should
continue there, and that, if my fellow
legates
were willing, I should join with them
in
the care of Galilee. But those my fellow
legates, having gotten great riches
from
those tithes which as priests were
their
dues, and were given to them, determined
to return to their own country. Yet
when
I desired them to stay so long, that
we might
first settle the public affairs, they
complied
with me. So I removed, together with
them,
from the city of Sepphoris, and came
to a
certain village called Bethmaus, four
furlongs
distant from Tiberius; and thence I
sent
messengers to the senate of Tiberius,
and
desired that the principal men of the
city
would come to me: and when they were
come,
Justus himself being also with them,
I told
them that I was sent to them by the
people
of Jerusalem as a legate, together
with these
other priests, in order to persuade
them
to demolish that house which Herod
the tetrarch
had built there, and which had the
figures
of living creatures in it, although
our laws
have forbidden us to make any such
figures;
and I desired that they would give
us leave
so to do immediately. But for a good
while
Capellus and the principal men belonging
to the city would not give us leave,
but
were at length entirely overcome by
us, and
were induced to be of our opinion.
So Jesus
the son of Sapphias, one of those whom
we
have already mentioned as the leader
of a
seditious tumult of mariners and poor
people,
prevented us, and took with him certain
Galileans,
and set the entire palace on fire,
and thought
he should get a great deal of money
thereby,
because he saw some of the roofs gilt
with
gold. They also plundered a great deal
of
the furniture, which was done without
our
approbation; for after we had discoursed
with Capellus and the principal men
of the
city, we departed from Bethmaus, and
went
into the Upper Galilee. But Jesus and
his
party slew all the Greeks that were
inhabitants
of Tiberias, and as many others as
were their
enemies before the war began.
13. When I understood this state of
things,
I was greatly provoked, and went down
to
Tiberias, and took all the care I could
of
the royal furniture, to recover all
that
could be recovered from such as had
plundered
it. They consisted of candlesticks
made of
Corinthian brass, and of royal tables,
and
of a great quantity of uncoined silver;
and
I resolved to preserve whatsoever came
to
my hand for the king. So I sent for
ten of
the principal men of the senate, and
for
Capellus the son of Antyllus, and committed
the furniture to them, with this charge,
That they should part with it to nobody
else
but to myself. From thence I and my
fellow
legates went to Gichala, to John, as
desirous
to know his intentions, and soon saw
that
he was for innovations, and had a mind
to
the principality; for he desired me
to give
him authority to carry off that corn
which
belonged to Caesar, and lay in the
villages
of Upper Galilee; and he pretended
that he
would expend what it came to in building
the walls of his own city. But when
I perceived
what he endeavored at, and what he
had in
his mind, I said I would not permit
him so
to do; for that I thought either to
keep
it for the Romans or for myself, now
I was
intrusted with the public affairs there
by
the people of Jerusalem. But, when
he was
not able to prevail with me, he betook
himself
to my fellow legates; for they had
no sagacity
in providing for futurity, and were
very
ready to take bribes. So he corrupted
them
with money to decree, That all that
corn
which was within his province should
be delivered
to him; while I, who was but one, was
outvoted
by two, and held my tongue. Then did
John
introduce another cunning contrivance
of
his; for he said that those Jews who
inhabited
Cesarea Philippi, and were shut up
by the
order of the king's deputy there, had
sent
to him to desire him, that, since they
had
no oil that was pure for their use,
he would
provide a sufficient quantity of such
oil
for them, lest they should be forced
to make
use of oil that came from the Greeks,
and
thereby transgress their own laws.
Now this
was said by John, not out of his regard
to
religion, but out of his most flagrant
desire
of gain; for he knew that two sextaries
were
sold with them of Caesarea for one
drachma,
but that at Gischala fourscore sextaxies
were sold for four sextaries. So he
gave
order that all the oil which was there
should
be carried away, as having my permission
for so doing; which yet I did not grant
him
voluntarily, but only out of fear of
the
multitude, since, if I had forbidden
him,
I should have been stoned by them.
When I
had therefore permitted this to be
done by
John, he gained vast sums of money
by this
his knavery.
14. But when I had dismissed my fellow
legates,
and sent them back to Jerusalem, I
took care
to have arms provided, and the cities
fortified.
And when I had sent for the most hardy
among
the robbers, I saw that it was not
in my
power to take their arms from them;
but I
persuaded the multitude to allow them
money
as pay, and told them it was better
for them
to give them a little willingly, rather
than
to [be forced to] overlook them when
they
plundered their goods from them. And
when
I had obliged them to take an oath
not to
come into that country, unless they
were
invited to come, or else when they
had not
their pay given them, I dismissed them,
and
charged them neither to make an expedition
against the Romans, nor against those
their
neighbors that lay round about them;
for
my first care was to keep Galilee in
peace.
So I was willing to have the principal
of
the Galileans, in all seventy, as hostages
for their fidelity, but still under
the notion
of friendship. Accordingly, I made
them my
friends and companions as I journeyed,
and
set them to judge causes; and with
their
approbation it was that I gave my sentences,
while I endeavored not to mistake what
justice
required, and to keep my hands clear
of all
bribery in those determinations.
15. I was now about the thirtieth year
of
my age; in which time of life it is
a hard
thing for any one to escape the calumnies
of the envious, although he restrain
himself
from fulfilling any unlawful desires,
especially
where a person is in great authority.
Yet
did I preserve every woman free from
injuries;
and as to what presents were offered
me,
I despised them, as not standing in
need
of them. Nor indeed would I take those
tithes,
which were due to me as a priest, from
those
that brought them. Yet do I confess,
that
I took part of the spoils of those
Syrians
which inhabited the cities that adjoined
to us, when I had conquered them, and
that
I sent them to my kindred at Jerusalem;
although,
when I twice took Sepphoris by force,
and
Tiberias four times, and Gadara once,
and
when I had subdued and taken John,
who often
laid treacherous snares for me, I did
not
punish [with death] either him or any
of
the people forenamed, as the progress
of
this discourse will show. And on this
account,
I suppose, it was that God, (10) who
is never
unacquainted with those that do as
they ought
to do, delivered me still out of the
hands
of these my enemies, and afterwards
preserved
me when I fell into those many dangers
which
I shall relate hereafter.
16. Now the multitude of the Galileans
had
that great kindness for me, and fidelity
to me, that when their cities were
taken
by force, and their wives and children
carried
into slavery, they did not so deeply
lament
for their own calamities, as they were
solicitous
for my preservation. But when John
saw this,
he envied me, and wrote to me, desiring
that
I would give him leave to come down,
and
make use of the hot-baths of Tiberias
for
the recovery of the health of his body.
Accordingly,
I did not hinder him, as having no
suspicion
of any wicked designs of his; and I
wrote
to those to whom I had committed the
administration
of the affairs of Tiberius by name,
that
they should provide a lodging for John,
and
for such as should come with him, and
should
procure him what necessaries soever
he should
stand in need of. Now at this time
my abode
was in a village of Galilee, which
is named
Cans.
17. But when John was come to the city
of
Tiberias, he persuaded the men to revolt
from their fidelity to me, and to adhere
to him; and many of them gladly received
that invitation of his, as ever fond
of innovations,
and by nature disposed to changes,
and delighting
in seditions; but they were chiefly
Justus
and his father Pistus, that were earnest
for their revolt from me, and their
adherence
to John. But I came upon them, and
prevented
them; for a messenger had come to me
from
Silas, whom I had made governor of
Tiberias,
as I have said already, and had told
me of
the inclinations of the people of Tiberias,
and advised me to make haste thither;
for
that, if I made any delay, the city
would
come under another's jurisdiction.
Upon the
receipt of this letter of Silas, I
took two
hundred men along with me, and traveled
all
night, having sent before a messenger
to
let the people of Tiberias know that
I was
coming to them. When I came near to
the city,
which was early in the morning, the
multitude
came out to meet me; and John came
with them,
and saluted me, but in a most disturbed
manner,
as being afraid that my coming was
to call
him to an account for what I was now
sensible
he was doing. So he, in great haste,
went
to his lodging. But when I was in the
open
place of the city, having dismissed
the guards
I had about me, excepting one, and
ten armed
men that were with him, I attempted
to make
a speech to the multitude of the people
of
Tiberias: and, standing on a certain
elevated
place, I entreated them not to be so
hasty
in their revolt; for that such a change
in
their behavior would be to their reproach,
and that they would then justly be
suspected
by those that should be their governors
hereafter,
as if they were not likely to be faithful
to them neither.
18. But before I had spoken all I designed,
I heard one of my own domestics bidding
me
come down, for that it was not a proper
time
to take care of retaining the good-will
of
the people of Tiberias, but to provide
for
my own safety, and escape my enemies
there;
for John had chosen the most trusty
of those
armed men that were about him out of
those
thousand that he had with him, and
had given
them orders when he sent them, to kill
me,
having learned that I was alone, excepting
some of my domestics. So those that
were
sent came as they were ordered, and
they
had executed what they came about,
had I
not leaped down from the elevation
I stood
on, and with one of my guards, whose
name
was James, been carried [out of the
crowd]
upon the back of one Herod of Tiberias,
and
guided by him down to the lake, where
I seized
a ship, and got into it, and escaped
my enemies
unexpectedly, and came to Tarichese.
19. Now, as soon as the inhabitants
of that
city understood the perfidiousness
of the
people of Tiberias, they were greatly
provoked
at them. So they snatched up their
arms,
and desired me to be their leader against
them; for they said they would avenge
their
commander's cause upon them. They also
carried
the report of what had been done to
me to
all the Galileans, and eagerly endeavored
to irritate them against the people
of Tiberias,
and desired that vast numbers of them
would
get together, and come to them, that
they
might act in concert with their commander,
what should be determined as fit to
be done.
Accordingly, the Galileans came to
me in
great numbers, from all parts, with
their
weapons, and besought me to assault
Tiberias,
to take it by force, and to demolish
it,
till it lay even with the ground, and
then
to make slaves of its inhabitants,
with their
wives and children. Those that were
Josephus's
friends also, and had escaped out of
Tiberias,
gave him the same advice. But I did
not comply
with them, thinking it a terrible thing
to
begin a civil war among them; for I
thought
that this contention ought not to proceed
further than words; nay, I told them
that
it was not for their own advantage
to do
what they would have me to do, while
the
Romans expected no other than that
we should
destroy one another by our mutual seditions.
And by saying this, I put a stop to
the anger
of the Galileans.
20. But now John was afraid for himself,
since his treachery had proved unsuccessful.
So he took the armed men that were
about
him, and removed from Tiberias to Gischala,
and wrote to me to apologize for himself
concerning What had been done, as if
it had
been done without his approbation,
and desired
me to have no suspicion of him to his
disadvantage.
He also added oaths and certain horrible
curses upon himself, and supposed he
should
be thereby believed in the points he
wrote
about to me.
21. But now another great number of
the
Galileans came together again with
their
weapons, as knowing the man, how wicked
and
how sadly perjured he was, and desired
me
to lead them against him and promised
me
that they would utterly both him and
Gischala.
Hereupon I professed that I was obliged
to
them for their readiness to serve me,
and
that I would more than requite their
good-will
to me. However, I entreated them to
restrain
themselves, and begged of them to give
me
leave to do what I intended, which
was to
put an end to these troubles without
bloodshed;
and when I had prevailed with the multitude
of the Galileans to let me do so, I
came
to Sepphoris.
22. But the inhabitants of this city
having
determined to continue in their allegiance
to the Romans, were afraid of my coming
to
them, and tried, by putting me upon
another
action, to divert me, that they might
be
freed from the terror they were in.
Accordingly,
they sent to Jesus, the captain of
those
robbers who were in the confines of
Ptolemais,
and promised to give him a great deal
of
money, if he would come with those
forces
he had with him, which were in number
eight
hundred, and fight with us. Accordingly,
he complied with what they desired,
upon
the promises they had made him, and
was desirous
to fall upon us when we were unprepared
for
him, and knew nothing of his coming
beforehand.
So he sent to me, and desired that
I would
give him leave to come and salute me.
When
I had given him that leave, which I
did without
the least knowledge of his treacherous
intentions
beforehand, he took his band of robbers,
and made haste to come to me. Yet did
not
this his knavery succeed well at last;
for
as he was already nearly approaching,
one
of those with him deserted him, and
came
to me, and told me what he had undertaken
to do. When I was informed of this,
I went
into the market-place, and pretended
to know
nothing of his treacherous purpose.
I took
with me many Galileans that were armed,
as
also some of those of Tiberias; and,
when
I had given orders that all the roads
should
be carefully guarded, I charged the
keepers
of the gates to give admittance to
none but
Jesus, when he came, with the principal
of
his men, and to exclude the rest; and
in
case they aimed to force themselves
in, to
use stripes [in order to repel them].
Accordingly,
those that had received such a charge
did
as they were bidden, and Jesus came
in with
a few others; and when I had ordered
him
to throw down his arms immediately,
and told
him, that if he refused so to do, he
was
a dead man, he seeing armed men standing
all round about him, was terrified,
and complied;
and as for those of his followers that
were
excluded, when they were informed that
he
was seized, they ran away. I then called
Jesus to me by himself, and told him,
that"
I was not a stranger to that treacherous
design he had against me, nor was I
ignorant
by whom he was sent for; that, however,
I
would forgive him what he had done
already,
if he would repent of it, and be faithful
to me hereafter." And thus, upon
his
promise to do all that I desired, I
let him
go, and gave him leave to get those
whom
he had formerly had with him together
again.
But I threatened the inhabitants of
Sepphoris,
that, if they would not leave off their
ungrateful
treatment of me, I would punish them
sufficiently.
23. At this time it was that two great
men,
who were under the jurisdiction of
the king
[Agrippa] came to me out of the region
of
Trachonius, bringing their horses and
their
arms, and carrying with them their
money
also; and when the Jews would force
them
to be circumcised, if they would stay
among
them, I would not permit them to have
any
force put upon them, (11) but said
to them,
"Every one ought to worship God
according
to his own inclinations, and not to
be constrained
by force; and that these men, who had
fled
to us for protection, ought not to
be so
treated as to repent of their coming
hither."
And when I had pacified the multitude,
I
provided for the men that were come
to us
whatsoever it was they wanted, according
to their usual way of living, and that
in
great plenty also.
24. Now king Agrippa sent an army to
make
themselves masters of the citadel of
Gamala,
and over it Equieulus Modius; but the
forces
that were sent were not allow to encompass
the citadel quite round, but lay before
it
in the open places, and besieged it.
But
when Ebutius the decurion, who was
intrusted
with the government of the great plain,
heard
that I was at Simonias, a village situated
in the confines of Galilee, and was
distant
from him sixty furlongs, he took a
hundred
horsemen that were with him by night,
and
a certain number of footmen, about
two hundred,
and brought the inhabitants of the
city Gibea
along with him as auxiliaries, and
marched
in the night, and came to the village
where
I abode. Upon this I pitched my camp
over
against him, which had a great number
of
forces in it: but Ebutius tried to
draw us
down into the plain, as greatly depending
upon his horsemen; but we would not
come
down; for when I was satisfied of the
advantage
that his horse would have if we came
down
into the plain, while we were all footmen,
I resolved to join battle with the
enemy
where I was. Now Ebutius and his party
made
a courageous opposition for some time;
but
when he saw that his horse were useless
to
him in that place, he retired back
to the
city Gibea, having lost three of his
men
in the fight. So I followed him directy
with
two thousand armed men; and when I
was at
the city Besara, that lay in the confines
of Ptolemais, but twenty furlongs from
Gibea,
where Ebutius abode, I placed my armed
men
on the outside of the village, and
gave orders
that they should guard the passes with
great
care, that the enemy might not disturb
us
until we should have carried off the
corn,
a great quantity of which lay there:
it belonged
to Bernice the queen, and had been
gathered
together out of the neighboring villages
into Besara; so I loaded my camels
and asses,
a great number of which I had brought
along
with me, and sent the corn into Galilee.
When I had done this, I offered Ebutius
battle;
but when he would not accept of the
offer,
for he was terrified at our readiness
and
courage, I altered my route, and marched
towards Neopolitanus, because I had
heard
that the country about Tiberias was
laid
waste by him. This Neopolitanus was
captain
of a troop of horse, and had the custody
of Scythopolis intrusted to his care
by the
enemy; and when I had hindered him
from doing
any further mischief to Tiberias, I
set myself
to make provision for the affairs of
Galilee.
25. But when John, the son of Levi,
who,
as we before told you, abode at Gischala,
was informed how all things had succeeded
to my mind, and that I was much in
favor
with those that were under me, as also
that
the enemy were greatly afraid of me,
he was
not pleased with it, as thinking my
prosperity
tended to his ruin. So he took up a
bitter
envy and enmity against me; and hoping,
that
if he could inflame those that were
under
me to hate me,. he should put an end
to the
prosperity I was in, he tried to persuade
the inhabitants of Tiberias and of
Sepphoris,
(and for those of Gabara he supposed
they
would be also of the same mind with
the others,)
which were the greatest cities of Galilee,
to revolt from their subjection to
me, and
to be of his party; and told them that
he
would command them better than I did.
As
for the people of Sepphoris, who belonged
to neither of us, because they had
chosen
to be in subjection to the Romans,
they did
not comply with his proposal; and for
those
of Tiberias, they did not indeed so
far comply
as to make a revolt from under me,
but they
agreed to be his friends, while the
inhabitants
of Gabara did go over to John; and
it was
Simon that persuaded them so to do,
one who
was both the principal man in the city,
and
a particular friend and companion of
John.
It is true, these did not openly own
the
making a revolt, because they were
in great
fear of the Galileans, and had frequent
experience
of the good-will they bore to me; yet
did
they privately watch for a proper opportunity
to lay snares for me; and indeed I
thereby
came into the greatest danger, on the
occasion
following.
26. There were some bold young men
of the
village of Dabaritta, who observed
that the
wife of Ptolemy, the king's procurator,
was
to make a progress over the great plain
with
a mighty attendance, and with some
horsemen
that followed as a guard to them, and
this
out of a country that was subject to
the
king and queen, into the jurisdiction
of
the Romans; and fell upon them on a
sudden,
and obliged the wife of Ptolemy to
fly away,
and plundered all the carriages. They
also
came to me to Tarichese, with four
mules'
loading of garments, and other furniture;
and the weight of the silver they brought
was not small, and there were five
hundred
pieces of gold also. Now I had a mind
to
preserve these spoils for Ptolemy,
who was
my countryman; and it is prohibited
(12)
by our laws even to spoil our enemies;
so
I said to those that brought these
spoils,
that they ought to be kept, in order
to rebuild
the walls of Jerusalem with them when
they
came to be sold. But the young men
took it
very ill that they did not receive
a part
of those spoils for themselves, as
they expected
to have done; so they went among the
villages
in the neighborhood of Tiberias, and
told
the people that I was going to betray
their
country to the Romans, and that I used
deceitful
language to them, when I said, that
what
had been thus gotten by rapine should
be
kept for the rebuilding of the walls
of the
city of Jerusalem; although I had resolved
to restore these spoils again to their
former
owner. And indeed they were herein
not mistaken
as to my intentions; for when I had
gotten
clear of them, I sent for two of the
principal
men, Dassion, and Janneus the son of
Levi,
persons that were among the chief friends
of the king, and commanded them to
take the
furniture that had been plundered,
and to
send it to him; and I threatened that
I would
order them to be put to death by way
of punishment,
if they discovered this my command
to any
other person.
27. Now, when all Galilee was filled
with
this rumor, that their country was
about
to be betrayed by me to the Romans,
and when
all men were exasperated against me,
and
ready to bring me to punishment, the
inhabitants
of Tarichee did also themselves suppose
that
what the young men said was true, and
persuaded
my guards and armed men to leave me
when
I was asleep, and to come presently
to the
hippodrome, in order there to take
counsel
against me their commander. And when
they
had prevailed with them, and they were
gotten
together, they found there a great
company
assembled already, who all joined in
one
clamor, to bring the man who was so
wicked
to them as to betray them, to his due
punishment;
and it was Jesus, the son of Sapphias,
who
principally set them on. He was ruler
in
Tiberias, a wicked man, and naturally
disposed
to make disturbances in matters of
consequence;
a seditious person he was indeed, and
an
innovator beyond every body else. He
then
took the laws of Moses into his hands,
and
came into the midst of the people,
and said,"
O my fellow citizens! if you are not
disposed
to hate Josephus on your own account,
have
regard, however, to these laws of your
country,
which your commander-in-chief is going
to
betray; hate him therefore on both
these
accounts, and bring the man who hath
acted
thus insolently, to his deserved punishment."
28. When he had said this, and the
multitude
had openly applauded him for what he
had
said, he took some of the armed men,
and
made haste away to the house in which
I lodged,
as if he would kill me immediately,
while
I was wholly insensible of all till
this
disturbance happened; and by reason
of the
pains I had been taking, was fallen
fast
asleep. But Simon, who was intrusted
with
the care of my body, and was the only
person
that stayed with me, and saw the violent
incursion the citizens made upon me,
awaked
me, and told me of the danger I was
in, and
desired me to let him kill me, that
I might
die bravely and like a general, before
my
enemies came in, and forced me [to
kill myself],
or killed me themselves. Thus did he
discourse
to me; but I committed the care of
my life
to God, and made haste to go out to
the multitude.
Accordingly, I put on a black garment,
and
hung my sword at my neck, and went
by such
a different way to the hippodrome,
wherein
I thought none of my adversaries would
meet
me; so I appeared among them on the
sudden,
and fell down flat on the earth, and
bedewed
the ground with my tears: then I seemed
to
them all an object of compassion. And
when
I perceived the change that was made
in the
multitude, I tried to divide their
opinions
before the armed men should return
from my
house; so I granted them that I had
been
as wicked as they supposed me to be;
but
still I entreated them to let me first
inform
them for what use I had kept that money
which
arose from the plunder, and, that they
might
then kill me if they pleased: and upon
the
multitude's ordering me to speak, the
armed
men came upon me, and when they saw
me, they
ran to kill me; but when the multitude
bade
them hold their hands, they complied,
and
expected that as soon as I should own
to
them that I kept the money for the
king,
it would be looked on as a confession
of
my treason, and they should then be
allowed
to kill me.
29. When, therefore, silence was made
by
the whole multitude, I spake thus to
them:
"O my countrymen! I refuse not
to die,
if justice so require. However, I am
desirous
to tell you the truth of this matter
before
I die; for as I know that this city
of yours
[Tarichee] was a city of great hospitality,
and filled with abundance of such men
as
have left their own countries, and
are come
hither to be partakers of your fortune,
whatever
it be, I had a mind to build walls
about
it, out of this money, for which you
are
so angry with me, while yet it was
to be
expended in building your own walls."
Upon my saying this, the people of
Taricheae
and the strangers cried out, that"
they
gave me thanks, and desired me to be
of good
courage," although the Galileans
and
the people of Tiberias continued in
their
wrath against me, insomuch that there
arose
a tumult among them, while some threatened
to kill me, and some bade me not to
regard
them; but when I promised them that
I would
build them walls at Tiberias, and at
other
cities that wanted them, they gave
credit
to what I promised, and returned every
one
to his own home. So I escaped the forementioned
danger, beyond all my hopes, and returned
to my own house, accompanied with my
friends,
and twenty armed men also.
30. However, these robbers and other
authors
of this tumult, who were afraid, on
their
own account, lest I should punish them
for
what they had done, took six hundred
armed
men, and came to the house where I
abode,
in order to set it on fire. When this
their
insult was told me, I thought it indecent
for me to run away, and I resolved
to expose
myself to danger, and to act with some
boldness;
so I gave order to shut the doors,
and went
up into an upper room, and desired
that they
would send in some of their men to
receive
the money [from the spoils] for I told
them
they would then have no occasion to
be angry
with me; and when they had sent in
one of
the boldest of them all, I had him
whipped
severely, and I commanded that one
of his
hands should be cut off, and hung about
his
neck; and in this case was he put out
to
those that sent him. At which procedure
of
mine they were greatly affrighted,
and in
no small consternation, and were afraid
that
they should themselves be served in
like
manner, if they staid there; for they
supposed
that I had in the house more armed
men than
they had themselves; so they ran away
immediately,
while I, by the use of this stratagem,
escaped
this their second treacherous design
against
me.
31. But there were still some that
irritated
the multitude against me, and said
that those
great men that belonged to the king
ought
not to be suffered to live, if they
would
not change their religion to the religion
of those to whom they fled for safety:
they
spake reproachfully of them also, and
said
that they were wizards, and such as
called
in the Romans upon them. So the multitude
was soon deluded by such plausible
pretenses
as were agreeable to their own inclinations,
and were prevailed on by them. But
when I
was informed of this, I instructed
the multitude
again, that those who fled to them
for refuge
ought not to be persecuted: I also
laughed
at the allegation about witchcraft,
(13)
and told them that the Romans would
not maintain
so many ten thousand soldiers, if they
could
overcome their enemies by wizards.
Upon my
saying this, the people assented for
a while;
but they returned again afterwards,
as irritated
by some ill people against the great
men;
nay, they once made an assault upon
the house
in which they dwelt at Tarichess, in
order
to kill them; which, when I was informed
of, I was afraid lest so horrid a crime
should
take effect, and nobody else would
make that
city their refuge any more. I therefore
came
myself, and some others with me, to
the house
where these great men lived, and locked
the
doors, and had a trench drawn from
their
house leading to the lake, and sent
for a
ship, and embarked therein with them,
and
sailed to the confines of Hippos: I
also
paid them the value of their horses;
nor
in such a flight could I have their
horses
brought to them. I then dismissed them,
and
begged of them earnestly that they
would
courageously bear I this distress which
befell
them. I was also myself I greatly displeased
that I was compelled to expose those
that
had fled to me to go again into an
enemy's
country; yet did I think it more eligible
that they should perish among the Romans,
if it should so happen, than in the
country
that was under my jurisdiction. However,
they escaped at length, and king Agrippa
forgave them their offenses. And this
was
the conclusion of what concerned these
men.
32. But as for the inhabitants of the
city
of Tiberias, they wrote to the king,
and
desired him to send them forces sufficient
to be a guard to their country; for
that
they were desirous to come over to
him: this
was what they wrote to him. But when
I came
to them, they desired me to build their
walls,
as I had promised them to do; for they
had
heard that the walls of Tarichess were
already
built. I agreed to their proposal accordingly;
and when I had made preparation for
the entire
building, I gave order to the architects
to go to work; but on the third day,
when
I was gone to Tarichess, which was
thirty
furlongs distant from Tiberias, it
so fell
out, that some Roman horsemen were
discovered
on their march, not far from the city,
which
made it to be supposed that the forces
were
come from the king; upon which they
shouted,
and lifted up their voices in commendations
of the king, and in reproaches against
me.
Hereupon one came running to me, and
told
me what their dispositions were, and
that
they had resolved to revolt from me:
upon
hearing which news I was very much
alarmed;
for I had already sent away my armed
men
from Tarichess, to their own homes,
because
the next day was our sabbath; for I
would
not have the people of Tarichess disturbed
[on that day] by a multitude of soldiers;
and indeed, whenever I sojourned at
that
city, I never took any particular care
for
a guard about my own body, because
I had
had frequent instances of the fidelity
its
inhabitants bore to me. I had now about
me
no more than seven armed men, besides
some
friends, and was doubtful what to do;
for
to send to recall my own forces I did
not
think proper, because the present day
was
almost over; and had those forces been
with
me, I could not take up arms on the
next
day, because our laws forbade us so
to do,
even though our necessity should be
very
great; and if I should permit the people
of Tarichess, and the strangers with
them,
to guard the city, I saw that they
would
not be sufficient for that purpose,
and I
perceived that I should be obliged
to delay
my assistance a great while; for I
thought
with myself that the forces that came
from
the king would prevent me, and that
I should
be driven out of the city. I considered,
therefore, how to get clear of these
forces
by a stratagem; so I immediately placed
those
my friends of Tarichee, on whom I could
best
confide, at the gates, to watch those
very
carefully who went out at those gates:
I
also called to me the heads of families,
and bade every one of them to seize
upon
a ship (14) to go on board it, and
to take
a master with them, and follow him
to the
city of Tiberias. I also myself went
on board
one of those ships, with my friends,
and
the seven armed men already mentioned,
and
sailed for Tiberias.
33. But now, when the people of Tiberias
perceived that there were no forces
come
from the king, and yet saw the whole
lake
full of ships, they were in fear what
would
become of their city, and were greatly
terrified,
as supposing that the ships were full
of
men on board; so they then changed
their
minds, and threw down their weapons,
and
met me with their wives and children,
and
made acclamations to me with great
commendations;
for they imagined that I did not know
their
former inclinations [to have been against
me]; so they persuaded me to spare
the city.
But when I was come near enough, I
gave order
to the masters of the ships to cast
anchor
a good way off the land, that the people
of Tiberias might not perceive that
the ships
had no men on board; but I went nearer
to
the people in one of the ships, and
rebuked
them for their folly, ,and that they
were
so fickle as, without any just occasion
in
the world, to revolt from their fidelity
to me. However, assured them that I
would
entirely forgive them for the time
to come,
if they would send ten of the ringleaders
of the multitude to me; and when they
complied
readily with this proposal, and sent
me the
men forementioned, I put them on board
a
ship, and sent them away to Tarichese;
and
ordered them to be kept in prison.
34. And by this stratagem it was that
I
gradually got all the senate of Tiberias
into my power, and sent them to the
city
forementioned, with many of the principal
men among the populace, and those not
fewer
in number than the other. But when
the multitude
saw into what great miseries they had
brought
themselves, they desired me to punish
the
author of this sedition: his name was
Clitus,
a young man, bold and rash in his undertakings.
Now, since I thought it not agreeable
to
piety to put one of my own people to
death,
and yet found it necessary to punish
him,
I ordered Levi, one of my own guards,
to
go to him, and cut off one of Clitus's
hands;
but as he that was ordered to do this,
was
afraid to go out of the ship alone,
among
'so great a multitude, I was not willing
that the timorousness of the soldier
should
appear to the people of Tiberias. So
I called
to Clitus himself and said to him,"
Since thou deservest to lose both thine
hands
for thy ingratitude to me, be thou
thine
own executioner, lest, if thou refusest
so
to be, thou undergo a worse punishment."
And when he earnestly begged of me
to spare
him one of his hands, it was with difficulty
that I granted it. So, in order to
prevent
the loss of both his hands, he willingly
took his sword, and cut off his own
left
hand; and this put an end to the sedition.
35. Now the men of Tiberias, after
I was
gone to Taricheae, perceived what stratagem
I had used against them, and they admired
how I had put an end to their foolish
sedition,
without shedding of blood. But now,
when
I had sent for some of those multitudes
of
the people of Tiberias out of prison,
among
whom were Justus and his father Pistus,
I
made them to sup with me; and during
our
supper time I said to them, that I
knew the
power of the Romans was superior to
all others,
but did not say so [publicly] because
of
the robbers. So I advised them to do
as I
did, and to wait for a proper opportunity,
and not to be uneasy at my being their
commander;
for that they could not expect to have
another
who would use the like moderation that
I
had done. I also put Justus in mind
how the
Galileans had cut off his brother's
hands
before ever I came to Jerusalem, upon
an
accusation laid against him, as if
he had
been a rogue, and had forged some letters;
as also how the people of Gamala, in
a sedition
they raised against the Babylonians,
after
the departure of Philip, slew Chares,
who
was a kinsman of Philip, and withal
how they
had wisely punished Jesus, his brother
Justuses
sister's husband [with death]. When
I had
said this to them during supper time,
I in
the morning ordered Justus, and all
the rest
that were in prison, to be loosed out
of
it, and sent away.
36. But before this, it happened that
Philip,
the son of Jacimus, went out of the
citadel
of Gamala upon the following occasion:
When
Philip had been informed that Varus
was put
out of his government by king Agrippa,
and
that Equieulus Modius, a man that was
of
old his friend and companion, was come
to
succeed him, he wrote to him, and related
what turns of fortune he had had, and
desired
him to forward the letters he sent
to the
king and queen. Now, when Modius had
received
these letters, he was exceedingly glad,
and
sent the letters to the king and queen,
who
were then about Berytus. But when king
Agrippa
knew that the story about Philip was
false,
(for it had been given out, that the
Jews
had begun a war with the Romans, and
that
this Philip had been their commander
in that
war,) he sent some horsemen to conduct
Philip
to him; and when he was come, he saluted
him very obligingly, and showed him
to the
Roman commanders, and told them that
this
was the man of whom the report had
gone about
as if he had revolted from the Romans.
He
also bid him to take some horsemen
with him,
and to go quickly to the citadel of
Gamala,
and to bring out thence all his domestics,
and to restore the Babylonians to Batanea
again. He also gave it him in charge
to take
all possible care that none of his
subjects
should be guilty of making any innovation.
Accordingly, upon these directions
from the
king, he made haste to do what he was
commanded.
37. Now there was one Joseph, the son
of
a female physician, who excited a great
many
young men to join with him. He also
insolently
addressed himself to the principal
persons
at Gamala, and persuaded them to revolt
from
the king; and take up arms, and gave
them
hopes that they should, by his means,
recover
their liberty. And some they forced
into
the service, and those that would not
acquiesce
in what they had resolved on, they
slew.
They also slew Chares, and with him
Jesus,
one of his kinsmen, and a brother of
Justus
of Tiberias, as we have already said.
Those
of Gamala also wrote to me, desiring
me to
send them an armed force, and workmen
to
raise up the walls of their city; nor
did
I reject either of their requests.
The region
of Gaulanitis did also revolt from
the king,
as far as the village Solyma. I also
built
a wall about Seleucia and Soganni,
which
are villages naturally of ver great
strength.
Moreover, I, in like manner, walled
several
villages of Upper Galilee, though they
were
very rocky of themselves. Their names
are
Jamnia, and Meroth, and Achabare. I
also
fortified, in the Lower Galilee, the
cities
Tarichee, Tiberias, Sepphoris, and
the villages,
the cave of Arbela, Bersobe, Selamin,
Jotapata,
Capharecho, and Sigo, and Japha, and
Mount
Tabor. (15) I also laid up a great
quantity
of corn in these places, and arms withal,
that might be for their security afterward.
38. But the hatred that John, the son
of
Levi, bore to me, grew now more violent,
while he could not bear my prosperity
with
patience. So he proposed to himself,
by all
means possible, to make away with me;
and
built the walls of Gischala, which
was the
place of his nativity. He then sent
his brother
Simon, and Jonathan, the son of Sisenna,
and about a hundred armed men, to Jerusalem,
to Simon, the son of Gamaliel, (16)
in order
to persuade him to induce the commonalty
of Jerusalem to take from me the government
over the Galileans, and to give their
suffrages
for conferring that authority upon
him. This
Simon was of the city of Jerusalem,
and of
a very noble family of the sect of
the Pharisees,
which are supposed to excel others
in the
accurate knowledge of the laws of their
country.
He was a man of great wisdom and reason,
and capable of restoring public affairs
by
his prudence, when they were in an
ill posture.
He was also an old friend and companion
of
John; but at that time he had a difference
with me. When therefore he had received
such
an exhortation, he persuaded the high
priests,
Ananus, and Jesus the son of Gamala,
and
some others of the same seditious faction,
to cut me down, now I was growing so
great,
and not to overlook me while I was
aggrandizing
myself to the height of glory; and
he said
that it would be for the advantage
of the
Galileans, if I were deprived of my
government
there. Ananus also, and his friends,
desired
them to make no delay about the matter,
lest
I should get the knowledge of what
was doing
too soon, and should come and make
an assault
upon the city with a great army. This
was
the counsel of Simon; but Artanus the
high
priest demonstrated to them that this
was
not an easy thing to be done, because
many
of the high priests and of the rulers
of
the people bore witness that I had
acted
like an excellent general, and that
it was
the work of ill men to accuse one against
whom they had nothing to say.
39. When Simon heard Ananus say this,
he
desired that the messengers would conceal
the thing, and not let it come among
many;
for that he would take care to have
Josephus
removed out of Galilee very quickly.
So he
called for John's brother, [Simon,]
and charged
him that they should send presents
to Ananus
and his friends; for, as he said, they
might
probably by that means persuade them
to change
their minds. And indeed Simon did at
length
thus compass what he aimed at; for
Artanus,
and those with him, being corrupted
by bribes,
agreed to expel me out of Galilee,
without
making the rest of the citizens acquainted
with what they were doing. Accordingly,
they
resolved to send men of distinction
as to
their families, and of distinction
as to
their learning also. Two of these were
of
the populace, Jonathan (17) and Ananias,
by sect Pharisees; while the third,
Jozar,
was of the stock of the priests, and
a Pharisee
also; and Simon, the last of them,
was of
the youngest of the high priests. These
had
it given them in charge, that, when
they
were come to the multitude of the Galileans,
they should ask them, what was the
reason
of their love to me? and if they said
that
it was because I was born at Jerusalem,
that
they should reply, that they four were
all
born at the same place; and if they
should
say, it was because I was well versed
in
their law, they should reply, that
neither
were they unacquainted with the practices
of their country; but if, besides these,
they should say, they loved me because
I
was a priest, they should reply, that
two
of these were priests also.
40. Now, when they had given Jonathan
and
his companions these instructions,
they gave
them forty thousand [drachmae] out
of the
public money: but when they heard that
there
was a certain Galilean that then sojourned
at Jerusalem, whose name was Jesus,
who had
about him a band of six hundred armed
men,
they sent for him, and gave him three
months
pay, and gave him orders to follow
Jonathan
and his companions, and be obedient
to them.
They also gave money to three hundred
men
that were citizens of Jerusalem, to
maintain
them all, and ordered them also to
follow
the ambassadors; and when they had
complied,
and were gotten ready for the march,
Jonathan
and his companions went out with them,
having
along with them John's brother and
a hundred
armed men. The charge that was given
them
by those that sent them was this: That
if
I would voluntarily lay down my arms,
they
should send me alive to the city of
Jerusalem;
but that, in case I opposed them, they
should
kill me, and fear nothing; for that
it was
their command for them so to do. They
also
wrote to John to make all ready for
fighting
me, and gave orders to the inhabitants
of
Sepphoris, and Gabara, and Tiberins,
to send
auxiliaries to John.
41. Now, as my father wrote me an account
of this, (for Jesus the son of Gamala,
who
was present in that council, a friend
and
companion of mine, told him of it,)
I was
very much troubled, as discovering
thereby
that my fellow citizens proved so ungrateful
to me, as, out of envy, to give order
that
I should be slain: my father earnestly
pressed
me also in his letter to come to him,
for
that he longed to see his son before
he died.
I informed my friends of these things,
and
that in three days' time I should leave
the
country, and go home. Upon hearing
this,
they were all very sorry, and desired
me,
with tears in their eyes, not to leave
them
to be destroyed; for so they thought
they
should be, if I were deprived of the
command
over them: but as I did not grant their
request,
but was taking care of my own safety,
the
Galileans, out of their dread of the
consequence
of my departure, that they should then
be
at the mercy of the robbers, sent messengers
over all Galilee to inform them of
my resolution
to leave them. Whereupon, as soon as
they
heard it, they got together in great
numbers,
from all parts, with their wives and
children;
and this they did, as it appeared to
me,
not more out of their affection to
me, than
out of their fear on their own account;
for
while I staid with them, they supposed
that
they should suffer no harm. So they
all came
into the great plain, wherein I lived,
the
name of which was Asochis.
42. But wonderful it was what a dream
I
saw that very night; for when I had
betaken
myself to my bed, as grieved and disturbed
at the news that had been written to
me,
it seemed to me, that a certain person
stood
by me, (18) and said, "O Josephus!
leave
off to afflict thy soul, and put away
all
fear; for what now grieves thee will
render
thee very considerable, and in all
respects
most happy; for thou shalt get over
not only
these difficulties, but many others,
with
great success. However, be not cast
down,
but remember that thou art to fight
with
the Romans." When I had seen this
dream,
I got up with an intention of going
down
to the plain. Now, when the whole multitude
of the Galileans, among whom were the
women
and children, saw me, they threw themselves
down upon their faces, and, with tears
in
their eyes, besought me not to leave
them
exposed to their enemies, nor to go
away
and permit their country to be injured
by
them. But when I did not comply, with
their
entreaties, they compelled me to take
an
oath, that I would stay with them:
they also
cast abundance of reproaches upon the
people
of Jerusalem, that they would not let
their
country enjoy peace.
43. When I heard this, and saw what
sorrow
the people were in, I was moved with
compassion
to them, and thought it became me to
undergo
the most manifest hazards for the sake
of
so great a multitude; so I let them
know
I would stay with them. And when I
had given
order that five thousand off them should
come to me armed, and with provisions
for
their maintenance, I sent the rest
away to
their own homes; and when those five
thousand
were come, I took them, together with
three
thousand of the soldiers that were
with me
before, and eighty horsemen, and marched
to thevillage of Chabolo, situated
in the
confines of Ptolimias, and there kept
my
forces together, pretending to get
ready
to fight with Placidus, who was come
with
two cohorts of footmen, and one troop
of
horsemen, and was sent thither by Cestius
Gallus to burn those villages of Galilee
that were near Ptolemais. Upon whose
casting
up a bank before the city Ptolemais,
I also
pitched my camp at about the distance
of
sixty furlongs from that village. And
now
we frequently brought out our forces
as if
we would fight, but proceeded no further
than skirmishes at a distance; for
when Placidus
perceived that I was earnest to come
to a
battle, he was afraid, and avoided
it. Yet
did he not remove from the neighborhood
of
Ptolemais.
44. About this time it was that Jonathan
and his fellow legates came. They were
sent,
as we have said already, by Simon,
and Ananus
the high priest. And Jonathan contrived
how
he might catch me by treachery; for
he durst
not make any attempt upon me openly.
So he
wrote me the following epistle: "Jonathan
and those that are with him, and are
sent
by the people of Jerusalem, to Josephus,
send greeting. We are sent by the principal
men of Jerusalem, who have heard that
John
of Gischala hath laid many snares for
thee,
to rebuke him, and to exhort him to
be subject
to thee hereafter. We are also desirous
to
consult with thee about our common
concerns,
and what is fit to be done. We therefore
desire thee to come to us quickly,
and to
bring only a few men with thee; for
this
village will not contain a great number
of
soldiers." Thus it was that they
wrote,
as expecting one of these two things;
either
that I should come without armed men,
and
then they should have me wholly in
their
power; or, if I came with a great number,
they should judge me to be a public
enemy.
Now it was a horseman who brought the
letter,
a man at other times bold, and one
that had
served in the army under the king.
It was
the second hour of the night that he
came,
when I was feasting with my friends,
and
the principal of the Galileans. This
man,
upon my servant's telling me that a
certain
horseman of the Jewish nation was come,
was
called in at my command, but did not
so much
as salute me at all, but held out a
letter,
and said, "This letter is sent
thee
by those that are come from Jerusalem;
do
thou write an answer to it quickly;
for I
am obliged to return to them very soon.
Now
my guests could not but wonder at the
boldness
of the soldier. But I desired him to
sit
down and sup with us; but when he refused
so to do, I held the letter in my hands
as
I received it, and fell a talking with
my
guests about other matters. But a few
hours
afterwards, I got up, and when I had
dismissed
the rest to go to their beds, I bid
only
four of my intimate friends to stay,
and
ordered my servant to get some wine
ready.
I also opened the letter so, that nobody
could perceive it; and understanding
thereby
presently the purport· of the writing,
I
sealed it up again, and appeared as
if I
had not yet read it, but only held
it in
my hands. I ordered twenty drachmae
should
be given the soldier for the charges
of his
journey; and when he took the money,
and
said that he thanked me for it, I perceived
that he loved money, and that he was
to be
caught chiefly by that means; and I
said
to him," If thou wilt but drink
with
us, thou shalt have a drachma for every
glass
thou drinkest." So he gladly embraced
this proposal, and drank a great deal
of
wine, in order to get the more money,
and
was so drunk, that at last he could
not keep
the secrets he was intrusted with,
but discovered
them without my putting questions to
him,
viz. That a treacherous design was
contrived
against me, and that I was doomed to
die
by those that sent him. When I heard
this,
I wrote back this answer: "Josephus
to Jonathan, and those that are with
him,
sendeth greeting. Upon the information
that
you are come in health into Galilee,
I rejoice,
and this especially because I can now
resign
the care of public affairs here into
your
hands, and return into my native country,
which is what I have desired to do
a great
while; and I confess I ought not only
to
come to you as far as Xaloth, but farther,
and this without your commands. But
I desire
you to excuse me, because I cannot
do it
now, since I watch the motions of Placidus,
who hath a mind to go up into Galilee;
and
this I do here at Chabolo. Do you therefore,
on the receipt of this epistle, come
hither
to me. Fare you well."
45. When I had written thus, and given
the
letter to be carried by the soldier,
I sent
along with him thirty of the Galileans
of
the best characters, and gave them
instructions
to salute those ambassadors, but to
say nothing
else to them. I also gave orders to
as many
of those armed men, whom I esteemed
most
faithful to me, to go along with the
others,
every one with him whom he was to guard,
lest some conversation might pass between
those whom I sent and those who were
with
Jonathan. So those men went [to Jonathan].
But when Jonathan and his partners
had failed
in this their first attempt, they sent
me
another letter, the contents whereof
were
as follows: "Jonathan, and those
with
him, to Josephus, send greeting. We
require
thee to come to us to the village Gabaroth,
on the third day, without any armed
men,
that we may hear what thou hast to
lay to
the charge of John [of Gischala]."
When
they had written this letter, they
saluted
the Galileans whom I sent, and came
to Japha,
which was the largest village of all
Galilee,
and encompassed with very strong walls,
and
had a great number of inhabitants in
it.
There the multitude of men, with their
wives
and children, met them, and exclaimed
loudly
against them; and desired them to be
gone,
and not to envy them the advantage
of an
excellent commander. With these clamors
Jonathan
and his partners were greatly provoked,
although
they durst not show their anger openly;
so
they made them no answer, but went
to other
villages. But still the same clamors
met
them from all the people, who said,
"Nobody
should persuade them to have any other
commander
besides Josephus." So Jonathan
and his
partners went away from them without
success,
and came to Sepphoris, the greatest
city
of all Galilee. Now the men of that
city,
who inclined to the Romans in their
sentiments,
met them indeed, but neither praised
nor
reproached me and when they were gone
down
from Sepphoris to Asochis, the people
of
that place made a clamor against them,
as
those of Japha had done; whereupon
they were
able to contain themselves no longer,
but
ordered the armed men that were with
them
to beat those that made the clamor
with their
clubs. And when they came to Gabara,
John
met them with three thousand armed
men; but,
as I understood by their letter that
they
had resolved to fight against me, I
arose
from Chabolo, with three thousand armed
men
also; but left in my camp one of my
fastest
friends, and came to Jotapata, as desirous
to be near them, the distance being
no more
than forty furlongs. Whence I wrote
thus
to them: "If you are very desirous
that
I should come to you, you know there
are
two hundred and forty cities and villages
in Galilee; I will come to any of them
which
you please, excepting Gaburn and Gischala;
the one of which is John's native city,
and
the other in confederacy and friendship
with
him."
46. When Jonathan and his partners
had received
this letter, they wrote me no more
answers,
but called a council of their friends
together;
and taking John into their consultation,
they took counsel together by what
means
they might attack me. John's opinion
was,
that they should write to all the cities
and villages that were in Galilee;
for that
there must be certainly one or two
persons
in every one of them that were at variance
with me, and that they should be invited
to come to oppose me as an enemy. He
would
also have them send this resolution
of theirs
to the city of Jerusalem, that its
citizens,
upon the knowledge of my being adjudged
to
be an enemy by the Galileans, might
themselves
I also confirm that determination.
He said
also, that when this was done, even
those
Galileans who were well affected to
me, would
desert me out of fear. When John had
given
them this counsel, what he had said
was very
agreeable to the rest of them. I was
also
made acquainted with these affairs
about
the third hour of the night, by the
means
of one Saccheus, who had belonged to
them,
but now deserted them and came over
to me,
and told me what they were about; so
I perceived
that no time was to be lost. Accordingly,
I gave command to Jacob, an armed man
of
my guard, whom I esteemed faithful
to me,
to take two hundred men, and to guard
the
passages that led from Gahara to Galilee,
and to seize upon the passengers, and
send
them to me, especially such as were
caught
with letters about them: I also sent
Jeremias
himself, one of my friends, with six
hundred
armed men, to the borders of Galilee,
in
order to watch the roads that led from
this
country to the city Jerusalem, and
gave him
charge to lay hold of such as traveled
with
letters about them, to keep the men
in bonds
upon the place, but to send me the
letters.
47. When I had laid these commands
upon
them, I gave them orders, and bid them
take
their arms and bring three days' provision
with them, and be with me the next
day. I
also parted those that were about me
into
four parts, and ordained those of them
that
were most faithful to me to be a guard
to
my body. I also set over them centurions,
and commanded them to take care that
not
a soldier which they did not know should
mingle himself among them. Now, on
the fifth
day following, when I was at Gabaroth,
I
found the entire plain that was before
the
village full of armed men, who were
come
out of Galilee to assist me: many others
of the multitude, also, out of the
village,
ran along with me. But as soon as I
had taken
my place, and began to speak to them,
they
all made an acclamation, and called
me the
benefactor and savior of the country.
And
when I had made them my acknowledgments,
and thanked them [for their affection
to
me], I also advised them to fight with
nobody,
(19) nor to spoil the country; but
to pitch
their tents in the plain, and be content
with their sustenance they had brought
with
them; for I told them that I had a
mind to
compose these troubles without shedding
any
blood. Now it came to pass, that on
the very
same day those who were sent by John
with
letters, fell among the guards whom
I had
appointed to watch the roads; so the
men
were themselves kept upon the place,
as my
orders were, but I got the letters,
which
were full of reproaches and lies; and
I intended
to fall upon these men, without saying
a
word of these matters to any body.
48. Now, as soon as Jonathan and his
companions
heard of my coming, they took all their
own
friends, and John with them, and retired
to the house of Jesus, which indeed
was a
large castle, and no way unlike a citadel;
so they privately laid a band of armed
men
therein, and shut all the other doors
but
one, which they kept open, and they
expected
that I should come out of the road
to them,
to salute them. And indeed they had
given
orders to the armed men, that when
I came
they should let nobody besides me come
in,
but should exclude others; as supposing
that,
by this means, they should easily get
me
under their power: but they were deceived
in their expectation; for I perceived
what
snares they had laid for me. Now, as
soon
as I was got off my journey, I took
up my
lodgings over against them, and pretended
to be asleep; so Jonathan and his party,
thinking that I was really asleep and
at
rest, made haste to go down into the
plain,
to persuade the people that I was an
ill
governor. But the matter proved otherwise;
for, upon their appearance, there was
a cry
made by the Galileans immediately,
declaring
their good opinion of me as their governor;
and they made a clamor against Jonathan
and
his partners for coming to them when
they
had suffered no harm, and as though
they
would overturn their happy settlement;
and
desired them by all means to go back
again,
for that they would never be persuaded
to
have any other to rule over them but
myself.
When I heard of this, I did not fear
to go
down into the midst of them; I went,
therefore,
myself down presently to hear what
Jonathan
and his companions said. As soon as
I appeared,
there was immediately an acclamation
made
to me by the whole multitude, and a
cry in
my commendation by them, who confessed
their
thanks was owing to me for my good
government
of them.
49. When Jonathan and his companions
heard
this, they were in fear of their own
lives,
and in danger lest they should be assaulted
by the Galileans on nay account; so
they
contrived how they might run away.
But as
they were not able to get off, for
I desired
them to stay, they looked down with
concern
at my words to them. I ordered, therefore,
the multitude to restrain entirely
their
acclamations, and placed the most faithful
of my armed men upon the avenues, to
be a
guard to us, lest John should unexpected
fall upon us; and I encouraged the
Galileans
to take their weapons, lest they should
be
disturbed at their enemies, if any
sudden
insult should be made upon them. And
then,
in the first place, I put Jonathan
and his
partners in mind of their [former]
letter,
and after what manner they had written
to
me, and declared they were sent by
the common
consent to the people of Jerusalem,
to make
up the differences I had with John,
and how
they had desired me to come to them;
and
as I spake thus, I publicly showed
that letter
they had written, till they could not
at
all deny what they had done, the letter
itself
convicting them. I then said, "O
Jonathan!
and you that are sent with him as his
colleagues,
if I were to be judged as to my behavior,
compared with that of John's, and had
brought
no more than two or three witnesses,
(20)
good men and true, it is plain you
had been
forced, upon the examination of their
characters
beforehand, to discharge the accusations:
that therefore you may be informed
that I
have acted well in the affairs of Galilee,
I think three witnesses too few to
be brought
by a man that hath done as he ought
to do;
so I gave you all these for witnesses.
Inquire
of them (21) how I have lived, and
whether
I have not behaved myself with all
decency,
and after a virtuous manner, among
them.
And I further conjure you, O Galileans!
to
hide no part of the truth, but to speak
before
these men as before judges, whether
I have
in any thing acted otherwise than well."
50. While I was thus speaking, the
united
voices of all the people joined together,
and called me their benefactor and
savior,
and attested to my former behavior,
and exhorted
me to continue so to do hereafter;
and they
all said, upon their oaths, that their
wives
had been preserved free from injuries,
and
that no one had ever been aggrieved
by me.
After this, I read to the Galileans
two of
those epistles which had been sent
by Jonathan
and his colleagues, and which those
whom
I had appointed to guard the road had
taken,
and sent to me. These were full of
reproaches,
and of lies, as if I had acted more
like
a tyrant than a governor against them,
with
many other things besides therein contained,
which were no better indeed than impudent
falsities. I also informed the multitude
how I came by these letters, and that
those
who carried them delivered them up
voluntarily;
for I was not willing that my enemies
should
know any thing of the guards I had
set, lest
they should be afraid, and leave off
writing
hereafter.
51. When the multitude heard these
things,
they were greatly provoked at Jonathan,
and
his colleagues that were with him,
and were
going to attack them, and kill them;
and
this they had certainly done, unless
I had
restrained the anger of the Galileans,
and
said, that" I forgave Jonathan
and his
colleagues what was past, if they would
repent,
and go to their own country, and tell
those
who sent them the truth, as to my conduct."
When I had said this, I let them go,
although
I knew they would do nothing of what
they
had promised. But the multitude were
very
much enraged against them, and entreated
me to give them leave to punish them
for
their insolence; yet did I try all
methods
to persuade them to spare the men;
for I
knew that every instance of sedition
was
pernicious to the public welfare. But
the
multitude was too angry with them to
be dissuaded,
and all of them went immediately to
the house
in which Jonathan and his colleagues
abode.
However, when I perceived that their
rage
could not be restrained, I got on horseback,
and ordered the multitude to follow
me to
the village Sogane, which was twenty
furlongs
off Gabara; and by using this stratagem,
I so managed myself, as not to appear
to
begin a civil war ,amongst them.
52. But when I was come near Sogane,
I caused
the multitude to make a halt, and exhorted
them not to be so easily provoked to
anger,
and to the inflicting such punishments
as
could not be afterwards recalled: I
also
gave order, that a hundred men, who
were
already in years, and were principal
men
among them, should get themselves ready
to
go to the city of Jerusalem, and should
.make
a complaint before the people of such
as
raised seditions in the country. And
I said
to them, that" in case they be
moved
with what you say, you shall desire
the community
to write to me, and to enjoin me to
continue
in Galilee, and to order Jonathan and
his
colleagues to depart out of it."
When
I had suggested these instructions
to them,
and while they were getting themselves
ready
as fast as they could, I sent them
on this
errand the third day after they had
been
assembled: I also sent five hundred
armed
men with them [as a guard]. I then
wrote
to my friends in Samaria, to take care
that
they might safely pass through the
country:
for Samaria was already under the Romans,
and it was absolutely necessary for
those
that go quickly [to Jerusalem] to pass
through
that country; for in that road you
may, in
three days' time, go from Galilee to
Jerusalem.
I also went myself, and conducted the
old
men as far as the bounds of Galilee,
and
set guards in the roads, that it might
not
be easily known by any one that these
men
were gone. And when I had thus done,
I went
and abode at Japha.
53. Now Jonathan and his colleagues,
having
failed of accomplishing what they would
have
done against me, sent John back to
Gischala,
but went themselves to the city of
Tiberias,
expecting it would submit itself to
them;
and this was founded on a letter which
Jesus,
their then governor, had written them,
promising
that, if they came, the multitude would
receive
them, and choose to be under their
government;
so they went their ways with this expectation.
But Silas, who, as I said, had been
left
curator of Tiberias by me, informed
me of
this, and desired me to make haste
thither.
Accordingly, I complied with his advice
immediately,
and came thither; but found myself
in danger
of my life, from the following occasion:
Jonathan and his colleagues had been
at Tiberias,
and had persuaded a great many of such
as
had a quarrel with me to desert me;
but when
they heard of my coming, they were
in fear
for themselves, and came to me; and
when
they had saluted me, they said, that
I was
a happy man in having behaved myself
so well
in the government of Galilee; and they
congratulated
me upon the honors that were paid me:
for
they said that my glory was a credit
to them,
since they had been my teachers and
fellow
citizens; and they said further, that
it
was but just that they should prefer
my friendship
to them rather than John's, and that
they
would have immediately gone home, but
that
they staid that they might deliver
up John
into my power; and when they said this
they
took their oaths of it, and those such
as
are most tremendous amongst us, and
such
as I did not think fit to disbelieve.
However,
they desired me to lodge some where
else,
because the next day was the sabbath,
and
that it was not fit the city of Tiberias
should be disturbed [on that day].
54. So I suspected nothing, and went
away
to Tarichese; yet did I withal leave
some
to make inquiry in the city how matters
went,
and whether any thing was said about
me:
I also set many persons all the way
that
led from Tarichese to Tiberias, that
they
might communicate from one to another,
if
they learned any news from those that
were
left in the city. On the next day,
therefore,
they all came into the Proseucha; (22)
it
was a large edifice, and capable of
receiving
a great number of people; thither Jonathan
went in, and though he durst not openly
speak
of a revolt, yet did he say that their
city
stood in need of a better governor
than it
then had. But Jesus, who was the ruler,
made
no scruple to speak out, and said openly,"
O fellow citizens! it is better for
you to
be in subjection to four than to one;
and
those such as are of high birth, and
not
without reputation for their wisdom;"
and pointed to Jonathan and his colleagues.
Upon his saying this, Justus came in
and
commended him for what he had said,
and persuaded
some of the people to be of his mind
also.
But the multitude were not pleased
with what
was said, and had certainly gone into
a tumult,
unless the sixth hour, which was now
come,
had dissolved the assembly, at which
hour
our laws require us to go to dinner
on sabbath
days; so Jonathan and his colleagues
put
off their council till the next day,
and
went off without success. When I was
informed
of these affairs, I determined to go
to the
city of Tiberias in the morning. Accordingly,
on the next day, about the first hour
of
the day, I came from Tarichee, and
found
the multitude already assembled in
the Proseucha;
but on what account they were gotten
together,
those that were assembled did not know.
But
when Jonathan and his colleagues saw
me there
unexpectedly, they were in disorder;
after
which they raised a report of their
own contrivance,
that Roman horsemen were seen at a
place
called Union, in the borders of Galilee,
thirty furlongs distant from the city.
Upon
which report, Jonathan and his colleagues
cunningly exhorted me not to neglect
this
matter, nor to suffer the land to be
spoiled
by the enemy. And this they said with
a design
to remove me out of the city, under
the pretense
of the want of extraordinary assistance,
while they might dispose the city to
be my
enemy.
55. As for myself, although I knew
of their
design, yet did I comply with what
they proposed,
lest the people of Tiberias should
have occasion
to suppose that I was not careful of
their
security. I therefore went out; but,
when
I was at the place, I found not the
least
footsteps of any enemy, so I returned
as
fast as ever I could, and found the
whole
council assembled, and the body of
the people
gotten together, and Jonathan and his
colleagues
bringing vehement accusations against
me,
as one who had no concern to ease them
of
the burdens of war, and as one that
lived
luxuriously. And as they were discoursing
thus, they produced four letters, as
written
to them from some people that lived
at the
borders of Galilee, imploring that
they would
come to their assistance, for that
there
was an army of Romans, both horsemen
and
footmen, who would come and lay waste
the
country on the third day; they desired
them
also to make haste, and not to overlook
them.
When the people of Tiberias heard this,
they
thought they spake truth, and made
a clamor
against me, and said I ought not to
sit still,
but to go away to the assistance of
their
countrymen. Hereupon I said (for I
understood
the meaning of Jonathan and his colleagues)
that I was ready to comply with what
they
proposed, and without delay to march
to the
war which they spake of, yet did I
advise
them, at the same time, that since
these
letters declared that the Romans would
make
their assault in four several places,
they
should part their forces into five
bodies,
and make Jonathan and his colleagues
generals
of each body of them, because it was
fit
for brave men, not only to give counsel,
but to take the place of leaders, and
assist
their countrymen when such a necessity
pressed
them; for, said I, it is not possible
for
me to lead more than one party. This
advice
of mine greatly pleased the multitude;
so
they compelled them to go forth to
the war.
But their designs were put into very
much
disorder, because they had not done
what
they had designed to do, on account
of my
stratagem, which was opposite to their
undertakings.
56. Now there was one whose name was
Ananias
(a wicked man he was, and very mischievous);
he proposed that a general religious
fast
(23) should be appointed the next day
for
all the people, and gave order that
at the
same hour they should come to the same
place,
without any weapons, to make it manifest
before God, that while they obtained
his
assistance, they thought all these
weapons
useless. This he said, not out of piety,
but that they might catch me and my
friends
unarmed. Now, I was hereupon forced
to comply,
lest I should appear to despise a proposal
that tended to piety. As soon, therefore,
as we were gone home, Jonathan and
his colleagues
wrote to John to come to them in the
morning,
and desiring him to come with as many
soldiers
as he possibly could, for that they
should
then be able easily to get me into
their
hands, and to do all they desired to
do.
When John had received this letter,
he resolved
to comply with it. As for myself, on
the
next day, I ordered two of the guards
of
my body, whom I esteemed the most courageous
and most faithful, to hide daggers
under
their garments, and to go along with
me,
that we might defend ourselves, if
any attack
should be made upon us by our enemies.
I
also myself took my breastplate, and
girded
on my sword, so that it might be, as
far
as it was possible, concealed, and
came into
the Proseucha.
57. Now Jesus, who was the ruler, commanded
that they should exclude all that came
with
me, for he kept the door himself, and
suffered
none but his friends to go in. And
while
we were engaged in the duties of the
day,
and had betaken ourselves to our prayers,
Jesus got up, and inquired of me what
was
become of the vessels that were taken
out
of the king's palace, when it was burnt
down
[and] of that uncoined silver; and
in whose
possession they now were? This he said,
in
order to drive away time till John
should
come. I said that Capellus, and the
ten principal
men of Tiberias, had them all; and
I told
him that they might ask them whether
I told
a lie or not. And when they said they
had
them, he asked me, What is become of
those
twenty pieces of gold which thou didst
receive
upon the sale of a certain weight of
uncoined
money? I replied, that I had given
them to
those ambassadors of theirs, as a maintenance
for them, when they were sent by them
to
Jerusalem. So Jonathan and his colleagues
said that I had not done well to pay
the
ambassadors out of the public money.
And
when the multitude were very angry
at them
for this, for they perceived the wickednes
of the men, I understood that a tumult
was
going to arise; and being desirous
to provoke
the people to a greater rage against
the
men, I said, "But if I have not
done
well in paying our ambassadors out
of the
public stock, leave off your anger
at me,
for I will repay the twenty pieces
of gold
myself."
58. When I had said this, Jonathan
and his
colleagues held their peace; but the
people
were still more irritated against them,
upon
their openly showing their unjust ill-will
to me. When Jesus saw this change in
file
people, he ordered them to depart,
but desired
the senate to stay; for that they could
not
examine things of such a nature in
a tumult:
and as the people were crying out that
they
would not leave me alone, there came
one
and told Jesus and his friends privately,
that John and his armed men were at
hand:
whereupon Jonathan and his colleagues,
being
able to contain themselves no longer,
(and
perhaps the providence of God hereby
procuring
my deliverance, for had not this been
so,
I had certainly been destroyed by John,)
said, "O you people of Tiberias!
leave
off this inquiry about the twenty pieces
of gold; for Josephus hath not deserved
to
die for them; but he hath deserved
it by
his desire of tyrannizing, and by cheating
the multitude of the Galileans with
his speeches,
in order to gain the dominion over
them."
When he had said this, they presently
laid
hands upon me, and endeavored to kill
me:
but as soon as those that were with
me saw
what they did, they drew their swords,
and
threatened to smite them, if they offered
any violence to me. The people also
took
up stones, and were about to throw
them at
Jonathan; and so they snatched me from
the
violence of my enemies.
59. But as I was gone out a little
way,
I was just upon meeting John, who was
marching
with his armed men. So I was afraid
of him,
and turned aside, and escaped by a
narrow
passage to the lake, and seized on
a ship,
and embarked in it, and sailed over
to Tarichese.
So, beyond my expectation, I escaped
this
danger. Whereupon I presently sent
for the
chief of the Galileans, and told them
after
what manner, against all faith given,
I had
been very near to destruction from
Jonathan
and his colleagues, and the people
of Tiberias.
Upon which the multitude of the Galileans
were very. angry, and encouraged me
to delay
no longer to make war upon them, but
to permit
them to go against John, and utterly
to destroy
him, as well as Jonathan and his colleagues.
However, I restrained them, though
they were
in such a rage, and desired them to
tarry
a while, till we should be informed
what
orders those ambassadors, that were
sent
by them to the city of Jerusalem, should
bring thence; for I told them that
it was
best for them to act according to their
determination;
whereupon they were prevailed on. At
which
time, also, John, when the snares he
had
laid did not take effect, returned
back to
Gischala.
60. Now, in a few days, those ambassadors
whom he had sent, came back again and
informed
us, that the people were greatly provoked
at Ananus, and Simon the son of Gamaliel,
and their friends; that, without any
public
determination, they had sent to Galilee,
and had done their endeavors that I
might
be turned out of the government. The
ambassadors
said further, that the people were
ready
to burn their houses. They also brought
letters,
whereby the chief men of Jerusalem,
at the
earnest petition of the people, confirmed
me in the government of Galilee, and
enjoined
Jonathan and his colleagues to return
home
quickly. When I had gotten these letters,
I came to the village Arbela, where
I procured
an assembly of the Galileans to meet,
and
bid the ambassadors declare to them
the anger
of the people of Jerusalem at what
had been
done by Jonathan and his colleagues,
and
how much they hated their wicked doings,
and how they had confirmed me in the
government
of their country, as also what related
to
the order they had in writing for Jonathan
and his colleagues to return home.
So I immediately
sent them the letter, and bid him that
carried
it to inquire, as well as he could,
how they
intended to act [on this occasion.]
61. Now, when they had received that
letter,
and were thereby greatly disturbed,
they
sent for John, and for the senators
of Tiberias,
and for the principal men of the Gabarens,
and proposed to hold a council, and
desired
them to consider what was to be done
by them.
However, the governors of Tiberias
were greatly
disposed to keep the government to
themselves;
for they said it was not fit to desert
their
city, now it was committed to their
trust,
and that otherwise I should not delay
to
fall upon them; for they pretended
falsely
that so I had threatened to do. Now
John
was not only of their opinion, but
advised
them, that two of them should go to
accuse
me before the multitude [at Jerusalem],
that
I do not manage the affairs of Galilee
as
I ought to do; and that they would
easily
persuade the people, because of their
dignity,
and because the whole multitude are
very
mutable. When, therefore, it appeared
that
John had suggested the wisest advice
to them,
they resolved that two of them, Jonathan
and Ananias, should go to the people
of Jerusalem,
and the other two [Simon and Joazar]
should
be left behind to tarry at Tiberins.
They
also took along with them a hundred
soldiers
for their guard.
62. However, the governors of Tiberias
took
care to have their city secured with
walls,
and commanded their inhabitants to
take their
arms. They also sent for a great many
soldiers
from John, to assist them against me,
if
there should be occasion for them.
Now John
was at Gischala. Jonathan, therefore,
and
those that were with him, when they
were
departed from Tiberias, and as soon
as they
were come to Dabaritta, a village that
lay
in the utmost parts of Galilee, in
the great
plain, they, about midnight, fell among
the
guards I had set, who both commanded
them
to lay aside their weapons, and kept
them
in bonds upon the place, as I had charged
them to do. This news was written to
me by
Levi, who had the command of that guard
committed
to him by me. Hereupon I said nothing
of
it for two days; and, pretending to
know
nothing about it, I sent a message
to the
people of Tiberias, and advised them
to lay
their arms aside, and to dismiss their
men,
that they might go home. But, supposing
that
Jonathan, and those that were with
him, were
already arrived at Jerusalem, they
made reproachful
answers to me; yet was I not terrified
thereby,
but contrived another stratagem against
them,
for I did not think it agreeable with
piety
to kindle the fire of war against the
citizens.
As I was desirous to draw those men
away
from Tiberias, I chose out ten thousand
of
the best of my armed men, and divided
them
into three bodies, and ordered them
to go
privately, and lie still as an ambush,
in
the villages. I also led a thousand
into
another village, which lay indeed in
the
mountains, as did the others, but only
four
furlongs distant from Tiberias; and
gave
orders, that when they saw my signal,
they
should come down immediately, while
I myself
lay with my soldiers in the sight of
every
body. Hereupon the people of Tiberias,
at
the sight of me, came running out of
the
city perpetually, and abused me greatly.
Nay, their madness was come to that
height,
that they made a decent bier for me,
and,
standing about it, they mourned over
me in
the way of jest and sport; and I could
not
but be myself in a pleasant humor upon
the
sight of this madness of theirs.
63. And now being desirous to catch
Simon
by a wile, and Joazar with him, I sent
a
message to them, and desired them to
come
a little way out of the city, and many
of
their friends to guard them; for I
said I
would come down to them, and make a
league
with them, and divide the government
of Galilee
with them. Accordingly, Simon was deluded
on account of his imprudence, and out
of
the hopes of gain, and did not delay
to come;
but Joazar, suspecting snares were
laid for
him, staid behind. So when Simon was
come
out, and his friends with him, for
his guard,
I met him, and saluted him with great
civility,
and professed that I was obliged to
him for
his coming up to me; but a little while
afterward
I walked along with him as though I
would
say something to him by myself; and
when
I had drawn him a good way from his
friends,
I took him about the middle, and gave
him
to my friends that were with me, to
carry
him into a village; and, commanding
my armed
men to come down, I with them made
an assault
upon Tiberias. Now, as the fight grew
hot
on both sides, and the soldiers belonging
to Tiberias were in a fair way to conquer
me, (for my armed men were already
fled away,)
I saw the posture of my affairs; and
encouraging
those that were with me, I pursued
those
of Tiberias, even when they were already
conquerors, into the city. I also sent
another
band of soldiers into the city by the
lake,
and gave them orders to set on fire
the first
house they could seize upon. When this
was
done, the people of Tiberinas thought
that
their city was taken by force, and
so threw
down their arms for fear, and implored,
they,
their wives, and children, that I would
spare
their city. So I was over-persuaded
by their
entreaties, and restrained the soldiers
from
the vehemency with which they pursued
them;
while I myself, upon the coming on
of the
evening, returned back with my soldiers,
and went to refresh myself. I also
invited
Simon to sup with me, and comforted
him on
occasion of what had happened; and
I promised
that I would send him safe and secure
to
Jerusalem, and withal would give him
provisions
for his journey thither.
64. But on the next day, I brought
ten thousand
armed men with me, and came to Tiberias.
I then sent for the principal men of
the
multitude into the public place, and
enjoined
them to tell me who were the authors
of the
revolt; and when they told me who the
men
were, I sent them bound to the city
Jotapata.
But as to Jonathan and Ananias, I freed
them
from their bonds, and gave them provisions
for their journey, together with Simon
and
Joazar, and five hundred armed men
who should
guard them; and so I sent them to Jerusalem.
The people of Tiberias also came to
me again,
and desired that I would forgive them
for
what they had done; and they said they
would
amend what they had done amiss with
regard
to me, by their fidelity for the time
to
come; and they besought me to preserve
what
spoils remained upon the plunder of
the city,
for those that had lost them. Accordingly,
I enjoined those that had got them,
to bring
them all before us; and when they did
not
comply for a great while, and I saw
one of
the soldiers that were about me with
a garment
on that was more splendid than ordinary,
I asked him whence he had it; and when
he
replied that he had it out of the plunder
of the city, I had him punished with
stripes;
and I threatened all the rest to inflict
a severer punishment upon them, unless
they
produced before us whatsoever they
had plundered;
and when a great many spoils were brought
together, I restored to every one of
Tiberias
what they claimed to be their own.
65. And now I am come to this part
of my
narration, I have a mind to say a few
things
to Justus, who hath himself written
a history
concerning these affairs, as also to
others
who profess to write history, but have
little
regard to truth, and are not afraid,
either
out of ill-will or good-will to some
persons,
to relate falsehoods. These men do
like those
who compose forged deeds and conveyances;
and because they are not brought to
the like
punishment with them, they have no
regard
to truth. When, therefore, Justus undertook
to write about these facts, and about
the
Jewish war, that he might appear to
have
been an industrious man, he falsified
in
what he related about me, and could
not speak
truth even about his own country; whence
it is that, being belied by him, I
am under
a necessity to make my defense; and
so I
shall say what I have concealed till
now.
And let no one wonder that I have not
told
the world these things a great while
ago.
For although it be necessary for an
historian
to write the truth, yet is such a one
not
bound severely to animadvert on the
wickedness
of certain men; not out of any favor
to them,
but out of an author's own moderation.
How
then comes it to pass, O Justus! thou
most
sagacious of writers, (that I may address
myself to him as if he were here present,)
for so thou boastest of thyself, that
I and
the Galileans have been the authors
of that
sedition which thy country engaged
in, both
against the Romans and against the
king [Agrippa,
junior] For before ever I was appointed
governor
of Galilee by the community of Jerusalem,
both thou and all the people of Tiberias
had not only taken up arms, but had
made
war with Decapolis of Syria. Accordingly,
thou hadst ordered their villages to
be burnt,
and a domestic servant of thine fell
in the
battle. Nor is it I only who say this;
but
so it is written in the Commentaries
of Vespasian,
the emperor; as also how the inhabitants
of Decapolis came clamoring to Vespasian
at Ptolemais, and desired that thou,
who
wast the author [of that war], mightest
be
brought to punishment. And thou hadst
certainly
been punished at the command of Vespasian,
had not king Agrippa, who had power
given
him to have thee put to death, at the
earnest
entreaty of his sister Bernice, changed
the
punishment from death into a long imprisonment.
Thy political administration of affairs
afterward
doth also clearly discover both thy
other
behavior in life, and that thou wast
the
occasion of thy country's revolt from
the
Romans; plain signs of which I shall
produce
presently. I have also a mind to say
a few
things to the rest of the people of
Tiberias
on thy account, and to demonstrate
to those
that light upon this history, that
you bare
no good-will, neither to the Romans,
nor
to the king. To be sure, the greatest
cities
of Galilee, O Justus! were Sepphoris,
and
thy country Tiberias. But Sepphoris,
situated
in the very midst of Galilee, and having
many villages about it, and able with
ease
to have been bold and troublesome to
the
Romans, if they had so pleased, yet
did it
resolve to continue faithful to those
their
masters, and at the same time excluded
me
out of their city, and prohibited all
their
citizens from joining with the Jews
in the
war; and, that they might be out of
danger
from me, they, by a wile, got leave
of me
to fortify their city with walls: they
also,
of their own accord, admitted of a
garrison
of Roman legions, sent them by Cestlus
Gallus,
who was then president of Syria, and
so had
me in contempt, though I was then very
powerful,
and all were greatly afraid of me;
and at
the same time that the greatest of
our cities,
Jerusalem, was besieged, and that temple
of ours, which belonged to us all,
was in
danger of falling under the enemy's
power,
they sent no assistance thither, as
not willing
to have it thought they would bear
arms against
the Romans. But as for thy country,
O Justus:
situated upon the lake of Gennesareth,
and
distance from Hippos thirty furlongs,
from
Gadara sixty, and from Scythopolis,
which
was under the king's jurisdiction,
a hundred
and twenty; when there was no Jewish
city
near, it might easily have preserved
its
fidelity [to the Romans,] if it had
so pleased
them to do, for the city and its people
had
plenty of weapons. But, as thou sayest,
I
was then the author [of their revolts].
And
pray, O Justus! who was that author
afterwards?
For thou knowest that I was in the
power
of the Romans before Jerusalem was
besieged,
and before the same time Jotapata was
taker
by force, as well as many other fortresses,
and a great many of the Galileans fell
in
the war. It was therefore then a proper
time,
when you were certainly freed from
any fear
on my account, to throw away your weapons,
and to demonstrate to the king and
to the
Romans, that it was not of choice,
but as
forced by necessity, that you fell
into the
war against them; but you staid till
Vespasian
came himself as far as your walls,
with his
whole army; and then you did indeed
lay aside
your weapons out of fear, and your
city had
for certain been taken by force, unless
Vespasian
had complied with the king's supplication
for you, and had excused your madness.
It
was not I, therefore, who was the author
of this, but your own inclinations
to war.
Do not you remember how often I got
you under
my power, and yet put none of you to
death?
Nay, you once fell into a tumult one
against
another, and slew one hundred and eighty-five
of your citizens, not on account of
your
good-will to the king and to the Romans,
but on account of your own wickedness,
and
this while I was besieged by the Romans
in
Jotapata. Nay, indeed, were there not
reckoned
up two thousand of the people of Tiberias
during the siege of Jerusalem, some
of whom
were slain, and the rest caught and
carried
captives? But thou wilt pretend that
thou
didst not engage in the war, since
thou didst
flee to the king. Yes, indeed, thou
didst
flee to him; but I say it was out of
fear
of me. Thou sayest, indeed, that it
is I
who am a wicked man. But then, for
what reason
was it that king Agrippa, who procured
thee
thy life when thou wast condemned to
die
by Vespian, and who bestowed so much
riches
upon thee, did twice afterward put
thee in
bonds, and as often obliged thee to
run away
from thy country, and, when he had
once ordered
thee to be put to death, he granted
thee
a pardon at the earnest desire of Bernice?
And when (after so many of thy wicked
pranks)
he made thee his secretary, he caught
thee
falsifying his epistles, and drove
thee away
from his sight. But I shall not inquire
accurately
into these matters of scandal against
thee.
Yet cannot I but wonder at thy impudence,
when thou hast the assurance to say,
that
thou hast better related these affairs
[of
the war] than have all the others that
have
written about them, whilst thou didst
not
know what was done in Galilee; for
thou wast
then at Berytus with the king; nor
didst
thou know how much the Romans suffered
at
the siege of Jotapata, or what miseries
they
brought upon us; nor couldst thou learn
by
inquiry what I did during that siege
myself;
for all those that might afford such
information
were quite destroyed in that siege.
But perhaps
thou wilt say, thou hast written of
what
was done against the people of Jerusalem
exactly. But how should that be? for
neither
wast thou concerned in that war, nor
hast
thou read the commentaries of Caesar;
of
which we have evident proof, because
thou
hast contradicted those commentaries
of Caesar
in thy history. But if thou art so
hardy
as to affirm, that thou hast written
that
history better than all the rest, why
didst
thou not publish thy history while
the emperors
Vespasian and Titus, the generals in
that
war, as well as king Agrippa and his
family,
who were men very well skilled in the
learning
of the Greeks, were all alive? for
thou hast
had it written these twenty years,
and then
mightest thou have had the testimony
of thy
accuracy. But now when these men are
no longer
with us, and thou thinkest thou canst
not
be contradicted, thou venturest to
publish
it. But then I was not in like manner
afraid
of my own writing, but I offered my
books
to the emperors themselves, when the
facts
were almost under men's eyes; for I
was conscious
to myself, that I had observed the
truth
of the facts; and as I expected to
have their
attestation to them, so I was not deceived
in such expectation. Moreover, I immediately
presented my history to many other
persons,
some of whom were concerned in the
war, as
was king Agrippa and some of his kindred.
Now the emperor Titus was so desirous
that
the knowledge of these affairs should
be
taken from these books alone, that
he subscribed
his own hand to them, and ordered that
they
should be published; and for king Agrippa,
he wrote me sixty-two letters, and
attested
to the truth of what I had therein
delivered;
two of which letters I have here subjoined,
and thou mayst thereby know their contents:
- "King Agrippa to Josephus, however,
when thou comest to me, I will inform
thee
of a great many things which thou dost
not
know." So when this history was
perfected,
Agrippa, neither by way of flattery,
which
was not agreeable to him, nor by way
of irony,
as thou wilt say, (for he was entirely
a
stranger to such an evil disposition
of mind,)
but he wrote this by way of attestation
to
what was true, as all that read histories
may do. And so much shall be said concerning
Justus (24) which I am obliged to add
by
way of digression.
66. Now, when I had settled the affairs
of Tiberias, and had assembled my friends
as a sanhedrim, I consulted what I
should
do as to John. Whereupon it appeared
to be
the opinion of all the Galileans, that
I
should arm them all, and march against
John,
and punish him as the author of all
the disorders
that had happened. Yet was not I pleased
with their determination; as purposing
to
compose these troubles without bloodshed.
Upon this I exhorted them to use the
utmost
care to learn the names of all that
were
under John; which when they had done,
and
I thereby was apprized who the men
were,
I published an edict, wherein I offered
security
and my right hand to such of John's
party
as had a mind to repent; and I allowed
twenty
days' time to such as would take this
most
advantageous course for themselves.
I also
threatened, that unless they threw
down their
arms, I would burn their houses, and
expose
their goods to public sale. When the
men
heard of this, they were in no small
disorder,
and deserted John; and to the number
of four
thousand threw down their arms, and
came
to me. So that no others staid with
John
but his own citizens, and about fifteen
hundred
strangers that came from the metropolis
of
Tyre; and when John saw that he had
been
outwitted by my stratagem, he continued
afterward
in his own country, and was in great
fear
of me.
67. But about this time it was that
the
people of Sepphoris grew insolent,
and took
up arms, out of a confidence they had
in
the strength of their walls, and because
they saw me engaged in other affairs
also.
So they sent to Cestius Gallus, who
was president
of Syria, and desired that he would
either
come quickly to them, and take their
city
under his protection, or send them
a garrison.
Accordingly, Gallus promised them to
come,
but did not send word when he would
come:
and when I had learned so much, I took
the
soldiers that were with me, and made
an assault
upon the people of Sepphoris, and took
the
city by force. The Galileans took this
opportunity,
as thinking they had now a proper time
for
showing their hatred to them, since
they
bore ill-will to that city also. They
then
exerted themselves, as if they would
destroy
them all utterly, with those that sojourned
there also. So they ran upon them,
and set
their houses on fire, as finding them
without
inhabitants; for the men, out of fear,
ran
together to the citadel. So the Galileans
carried off every thing, and omitted
no kind
of desolation which they could bring
upon
their countrymen. When I saw this,
I was
exceedingly troubled at it, and commanded
them to leave off, and put them in
mind that
it was not agreeable to piety to do
such
things to their countrymen: but since
they
neither would hearken to what I exhorted,
nor to what I commanded them to do,
(for
the hatred they bore to the people
there
was too hard for my exhortations to
them,)
I bade those my friends, who were most
faithful
to me, and were about me, to give on
reports,
as if the Romans were falling upon
the other
part of the city with a great army;
and this
I did, that, by such a report being
spread
abroad, I might restrain the violence
of
the Galileans, and preserve the city
of Sepphoris.
And at length this stratagem had its
effect;
for, upon hearing this report, they
were
in fear for themselves, and so they
left
off plundering and ran away; and this
more
especially, because they saw me, their
general,
do the same also; for, that I might
cause
this report to be believed, I pretended
to
be in fear as well as they. Thus were
the
inhabitants of Sepphoris unexpectedly
preserved
by this contrivance of mine.
68. Nay, indeed, Tiberias had like
to have
been plundered by the Galileans also
upon
the following occasion: - The chief
men of
the senate wrote to the king, and desired
that he would come to them, and take
possession
of their city. The king promised to
come,
and wrote a letter in answer to theirs,
and
gave it to one of his bed-chamber,
whose
name was Crispus, and who was by birth
a
Jew, to carry it to Tiberias. When
the Galileans
knew that this man carried such a letter,
they caught him, and brought him to
me; but
as soon as the whole multitude heard
of it,
they were enraged, and betook themselves
to their arms. So a great many of them
together
from all quarters the next day, and
came
to the city Asochis, where I then lodged,
and made heavy clamors, and called
the city
of Tiberias a traitor to them, and
a friend
to the king; and desired leave of me
to go
down and utterly destroy it; for they
bore
the like ill-will to the people of
Tiberias,
as they did to those of Sepphoris.
69. When I heard this, I was in doubt
what
to do, and hesitated by what means
I might
deliver Tiberias from the rage of the
Galileans;
for I could not deny that those of
Tiborias
had written to the king, and invited
him
to come to them; for his letters to
them,
in answer thereto, would fully prove
the
truth of that. So I sat a long time
musing
with myself, and then said to them,
"I
know well enough that the people of
Tiberias
have offended; nor shall I forbid you
to
plunder the city. However, such things
ought
to be done with discretion; for they
of Tiberias
have not been the only betrayers of
our liberty,
but many of the most eminent patriots
of
the Galileans, as they pretended to
be, have
done the same. Tarry therefore till
I shall
thoroughly find out those authors of
our
danger, and then you shall have them
all
at once under your power, with all
such as
you shall yourselves bring in also."
Upon my saying this, I pacifie the
multitude,
and they left off their anger, and
went their
ways; and I gave orders that he who
brought
the king's letters should be put into
bonds;
but in a few days I pretended that
I was
obliged, by a necessary affair of my
own,
to out of the kingdom. I then called
Crispus
privately, and ordered him to make
the soldier
that kept him drunk, and to run away
to the
king. So when Tiberias was in danger
of being
utterly destroyed a second time, it
escaped
the danger by my skillful management,
and
the care that I had for its preservation.
70. About this time it was that Justus,
the son of Pistus, without my knowledge,
ran away to the king; the occasion
of which
I will here relate. Upon the beginning
of
the war between the Jews and Romans,
the
people of Tiberias resolved to submit
to
the king, and not to revolt from the
Romans;
while Justus tried to persuade them
to betake
themselves to their arms, as being
himself
desirous of innovations, and having
hopes
of obtaining the government of Galilee,
as
well as of his own country [Tiberias]
also.
Yet did he not obtain what he hoped
for,
because the Galileans bore ill-will
to those
of Tiberias, and this on account of
their
anger at what miseries they had suffered
from them before the war; thence it
was that
they would not endure that Justus should
be their governor. I myself also, who
had
been intrusted by the community of
Jerusalem
with the government of Galilee, did
frequently
come to that degree of rage at Justus,
that
I had almost resolved to kill him,
as not
able to bear his mischievous disposition.
He was therefore much afraid of me,
lest
at length my passion should come to
extremity;
so he went to the king, as supposing
that
he would dwell better and more safely
with
him.
71. Now, when the people of Sepphoris
had,
in so surprising a manner, escaped
their
first danger, they sent to Cestius
Gallus,
and desired him to come to them immediately,
and take possession of their city,
or else
to send forces sufficient to repress
all
their enemies' incursions upon them;
and
at the last they did prevail with Gallus
to send them a considerable army, both
of
horse and foot, which came in the night
time,
and which they admitted into the city.
But
when the country round about it was
harassed
by the Roman army, I took those soldiers
that were about me, and came to Garisme,
where I cast up a bank, a good way
off the
city Sepphoris; and when I was at twenty
furlongs distance, I came upon it by
night,
and made an assault upon its walls
with my
forces; and when I had ordered a considerable
number of my soldiers to scale them
with
ladders, I became master of the greatest
part of the city. But soon after, our
unacquaintedness
with the places forced us to retire,
after
we had killed twelve of the Roman footmen,
and two horsemen, and a few of the
people
of Sepphoris, with the loss of only
a single
man of our own. And when it afterwards
came
to a battle in the plain against the
horsemen,
and we had undergone the dangers of
it courageously
for a long time, we were beaten; for
upon
the Romans encompassing me about, my
soldiers
were afraid, and fell back. There fell
in
that battle one of those that had been
intrusted
to guard my body; his name was Justus,
who
at this time had the same post with
the king.
At the same time also there came forces,
both horsemen and footmen, from the
king,
and Sylla their commander, who was
the captain
of his guard: this Sylla pitched his
camp
at five furlongs' distance from Julias,
and
set a guard upon the roads, both that
which
led to Cana, and that which led to
the fortress
Gamala, that he might hinder their
inhabitants
from getting provisions out of Galilee.
72. As soon as I had gotten intelligence
of this, I sent two thousand armed
men, and
a captain over them, whose name was
Jeremiah,
who raised a bank a furlong off Julias,
near
to the river Jordan, and did no more
than
skirmish with the enemy; till I took
three
thousand soldiers myself, and came
to them.
But on the next day, when I had laid
an ambush
in a certain valley, not far from the
banks,
I provoked those that belonged to the
king
to come to a battle, and gave orders
to my
own soldiers to turn their backs upon
them,
until they should have drawn the enemy
away
from their camp, and brought them out
into
the field, which was done accordingly;
for
Sylla, supposing that our party did
really
run away, was ready to pursue them,
when
our soldiers that lay in ambush took
them
on their backs, and put them all into
great
disorder. I also immediately made a
sudden
turn with my own forces, and met those
of
the king's party, and put them to flight.
And I had performed great things that
day,
if a certain fate had not been my hinderance;
for the horse on which I rode, and
upon whose
back I fought, fell into a quagmire,
and
threw me on the ground, and I was bruised
on my wrist, and carried into a village
named
Cepharnome, or Capernaum. When my soldiers
heard of this, they were afraid I had
been
worse hurt than I was; and so they
did not
go on with their pursuit any further,
but
returned in very great concern for
me. I
therefore sent for the physicians,
and while
I was under their hands, I continued
feverish
that day; and as the physicians directed,
I was that night removed to Taricheee.
73. When Sylla and his party were informed
what happened to me, they took courage
again;
and understanding that the watch was
negligently
kept in our camp, they by night placed
a
body of horsemen in ambush beyond Jordan,
and when it was day they provoked us
to fight;
and as we did not refuse it, but came
into
the plain, their horsemen appeared
out of
that ambush in which they had lain,
and put
our men into disorder, and made them
run
away; so they slew six men of our side.
Yet
did they not go off with the victory
at last;
for when they heard that some armed
men were
sailed from Taricheae to Juli, they
were
afraid, and retired.
74. It was not now long before Vespasian
came to Tyre, and king Agrippa with
him;
but the Tyrians began to speak reproachfully
of the king, and called him an enemy
to the
Romans. For they said that Philip,
the general
of his army, had betrayed the royal
palace
and the Roman forces that were in Jerusalem,
and that it was done by his command.
When
Vespasian heard of this report, he
rebuked
the Tyrians for abusing a man who was
both
a king and a friend to the Romans;
but he
exhorted the king to send Philip to
Rome,
to answer for what he had done before
Nero.
But when Philip was sent thither, he
did
not come into the sight of Nero, for
he found
him very near death, on account of
the troubles
that then happened, and a civil war;
and
so he returned to the king. But when
Vespasian
was come to Ptolemais, the chief men
of Decapolis
of Syria made a clamor against Justus
of
Tiberias, because he had set their
villages
on fire: so Vespasian delivered him
to the
king, to he put to death by those under
the
king's jurisdiction; yet did the king
only
put him into bonds, and concealed what
he
had done from Vespasian, as I have
before
related. But the people of Sepphoris
met
Vespasian, and saluted him, and had
forces
sent him, with Placidus their commander:
he also went up with them, as I also
followed
them, till Vespasian came into Galilee.
As
to which coming of his, and after what
manner
it was ordered, and how he fought his
first
battle with me near the village Taricheae,
and how from thence they went to Jotapata,
and how I was taken alive, and bound,
and
how I was afterward loosed, with all
that
was done by me in the Jewish war, and
during
the siege of Jerusalem, I have accurately
related them in the books concerning
the
War of the Jews. However, it will,
I think,
he fit for me to add now an account
of those
actions of my life which I have not
related
in that book of the Jewish war.
75. For when the siege of Jotapata
was over,
and I was among the Romans, I was kept
with
much Care, by means of the great respect
that Vespasian showed me. Moreover,
at his
command, I married a virgin, who was
from
among the captives of that country
(25) yet
did she not live with me long, but
was divorced,
upon my being freed from my bonds,
and my
going to Alexandria. However, I married
another
wife at Alexandria, and was thence
sent,
together with Titus, to the siege of
Jerusalem,
and was frequently in danger of being
put
to death; while both the Jews were
very desirous
to get me under their power, in order
to
haw me punished. And the Romans also,
whenever
they were beaten, supposed that it
was occasioned
by my treachery, and made continual
clamors
to the emperors, and desired that they
would
bring me to punishment, as a traitor
to them:
but Titus Caesar was well acquainted
with
the uncertain fortune of war, and returned
no answer to the soldiers' vehement
solicitations
against me. Moreover, when the city
Jerusalem
was taken by force, Titus Caesar persuaded
me frequently to take whatsoever I
would
of the ruins of my country; and did
that
he gave me leave so to do. But when
my country
was destroyed, I thought nothing else
to
be of any value, which I could take
and keep
as a comfort under my calamities; so
I made
this request to Titus, that my family
might
have their liberty: I had also the
holy books
(26) by Titus's concession. Nor was
it long
after that I asked of him the life
of my
brother, and of fifty friends with
him, and
was not denied. When I also went once
to
the temple, by the permission of Titus,
where
there were a great multitude of captive
women
and children, I got all those that
I remembered
as among my own friends and acquaintances
to be set free, being in number about
one
hundred and ninety; and so I delivered
them
without their paying any price of redemption,
and restored them to their former fortune.
And when I was sent by Titus Caesar
with
Cerealins, and a thousand horsemen,
to a
certain village called Thecoa, in order
to
know whether it were a place fit for
a camp,
as I came back, I saw many captives
crucified,
and remembered three of them as my
former
acquaintance. I was very sorry at this
in
my mind, and went with tears in my
eyes to
Titus, and told him of them; so he
immediately
commanded them to be taken down, and
to have
the greatest care taken of them, in
order
to their recovery; yet two of them
died under
the physician's hands, while the third
recovered.
76. But when Titus had composed the
troubles
in Judea, and conjectured that the
lands
which I had in Judea would bring me
no profit,
because a garrison to guard the country
was
afterward to pitch there, he gave me
another
country in the plain. And when he was
going
away to Rome, he made choice of me
to sail
along with him, and paid me great respect:
and when we were come to Rome, I had
great
care taken of me by Vespasian; for
he gave
me an apartment in his own house, which
he
lived in before he came to the empire.
He
also honored me with the privilege
of a Roman
citizen, and gave me an annual pension;
and
continued to respect me to the end
of his
life, without any abatement of his
kindness
to me; which very thing made me envied,
and
brought me into danger; for a certain
Jew,
whose name was Jonathan, who had raised
a
tumult in Cyrene, and had persuaded
two thousand
men of that country to join with him,
was
the occasion of their ruin. But when
he was
bound by the governor of that country,
and
sent to the emperor, he told him that
I had
sent him both weapons and money. However,
he could not conceal his being a liar
from
Vespasian, who condemned him to die;
according
to which sentence he was put to death.
Nay,
after that, when those that envied
my good
fortune did frequently bring accusations
against me, by God's providence I escaped
them all. I also received from Vespasian
no small quantity of land, as a free
gift,
in Judea; about which time I divorced
my
wife also, as not pleased with her
behavior,
though not till she had been the mother
of
three children, two of whom are dead,
and
one whom I named Hyrcanus, is alive.
After
this I married a wife who had lived
at Crete,
but a Jewess by birth: a woman she
was of
eminent parents, and such as were the
most
illustrious in all the country, and
whose
character was beyond that of most other
women,
as her future life did demonstrate.
By her
I had two sons; the elder's name was
Justus,
and the next Simonides, who was also
named
Agrippa. And these were the circumstances
of my domestic affairs. However, the
kindness
of the emperor to me continued still
the
same; for when Vespasian was dead,
Titus,
who succeeded him in the government,
kept
up the same respect for me which I
had from
his father; and when I had frequent
accusations
laid against me, he would not believe
them.
And Domitian, who succeeded, still
augmented
his respects to me; for he punished
those
Jews that were my accusers, and gave
command
that a servant of mine, who was a eunuch,
and my accuser, should be punished.
He also
made that country I had in Judea tax
free,
which is a mark of the greatest honor
to
him who hath it; nay, Domitia, the
wife of
Caesar, continued to do me kindnesses.
And
this is the account of the actions
of my
whole life; and let others judge of
my character
by them as they please. But to thee,
O Epaphroditus,
(27) thou most excellent of men! do
I dedicate
all this treatise of our Antiquities;
and
so, for the present, I here conclude
the
whole.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDNOTES
(1) We may hence correct the error
of the
Latin copy of the second book Against
Apion,
sect. 8, (for the Greek is there lost,)
which
says, there were then only four tribes
or
courses of the priests, instead of
twenty-four.
Nor is this testimony to be disregarded,
as if Josephus there contradicted what
he
had affirmed here; because even the
account
there given better agrees to twenty-four
than to four courses, while he says
that
each of those courses contained above
5000
men, which, multiplied by only four,
will
make not more than 20,000 priests;
whereas
the number 120,000, as multiplied by
24,
seems much the most probable, they
being
about one-tenth of the whole people,
even
after the captivity. See Ezra 2:36-39;
Nehemiah
7:39-42; 1 Esdras 5:24, 25, with Ezra
2;64;
Nehemiah 7:66; 1 Esdras 5:41. Nor will
this
common reading or notion of but four
courses
of priests, agree with Josephus's own
further
assertion elsewhere, Antiq. B. VII.
ch. 14.
sect. 7, that David's partition of
the priests
into twenty-four courses had continued
to
that day.
(2) An eminent example of the care
of the
Jews about their genealogies, especially
as to the priests. See Against Ap.
B. 1 sect.
7.
(3) When Josephus here says, that from
sixteen
to nineteen, or for three years, he
made
trial of the three Jewish sects, the
Pharisees,
the Sadducees, and the Essens, and
yet says
presently, in all our copies, that
he stayed
besides with one particular ascetic,
called
Banus, with him, and this still before
he
was nineteen, there is little room
left for
his trial of the three other sects.
I suppose,
therefore, that for, with him, the
old reading
might be, with them; which is a very
small
emendation, and takes away the difficulty
before us. Nor is Dr. Hudson's conjecture,
hinted at by Mr. Hall in his preface
to the
Doctor's edition of Josephus, at all
improbable,
that this Banus, by this his description,
might well be a follower of John the
Baptist,
and that from him Josephus might easily
imbibe
such notions, as afterwards prepared
him
to have a favorable opinion of Jesus
Christ
himself, who was attested to by John
the
Baptist.
(4) We may note here, that religious
men
among the Jews, or at least those that
were
priests, were sometimes ascetics also,
and,
like Daniel and his companions in Babylon,
Daniel 1:8-16, ate no flesh, but figs
and
nuts, etc. only. This was like the,
or austere
diet of the Christian ascetics in Passion-week.
Constitut. V. 18.
(5) It has been thought the number
of Paul
and his companions on ship-board, Acts
27:38,
which are 276 in our copies, are too
many;
whereas we find here, that Josephus
and his
companions, a very few years after
the other,
were about 600.
(6) See Jewish War, B. II. ch. 18.
sect.
3.
(7) The Jews might collect this unlawfulness
of fighting against their brethren
from that
law of Moses, Leviticus 19:16, "Thou
shalt not stand against the blood of
thy
neighbor;" and that, ver. 17,
"Thou
shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against
the children of thy people; but thou
shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself;"
as well
as from many other places in the Pentateuch
and Prophets. See Antiq. B. VIII. ch.
8.
sect. 3.
(8) That this Herod Agrippa, the father,
was of old called a Great King, as
here,
appears by his coins still remaining;
to
which Havercamp refers us.
(9) The famous Jewish numbers of twelve
and seventy are here remarkable.
(10) Our Josephus shows, both here
and every
where, that he was a most religious
person,
and one that had a deep sense of God
and
his providence upon his mind, and ascribed
all his numerous and wonderful escapes
and
preservations, in times of danger,
to God's
blessing him, and taking care of him,
and
this on account of his acts of piety,
justice,
humanity, and charity, to the Jews
his brethren.
(11) Josephus's opinion is here well
worth
noting: — That every one is to be permitted
to worship God according to his own
conscience,
and is not to be compelled in matters
of
religion: as one may here observe,
on the
contrary, that the rest of the Jews
were
still for obliging all those who married
Jewesses to be circumcised, and become
Jews,
and were ready to destroy all that
would
not submit to do so. See sect. 31,
and Luke
11:54.
(12) How Josephus could say here that
the
Jewish laws forbade them to "spoil
even
their enemies, while yet, a little
before
his time, our Savior had mentioned
it as
then a current maxim with them, "Thou
shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine
enemy,"
Matthew 5:43, is worth our inquiry.
I take
it that Josephus, having been now for
many
years an Ebionite Christian, had learned
this interpretation of the law of Moses
from
Christ, whom he owned for the true
Melah,
as it follows in the succeeding verses,
which,
though he might not read in St. Matthew's
Gospel, yet might he have read much
the same
exposition in their own Ebionite or
Nazarene
Gospel itself; of which improvements
made
by Josephus, after he was become a
Christian,
we have already had several examples
in this
his life, sect. 3, 13, 15, 19, 21,
23, and
shall have many more therein before
its conclusion,
as well as we have them elsewhere in
all
his later writings.
(13) Here we may observe the vulgar
Jewish
notion of witchcraft, but that our
Josephus
was too wise to give any countenance
to it.
(14) In this section, as well as in
the
18 and 33. those small vessels that
sailed
on the sea of Galilee, are called by
Josephus,
i. e. plainly ships; so that we need
not
wander at our evangelists, who still
call
them ships; nor ought we to render
them boats,
as some do, Their number was in all
230,
as we learn from our author elsewhere.
Jewish
War. B. II. ch. 21. sect. 8.
(15) Part of these fortifications on
Mount
Tabor may be those still remaining,
and which
were seen lately by Mr. Maundrel. See
his
Travels, p. 112.
(16) This Gamaliel may be the very
same
that is mentioned by the rabbins in
the Mishna,
in Juchasin, and in Porta Mosis, as
is observed
in the Latin notes. He might be also
that
Gamaliel II., whose grandfather was
Gamaliel
I., who is mentioned in Acts 5:34,
and at
whose feet St. Paul was brought up,
Acts
22:3. See Prid. at the year 449.
(17) This Jonathan is also taken notice
of in the Latin notes, as the same
that is
mentioned by the rabbins in Porta Mosis.
(18) This I take to be the first of
Josephus's
remarkable or divine dreams, which
were predictive
of the great things that afterwards
came
to pass; of which see more in the note
on
Antiq. B. III. ch. 8. sect. 9. The
other
is in the War, B. III. ch. 8. sect.
3, 9.
(19) Josephus's directions to his soldiers
here are much the same that John the
Baptist
gave, Luke 3:14, "Do violence
to no
man, neither accuse any falsely, and
be content
with your wages." Whence Dr. Hudson
confirms this conjecture, that Josephus,
in some things, was, even now, a follower
of John the Baptist, which is no way
improbable.
See the note on sect. 2.
(20) We here learn the practice of
the Jews,
in the days of Josephus, to inquire
into
the characters of witnesses before
they were
admitted; and that their number ought
to
be three, or two at the least, also
exactly
as in the law of Moses, and in the
Apostolical
Constitutions, B. II. ch. 37. See Horeb
Covenant
Revived, page 97, 98.
(21) This appeal to the whole body
of the
Galileans by Josephus, and the testimony
they gave him of integrity in his conduct
as their governor, is very like that
appeal
and testimony in the case of the prophet
Samuel, 1 Samuel 12:1-5, and perhaps
was
done by Josephus in imitation of him.
(22) It is worth noting here, that
there
was now a great Proseucha, or place
of prayer,
in the city of Tiberias itself, though
such
Proseucha used to be out of cities,
as the
synagogues were within them. Of them,
see
Le Moyne on Polycarp's Epistle, page
76.
It is also worth our remark, that the
Jews,
in the days of Josephus, used to dine
at
the sixth hour, or noon; and that in
obedience
to their notions of the law of Moses
also.
(23) One may observe here, that this
lay
Pharisee, Ananias, is we have seen
he was,
sect. 39, took upon him to appoint
a fast
at Tiberias, and was obeyed; though
indeed
it was not out of religion, but knavish
policy.
(24) The character of this history
of Justus
of Tiberias, the rival of our Josephus,
which
is now lost, with its only remaining
fragment,
are given us by a very able critic,
Photius,
who read that history. It is in the
33rd
code of his Bibliotheea, and runs thus:
"I
have read (says Photius) the chronology
of
Justus of Tiberias, whose title is
this,
[The Chronology of] the Kings of Judah
which
succeeded one another. This [Justus]
came
out of the city of Tiberias in Galilee.
He
begins his history from Moses, and
ends it
not till the death of Agrippa, the
seventh
[ruler] of the family of Herod, and
the last
king of the Jews; who took the government
under Claudius, had it augmented under
Nero,
and still more augmented by Vespasian.
He
died in the third year of Trajan, where
also
his history ends. He is very concise
in his
language, and slightly passes over
those
affairs that were most necessary to
be insisted
on; and being under the Jewish prejudices,
as indeed he was himself also a Jew
by birth,
he makes not the least mention of the
appearance
of Christ, or what things happened
to him,
or of the wonderful works that he did.
He
was the son of a certain Jew, whose
name
was Pistus. He was a man, as he is
described
by Josephus, of a most profligate character;
a slave both to money and to pleasures.
In
public affairs he was opposite to Josephus;
and it is related, that he laid many
plots
against him; but that Josephus, though
he
had his enemy frequently under his
power,
did only reproach him in words, and
so let
him go without further punishment.
He says
also, that the history which this man
wrote
is, for the main, fabulous, and chiefly
as
to those parts where he describes the
Roman
war with the Jews, and the taking of
Jerusalem."
(25) Here Josephus, a priest, honestly
confesses
that he did that at the command of
Vespasian,
which he had before told us was not
lawful
for a priest to do by the law of Moses,
Antiq.
B. III. ch. 12. sect. 2. I mean, the
taking
a captive woman to wife. See also Against
Apion, B. I. sect. 7. But he seems
to have
been quickly sensible that his compliance
with the commands of an emperor would
not
excuse him, for he soon put her away,
as
Reland justly observes here.
(26) Of this most remarkable clause,
and
its most important consequences, see
Essay
on the Old Testament, page 193--195.
(27) Of this Epaphroditus, see the
note
on the Preface to the Antiquities. |
Evans Experientialism 
